Sri Lanka: Aid Delivery Challenging as Crisis Intensifies
March 23, 2007
Nishadini, 10, and her brother speak to World Vision staff from their temporary shelter home in the Iyankerney camp in Batticaloa. They are among thousands of children displaced by the conflict in eastern Sri Lanka. Photo by Sithmini Perera.
World Vision is delivering urgently needed relief assistance to thousands of displaced children and families. Over the past several months we have distributed aid to war-weary families and children in the conflict zone, two resettlement areas, seven communities where we work, and in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs).
To learn more about the crisis, download a radio interview (13MB, MP3 file) by the Moody Broadcasting Network (MBN) with Rachel Wolff, World Vision's Media Relations Manager, Disaster Response/International Affairs.
World Vision’s Focus: Protecting Children
"We’re concerned that this crisis could worsen in the coming weeks," added Rein Paulsen, World Vision’s Senior Director for Emergency Response. "Many communities in the conflict zone are still recovering from the 2004 Asia tsunami when families lost everything. Now they’ve been uprooted from their homes again, and have no way to feed or educate their children."
As fighting has intensified in the past week, World Vision has distributed water, food, mats, tarps for shelter, water containers, and other essential supplies to families living in IDP camps in eastern Sri Lanka. Ensuring the protection and well-being of children in these camps is a key focus of our work.
"So Many People Lay Dead"
For 10-year-old Nishadini, nothing has been more constant in her life than displacement. When her family was made homeless in the previous war, she was still in her mother's womb; when the 2004 Asian tsunami wreaked havoc and the family had to move again, she was just 7.
Nishadini has spent more time in schools as a displaced child than as a student. And she has stayed hidden in the jungle longer than she has had a permanent home.
During the past three months, the bright-eyed 10-year-old has already escaped the fighting three times with her family: "We walked for five days without food and rested very little. When we found a little water, we drank," she says of her their recent ordeal. She and her seven-member family now live in Iyankerni IDP camp in eastern Sri Lanka.
"We all lay down the moment we heard a plane. When we got up so many people lay dead. We would just leave them there and keep going," she says, shaking her head as she recalls her family's most recent, harrowing escape.
"I used to be so scared to go to school," Nishadini continues. "Some days armed people in masks would come and ask us to go home, saying school is closed. One day they shot and killed our class teacher. Another day a shell fell into the school and killed lots of children."
20-Year-Old Conflict
Sri Lanka’s two-decade-long ethnic conflict has claimed thousands of civilian lives. Despite a ceasefire signed in 2002 — now expired — violence has continued to plague civilian communities, closing schools for months at a time, and forcing families like Nishadini's to move frequently in search of safety.
World Vision has worked in Sri Lanka since 1977. Current programs in community development, emergency relief, and tsunami recovery span 22 districts across the battered nation.
Learn More
>> Read a Reuter's account concerning the recent escalation of violence in Sri Lanka.
>> Read the full interview of 10-year-old Nishidani by a World Vision staff member.
>> Listen to a MBN radio interview online with Rachel Wolff, World Vision's Media Relations Manager, Disaster Response/International Affairs.
Get Involved
>> Please pray for peace to prevail in this war-scarred country; pray for the safety of the children and families affected by the violence as well as for World Vision staff and partners’ strength and wisdom for meeting the great needs of the displaced.
>> Sponsor a child in Sri Lanka. World Vision sponsorship provides additional assistance during times of crisis, like the current conflict. Once the violence is ended, additional help is available to assist children and their communities rebuild their lives.
>> Donate now to World Vision's Emergency Response Fund! Help provide urgently needed relief supplies for children and families who endure food shortages, homelessness, and injuries from crises like Sri Lanka's recently escalated hostilities.
Learn More | ||
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| Read a Reuter's account concerning the recent escalation of violence in Sri Lanka. | |
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Get Involved | ||
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| Please pray for peace to prevail in this war-scarred country; pray for the safety of the children and families affected by the violence as well as for World Vision staff and partners’ strength and wisdom for meeting the great needs of the displaced. Sponsor a child in Sri Lanka. World Vision sponsorship provides additional assistance during times of crisis, like the current conflict. Once the violence is ended, additional help is available to assist children and their communities rebuild their lives. | |
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