A proud nation pleads for help

Two middle-aged women stood anxiously before the blackboard in an Ampara classroom struggling to keep up with the ever-escalating toll of those made homeless by the Boxing Day tsunami.

Outside the classroom, more than 1000 people made homeless by the disaster from across the eastern Sri Lankan coastal district were swarming around.

"These people need food, water and medicine as well as clothes and beds, and they need them soon," said Roslyn Kungala, one of the two women who is among a string of volunteers helping to run the local refugee camp.

"The food is being prepared and distributed mostly by locals and neighbours and businesses in Colombo, but there are so many people it is not enough. More international aid is needed. We cannot do this on our own."

The scene at the makeshift camp was replicated in 124 locations across Ampara district to try to maintain control over the ever-swelling numbers of displaced families.

Ampara, a low coastal region, was particularly vulnerable to the waves and has rapidly emerged as the worst-hit area in Sri Lanka.

The number of people from the district who lost their homes peaked yesterday at 173,396, nearly half of the national total of 444,038.

Yesterday the main Government office at Ampara town, the capital of the district, was filled with dozens of officials, volunteers and Army officers working around the clock to bring much-needed aid to the thousands sitting in makeshift camps in dozens of schools and temples.

Tissa Ariyaratne, a UN volunteer, described how supplies were running dangerously low, and highlighted the apparent absence of British aid agencies in the area.
"These people do not have enough food and this is not something that we can organise ourselves entirely," he said. "Supplies are very, very low. We cannot collect enough for everyone. We are in desperate need of international aid.

"Unicef, the United States Agency for International Development and the Red Cross representatives were here to talk to us. But there have been no British agencies. "More needs to be done. More than 100,000 people have lost everything."

The Ampara district has been struck a devastating blow to its economy. As many as 95 per cent of those made homeless were fishermen. As thousands of boats were destroyed along the coastline, their livelihood vanished along with their homes.

The region suffered widespread destruction from serious flooding only last month, when 15,000 were left homeless.

Ariyaratne, who was in the district conducting a UN assessment of the flooding damage when the tsunami arrived, added: "These people have had a very hard time. Many are in a very bad state."

At the Bandaranaike Girls' School in Ampara town, more than 1000 men, women and children wandered aimlessly around the grounds of their temporary home.

For Sri, a 41-year-old teacher from the coastal town of Kalmunai - among the worst hit in the region - it was clearly difficult not to view the future with pessimism.

"I have lost everything," he said. "I'm one of thousands who have fled with their families from the water. My sister is far away in hospital, and we are here with nothing."

Gesturing around the overflowing ground, he added: "How can we talk about the future, we are all homeless now. More than anything we need help from people around the world. We cannot do this without assistance."

At the nearby Ampara headquarters, the man in charge of co-ordinating a huge relief effort, Asaka Abewardena, speaks calmly amid the chaos.

"We have lost more than 7000 lives in this region and many people are left without their homes. I have a long list of items we need for them as soon as possible. The most important things at the moment are obviously food and water."

In the nearby school camp, refugee Sri, along with hundreds and thousands of other homeless, described his frustration at his dependence on others for survival.

"There is no future for us with things as they are. You must tell people that there are all these people and families without homes and we need as much help as possible."

- INDEPENDENT