PROJECT GALLE 2006

This was in a way a landmark trip as it involved taking the Colombo to Galle coastal train that got hit by the Tsunami. Evidence of the destruction caused on 26th December 2004 is still very much apparent not too far out of Colombo; houses stand still in ruin and decay, people still live in refugee camps and even tents. However, there are pockets of new housing developments dotted along the coast line. Grave sites have been laid to rest along the coastal edge! 1249 passengers and 270 village members died at Peraliya, the final resting place for the overturned train. Five of the carriages now stand at the station in Hikkaduwa as a memorial

Simon Johnson had given me a contact at the Christmas Committee meeting, and through emails a meeting had been arranged with Allen Cooper.

(Allen is an Adelaide policeman, in his early 50’s who felt compelled to do something to help. He re-mortgaged his housed and planned to stay for 6 months – he has been with PG2006 since April last year and now coordinates the house building side to the project).

Project Galle was set up at the end of January 2004, and PG2005 became the operation name. This time last year it sustained up to 60 volunteers helping. Now, there are still 25 people involved – a mixture of talented ex-pat professionals (who like Allen felt an urge to extend their talents toward Tsunami regeneration work), Sri Lankan and gap year volunteers. There are now 5 trustees who are paid a wage for their work of US$1000 a month and 10% of funds go towards administrative charges i.e. rent for the office, phone/fax bills and lunches for volunteers.

PG2005 spent approximately US$ 2 million dollars on restoration work last year. They had a fundraising group known as F.R.o.G (Friends of Galle) who would regularly send money. The Government also assisted in donating money to PG2005!

There are 4 main areas to PG2006:

H O U S I N G

(See pictures click here! )

CONTEXT:

Local inhabitants who have lost their homes have been invited to fill out application forms making them eligible for a new house. A thorough check is then carried out on these to check the legitimacy of the request – this is partly carried out by Rama, a longstanding local inhabitant within the Fort who knows everyone! He also mans the reception in the office. (Rama’s son was Sri Lanka’s opening fast bowler up until the 1996 World Cup and now he is the national fast bowling coach)!

COST:

The average cost of a 2 bed roomed unfurnished house is US$ 6,000. Locals can contribute to the cost as well. Houses are built of bricks and mortar and in principal although many houses are built on existing foundations the houses are all very similar. Allen said that this is an important factor as there is an tremendous sense of jealousy if it is deemed that one family is getting more than another. For this reason the houses being built reflect what was there before December 26th 2004 – the difference being that they are sturdy, clean modern houses that are light, airy and surprisingly cool.

Local contactors, local labourers and local materials are used – this of course provides work all around which strengthens the local economy and community.

The houses are unveiled at an official ceremony – the date and exact time that the door can be unlocked is decided by the monks who consult the astrological charts of the new occupiers of the dwelling. Flowered garlands are worn; Allen is usually the one who is invited to turn the key and this is followed by food and tea!!

To date, PG2006 have built 30 complete rebuilds and 120 partials (houses that required some patching up)

There are many people still awaiting housing so there is plenty of scope for us to help!!

B U T T E R F L Y B R I D G E

(See pictures click here! )

CONTEXT:

Spanning the canal that leads from the sea into the heart of the city was the ‘ Butterfly Bridge’ which linked Samanaly Park with the children’s playground in Dharmapala Park. Unfortunately, the wave washed the bridge away and it was estimated that 15 people were on it at the time!

SCOPE:

The plan is to build the bridge to the original design to maintain the unity of before and after 26th December 2004. (See detailed specification from Allen).

COST:

The sum to rebuild ‘ Butterfly Bridge’ has been costed out at approximately £12,000. The project would take between 3 to 4 weeks.

This is the project that should be strongly considered!

P H O T O G R A P H I C       R E S T O R A T I O N

CONTEXT:

This is a continuation on from the ‘Family Portrait Project’ carried out in PG2005 and is being run by Irish Gavin. The ‘FPP’ project involved going to the make shift refugee camps and photographing the survivors in individual and group family portraits. The fun part to the project was going back to the camps about 3 weeks later to hand out the framed, laminated pictures.

Photographs provide treasured memories and are a great way of documenting time and family bonds. They are a vital part to the psychological and mental healing procedure following the Tsunami and offer inhabitants a chance to mark their personal/family identity.

The next phase is to restore photographs recovered in the debris from the Tsunami. The images are scanned and then adjusted using Adobe Photoshop. It is a lengthy procedure which varies in labour according to the state of the image but again, it is a fundamentally important task as it allows memories captured of time before the Tsunami to be retained.

This is the project that should be strongly considered although funding for it may be already covered.

T H E     G R E E N     M A R K E T

CONTEXT:

The Green Market is a colonnaded, open-sided hall built by the Dutch at the turn of the last century and for over 100 years was the district’s purpose built, central wholesale fruit and vegetable market place. Located on the Main Street of Galle town, approximately 130 meters from the shoreline the market was inundated by the Tsunami – the wave was still over 3 metres in height when it swept through the building and substantially damaged the pillars, roof, floor and the drainage system. It also washed away numerous stalls, baskets, stock and equipment belonging to the vendours leaving a former centre of economic activity in ruins and hundreds of families without a means of earning a living.

Pre-Tsunami, 66 registered wholesale and retail stall holders sold produce supplied by over 200 farmers from around the district whilst 48 people were employed as market labourers, vegetable cleaners, porters and cart pullers.

SCOPE:

Phase 1 of this project has been completed and the market is now operating again although to just only above half of its former capacity.

Phase 2 would consist of furthering the development of the inside to the building and the vicinity immediately adjacent to the market. The streets surrounding the market would be dismantled and repaved and the roads that connect to the market would be renovated. The project would also include a coordinated development program geared at improving hygiene at the market; guttering and rainwater harvesters will collect rainwater and eliminate runoff. Phase 2 will also allow for fruit and vegetable cleaning stations with facilities to manage the unused waste.

(For a detailed specification – please see detailed Phase 2 proposal from Joshua)

COST:

The cost for phase two is estimated to be £8,079. This has been costed by a local contractor and work could start imminently.

A project should be strongly considered !

P R O J E C T     G A L L E     A D M I N I S T R A T I O N

Project Galle 2006 is a registered Sri Lankan Trust established to continue the Tsunami Relief effort in the Galle District. PG 06 was initiated in November 2005 to implement development programs geared towards the recovery of the Tsunami affected families and individuals on the Southern coast. The organisation aims at cultivating community infrastructures and providing a means for local survivors to recover.

They are an organisation who believes in participating in the ongoing dialogue between local authorities, Galle residents and other charitable bodies. Through the communication they have received support from many local and international groups such as World Vision, Operation USA, Salvation Army, Guernsey Tsunami Reconstruction Project, Hilfswerk, Friends of Unawatuna, Save the Children in Sri Lanka, and Friends of Galle (FRoG). In doing this they continually develop relationships that enable Project Galle to accurately identify community needs and focus assistance in the most constructive manner. Together with these organisations and generous contributions from private donors PG 06 will continue our commitment to assist the Tsunami survivors of the Southern coast.

P R O J E C T     M O N I T O R I N G     &     E V A L U T I O N

* Internal auditing arrangements that will ensure adequate control of the use of donor funds:

Standard business accounting procedures will be applied to the receipt and application of all funds.

* Arrangements for statutory financial report and audit:

In-house bookkeeper and contracted accountant are in place to deal with statutory financial and auditing requirements, with KPMG as the organisations external auditor,

* Evaluation of impact of the project:

The project will be evaluated on completion of implementation with the participation of all stakeholders.