Flood relief in Anuradhapura & Batticaloa  

Due to the heavy rains in the month of December 2007 the North Central and Eastern Provinces were badly affected by floods. More than 20,000 families were displaced; many buildings and houses were destroyed, and as a result people struggled to manage to get their daily meals.

Alliance Development Trust involved itself by helping and providing families with dry rations.

Firstly the ADT team with the help of the Pastors Assembly of Raja Rata and the Divisional Secretariat in Thirukkoil, visited Katiyawa and Pokunugama in the Anuradhapura District and Thirukkovil in the Batticaloa District.

More than 4000 displaced families were mainly assisted by other humanitarian agencies. ADT identified 49 families from Anuradhapura District and more than 500 families from the Batticaloa District who had not received help from other agencies and were in dire need of food and relief. ADT provided them dry food packs consisting of

Rice                 5Kgs
Flour                2Kgs
Dhal                 1Kg
Sugar               1Kg     
Milk Powder    01 Pkt (400g)
Tea                  250g
Tooth Paste     01 (Big)  

We followed our standard procurement procedure and procured them in the respective locations.  

Though transportation of relief to the needy people was difficult due to the security situation in the country, with the help of the Pastors Assembly of Raja Rata and the Divisional Secretariat in Thirukkoil we were able to deliver the goods with minimal delay. 

Our food relief packs brought smiles and a sense of renewed hope in everyone’s faces. A woman from Thirukkovil said “Thank You for the dry ration packs. We don’t have any other way to find food. Now I can manage to feed my family at least for a few days.” Whilst a man from Anuradhapura said “We thank you so much for this food pack. I don’t know when we will be able to get back to normal. Hope we will get back to normal soon and once again I thank you for this food pack”.  

Co ordination, Monitoring and Finances  

The relief coordination activities, monitoring and finances in the Anuradhapura District was led by Pastor Lionel Piyatissa whilst the relief coordination activities, monitoring finances, and activities such as packing, transporting and distribution in the Batticaloa District was led by the Volunteers and the ADT staff in Batticaloa.  

The distribution was monitored by the Divisional Secretariat in Thirukkovil with the representation of Government servants and the Assistant Divisional Secretary at the camp.  

All names and details of the people who received the food packs were recorded.