Aid Shipments

In response to the tsunami of 26th December 2004, the Epiphany Trust immediately sent £1000 to our long term contact, Pastor Sylvester Joseph to assist his emergency aid missions. By the 27th he had filled 3 vans with essential supplies of water, food, clothing and blankets and was heading to the East coast. In January we sent over a further £2000 and over the coming weeks Sylvester, who runs a school for disadvantaged children in Welimada in the Nuwara Eliya Hill Country, made several more visits to the coast; all made possible by the generosity of Epiphany Trust supporters.

Early in 2005 we were approach by the Hong Kong based charity Global Hand. They had a warehouse full of equipment and the means to deliver it to Sri Lanka, but not the local knowledge to be able to distribute it within the country. Through our contacts with the Galle City Council we were able to import and distribute 40 tonnes of aid to those most in need.

The tsunami, not only devastated homes, land and lives, but also the basic infrastructure of vast areas. The local authorities worst hit by the tsunami lost schools, hospitals, water & power services, and utility vehicles such as refuse lorries and fire engines. Liverpool City Council launched an aid programme for the people of Sri Lanka entitled “Hands across the Sea” and The Epiphany Trust agreed to help facilitate this initiative.

In September 2006, two Green Goddess fire engines, de-commissioned by the Ministry of Defence were dispatched to Colombo. The fire engines are now operational and saving lives in the city of Kandy. The official hand over ceremony was held at the office of the Hon. Ranil Wickramsinge, (Mayor of Kandy) and attended by many civic dignitaries.

In May 2007, a 40 foot container, financed by The Epiphany Trust and “Hands across the Sea”, arrived in Colombo. Its main cargo was a refurbished dental surgery, purchased from Dentaid – a charity supplying dental equipment to developing countries. The surgery is to be operated by Dr Leel Siriwardane, a dental surgeon at Colombo Hospital. It also contained school and medical equipment collected by well wishers from Warrington, Wigan and Merseyside. The goods have been received by tsunami affected schools, nurseries and individual families. We are hoping to send another container of equipment in 2008 to address the continuing need and will be appealing for school and medial equipment soon. Watch this space...

Loss & Trauma Counselling

The Epiphany Trust, with two of its UK partners, Hands Across the Sea and Jigsaw 4U, has been running a programme to train Sri Lankan social workers, health professionals and teachers in how to enable bereaved children to cope with the trauma and loss they have suffered.

Through the work of many charities and organisations since the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami many people have been able to start physically rebuilding their lives in Sri Lanka. But even though houses have been re-built and businesses re-started, the attempts to address the emotional issues are still just scratching the surface. People have to somehow come to terms with the fact that they have lost a whole working lifetime’s worth of acquisition, have lost family and friends, have lost the life that they once had.

To help deal with these debilitating scars teams of people have been travelling out for three-week visits to Sri Lanka, led by experienced trauma counsellor Anne Davis. The groups often included people who have themselves been bereaved. The previous devastating loss suffered by the young people in the team has allowed them to communicate from their own experience and help both children and adults more effectively cope with their grief. Art & crafts, sport, discussions, testimonies and games are all used as tools through the sessions held in community halls, in people's homes and on the beach.

Using a rotation system, it is hoped that there will be a constant presence from the Jigsaw 4U counsellors who will simultaneously be training some of Epiphany’s current partners in order to ensure maximum effect of the project on a daily basis and for many years to come.

Sturat MacPherson was part of the first of these visits. To read his report click here

 

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