Besteding geld voor Sri Lanka
Veel mensen hebben geld gestort op een rekening voor Sri Lanka om te helpen te gevolgen van de tsunami-ramp te bestrijden. Huan Pilapitya, de zuster van Vin Nijboer, had zich samen met collega's druk gemaakt met het verlenen van hulp aan getroffen collega's elders in het land.
Het geld dat wij in Nederland inzamelden is intussen overgemaakt en vandaar dat we de stand van zaken willen weergeven.
Het heeft een tijdje geduurd voordat Huan de zaken op orde begon te krijgen, omdat de oorspronkelijke plannen een paar keer gewijzigd moesten worden. Al snel ontstonden er problemen rond het punt waar je het kunt besteden (aan de Oostkust, wat eerst de bedoeling was, ontstonden politieke/veiligheids-problemen), anderzijds moest er bepaald worden wat er aangeschaft zou worden en wie het zal krijgen. Ook dat alles gaat nog niet zo gemakkelijk.
Een verslag van een en ander staat hieronder, stukken uit mailtjes van haar. Zoals daaruit valt te zien, heeft ze zelf ook heel wat moeten reizen in het land om dit te kunnen regelen. Hiermee krijg je ook wat meer begrip voor de traagheid waarmee de grote organisaties op dit moment werken: ook aan Sri Lankaanse kant moeten organisaties uit de grond gestampt worden en allerlei mensen vrijgemaakt worden om de hulp daadwerkelijk ter plekke te krijgen (Huan doet het deels tijdens haar werkuren maar grotendeels in de weekenden).
Samenvattend is de situatie als volgt (in rupees):
In Nederland ingezameld 411,000 (€ 3.300)
van elders 24.400
Totaal 435,400
Te besteden aan:
2 huizen 160,000
3 boten 150,000
Van de huizen en de boten zijn intussen tekeningen beschikbaar.
Er blijft dus nog geld over. Daarvoor wordt gedacht aan fietsen om de vishandel te kunnen uitventen en aan spullen om de huizen enigszins in te richten. Ook is er geld nodig om de boten ter plekke te krijgen.
Wanneer dit alles gerealiseerd zal zijn, dan heeft Huan al aangekondigd dat ze er foto's van zal maken. We zullen proberen deze dan ook weer op de website van Warga geplaatst te krijgen zodat iedereen kan zien wat er met het geld is gebeurd.
Na een dergelijke is er altijd geld tekort. Mocht iemand nog iets willen storten, de rekening is er nog steeds (hoewel nu leeg) en er kan op gestort worden: Rabobank, rek.nr. 1033.62.401 t.n.v. 'G. Nijboer inzake Sri Lanka'
Hieronder volgen delen uit de mailtjes van Huan Pilapitya:
08-03-2005:
We are coordinating the construction of the houses with the priest of the Boyagoda temple. As I mentioned earlier 10 temples in the Mawathagama electorate are getting together to build 50 houses. We have undertaken to build 2 houses and I sent you the names of the 2 families who will get the two houses. Do send me the 2 names for the houses. I have a friend who runs a business, making trophies, name boards etc. and I can request him to make these name boards for me free of charge. I am planning on going down to Matara, if not this weekend, the next weekend and I will get pictures.
I am still having this idea of providing bicycles too to get some people started on their job of selling fish. Will work out the finances and see how it goes. Now that we have the two projects in the east and the south, maybe we could split it 50/50
07-03-2005:
We went to Wattala on Saturday morning. It was good that we went to see for ourselves what these boats are all about as they have different sizes/kinds. Anyway we were taken around the boatyard and there were various boats being handled at different stages. We selected the 19 ft canoes made of fibreglass and it can take 2/3 people in it. The cost was 43,000 + VAT and the 3 boats cost Rs.148,350/- I paid an advance of Rs.70,000/-. They promised to give the boats in 2 weeks time and once they are ready, we will arrange for it to be transported to Akkarapattu.
I will be making inquiries as to what this cost will be like. I was told it will not be too expensive. A lady from the Netherlands too had ordered a similar boat to be delivered to Batticaloa.
Huan
04-03-2005:
I have just spoken to the Coordinating Officer for the Amparai District in Akkarapattu, SP Upul Seneviratne. He has requested that instead of buying one boat, to buy a couple of smaller boats, those which can be used for off shore fishing instead of deep sea fishing. My preliminary inquiries indicate that such boats cost from 40- 45000. In addition we will have to provide them with the netting and a lantern and then they could get on with earning their living. I believe this is a good idea as one of those expensive boats to go deep sea fishing with, may be too much for a person with not much of business acumen to handle. Through the Naval headquarters in Trinco, we were given names of boat builders. All boat builders are located in Colombo/Wattala/Negambo area. I have spoken to a couple of the builders but it is difficult to judge without seeing what boats they are talking about. They all confirm a delivery date within a week and so this weekend instead of going to Akkarapattu, we will go and order the boats and if they conform to the delivery dates, we can go over to Akkarapattu next weekend and distribute the boats.
Huan
01-03-2005:
Well finally we are getting somewhere. It is one month since the money has come in and we were stuck with the process. As I mentioned to you earlier we had 3 projects in mind:
Ad1: As I mentioned to you earlier the colleagues who were affected and were housed at the Payagala Temple have moved out to some relatives’ homes and those who do not have the extended family are still housed at the Payagala Temple. Our Company still continues to help them with dry rations etc. A 3 ˝ acre block was identified to build houses for these employees but as the architect did not find the land suitable, another 3 acre block was identified and purchased for US$20,000. The construction of these houses is scheduled to commence in April. We have raised around US$105,000 so far from donors, employees and well-wishers.
Ad2: The Lions International have been able to raise funds and so this project could get off the ground on their own.
Ad3: We have identified a project that is co-ordinated by the priests in this electorate. 10 Temples from the Mawathagama electorate are raising funds to build 50 low cost houses in the Polhena area in Matara. I met the Chief Priest of the Boyagoda Temple which is about 1 ˝ km from our factory and informed him that with your funds, we would fund 2 houses. I requested the priest to get me information about the families to be resettled and based on the information that I have received, I have selected two families.
1. B.D.P. Gunewardene: His mother was a retired teacher drawing a pension and lost her life to the tsunami and with this the pension too ceased. He was employed in an agency distributing aerated waters and with the tsunami, the business was washed away and he is now jobless. His wife is pregnant.
2. G.H. Wasantha: Earned his living as a fisherman. His wife is devastated by the loss of her daughter, age 7. They have a son, 12 years of age.
I will be going over to Matara with another colleague of ours in 2/3 weeks time and will get some good pictures of the beneficiaries and the completed houses. Do send me the names for the houses so that I can have the board prepared. When I am in Matara, I will see what the needs are and act accordingly (I still do have the bicycles in mind and also as suggested by you, the pots and pans). When all this is done, I will send you the accounts signed by Priyantha, Director and Buddhika, our Group Management Accountant, so that you can put the accounts statement too in the web.
I hope this will suffice for the time being.
21-02-2005:
I am thinking of utilizing the money for boats and for houses. With the balance I will either buy cooking utensils as suggested by you or I am thinking of some push cycles which are used by fishermen to sell from door to door. If you think this is a good idea, I will identify the people to whom these can be gifted. I will also call for quotations for these bikes.
My thoughts are as follows:
With the two houses we build, 2 families can be moved to a permanent abode and this I believe can be about 10 people who will benefit from your funds.
With the boat, 7 families will be able to earn their livelihood as generally about 7/8 fishermen go to sea at once and this in turn will benefit at least 30 people.
If I can buy even 5 bikes for people who have been involved with buying fish from the wholesale market and selling it door to door, then again may be about 15-20 people will benefit from this.
These are some permanent solutions as on one hand we will be providing shelter to 2 families and on the other the opening for about 12 families to get started on earning their own living.
I am hoping to get some extra funding for the boat.
Let me have your thoughts on these suggestions.
Zie ook:
20050104, Hulp aan Sri Lanka
20050215, Hulp aan Sri Lanka (2)