[sustran] Re: Post-Tsunami help to Samaritan Children's Home in Sri Lanka

[roelof.wittink at cycling.nl]

I-ce and ITDG Sri Lanka currently exchange how the Low Cost Mobility 
Support program, coordinated by I-ce with ITDG as one of the partners, 
can be used for support to the rehabilitation of roads and be linked to 
the huge relief efforts (the Dutch civil society collected 115 million euro 
so far). 
ITDG was already in a process of developing new roads standards that 
would overcome the shortcomings from the past and incorporate 
sidewalks and bike paths.  In the city of Galle a bicycle plan would be 
developed. The re-investments needed now are an opportunity not-to-
miss. 

Roelof Wittink
I-ce general director

On 10 Jan 2005 at 17:46, EcoPlan, Paris wrote:

> 
>                       Monday, January 10, 2005, Paris, France, Europe
> 
> Dear Sustran Friends,
> 
> I would be most grateful if you could help us do a quick œDue
> Diligence of the following organization with whom we have entered
> into contact, with the idea of seeing what might be done to offer them
> some kind of support in the post-Tsunami rebuilding efforts.It is of
> course very difficult for us to be sure of their complete bona fide
> since we do not have any colleagues directly in place or experienced
> in working with them. My hope is that one or more of you may be able
> to help us carry out even a rapid check, before we begin to put a lot
> of time, effort and eventually money into this.
> 
> Background: I attach below some extracts from a newspaper article
> covering the story. There is a website for the Samaritan Children's
> Home at http://samaritanchildrenshome.org, and here is what they have
> to say about themselves and their terrible plight: 
> 
>     The Samaritan Children's Home was founded in 1994 by Dayalan
>     Sanders in Navalady, a small village on Sri Lanka's eastern
>     peninsula. The orphanage was built through money from the sale of
>     his Maryland home and donations he has managed to collect over the
>     years.
> 
>     With no insurance to rebuild the orphanage and a need greater than
>     ever before, the family of Dayalan is trying to raise $400,000
>     needed to meet immediate needs, such as interim accommodations for
>     the orphanage and the purchase of a 4 wheel drive vehicle for
>     transportation; as well to rebuild and re-equip the orphanage and
>     the children. 
> 
>     Samaritan Children's Home was not only providing a home for the
>     orphaned children, but was also involved in community development
>     projects for the impoverished community in Navalady where the
>     children's home is located. As a result of the current
>     devastation, the needs of the community will be even more, and
>     more children will need shelter at the orphanage.
> 
> We have taken first contact with them and at this end have initiated
> some first discussions of possible direct assistance measures, but it
> would be wonderful if you could work your networks to help us be sure
> that this information is accurate. For my part, I am ready to move
> ahead, but given that there are many others who may be involved I feel
> it is only prudent to carry out some kind of check.
> 
> Kind thanks dear friends if you can help in this. Also, should you be
> interested in following developments from this end, please let me know
> and I will try to keep you efficiently informed. Who knows? You may as
> well have some good ideas for us in this. 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Extracts from article dated Wednesday, December 29, 2004. By John
> Lancaster / The Washington Post
> 
> With little warning, director saves 28 orphans from 
> tsunami
> 
> Navalady, Sri Lanka “ On Sunday morning the 26th, two hundred yards
> away from the beach in the Samaritan Children's Home in Navalady, a
> small fishing village that occupies a narrow peninsula on Sri Lanka's
> economically depressed east coast, most of the 28 children were still
> in their rooms, getting ready for services. The orphanage director and
> found, Dayalan Sanders heard the pounding of feet in the corridor
> outside his room, and his wife burst through the door, a frantic look
> on her face. "The sea is coming!" she said. "Come! Come! Look at the
> sea!" There on the horizon was a "30-foot wall of water,"racing toward
> the wispy casuarina pines that marked the landward side of the beach.
> With barely any time to think, let alone act, he ran toward the
> lagoon, where the orphanage's boat chafed at a pier. By then, many of
> the children had come run outside, some of them half-dressed. Sanders
> shouted as loud as he could, urging them all toward the boat. Thanks
> to quick thinking, blind luck and an outboard motor that somehow
> started on the first pull, the orphans and their caretakers joined the
> ranks of countless survivors of the epic disaster that so far has
> claimed tens of thousands of lives in Sri Lanka and 10 other
> countries. Desperate, he asked if anyone had seen his daughter, and a
> moment later one of the older girls thrust the toddler into his arms.
> Sanders heaved her into the boat, along with the other small children,
> as the older ones, joined by his wife and the orphanage staff,
> clambered aboard. One of his employees yanked on the starter cord, and
> the engine sputtered instantly to life -- something that Sanders
> swears never happened before. "Usually, you have to pull it four or
> five times," he said. Crammed with more than 30 people, the
> dangerously overloaded launch roared into the lagoon at almost
> precisely the same moment that the wall of water overwhelmed the
> orphanage, swamping its one-story buildings to the rafters. As the
> compound receded behind the boat, Sanders said, he watched in
> amazement as the surging current smashed a garage and ejected a
> brand-new Toyota pickup. "The roof came flying off -- it just
> splintered in every direction," he recalled. "I saw the Toyota just
> pop out of the garage." The orphans' ordeal did not end when their
> boat pulled away from the shore. Not only was water cascading over the
> lagoon side of the peninsula, but it also was pouring in directly from
> the mouth of the estuary about 2 miles away. Sanders feared the
> converging currents would swamp the small craft. As it made for the
> mouth of the lagoon, the boat was broadsided and nearly capsized by
> the torrent pouring over the peninsula. "The children were very
> frightened," Kohila Sanders recalled. "We were praying, 'God help us,
> God help us.' " Eventually, the boat made it to the opposite shore, to
> the city of Batticaloa about a mile and a half distant. The Sanderses,
> their daughter and about a dozen of the orphaned and now displaced
> children have found temporary refuge in a tiny church; the rest have
> been sent elsewhere. The scene at the orphanage was one of utter
> devastation. The grounds were covered by up to three feet of sand.
> Several buildings, including the staff quarters, were entirely gone,
> and the others were damaged beyond repair. Surveying the wreckage,
> Sanders broke down and cried. But at other moments, he was
> philosophical about his loss. "If there was anyone who should have got
> swept away by this tidal wave, it should have been us," he said. "We
> were eyeball to eyeball with the wave." 
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*******************************************************
Roelof Wittink, Director
I-ce = Interface for Cycling Expertise
Trans 3, 3512 JJ Utrecht, The Netherlands
tel: +31 (0)30 2304521  fax: +31 (0)30 2312384
email (general): i-ce at cycling.nl
email (personal): roelof.wittink at cycling.nl
website: www.i-ce.info
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