Tsunami Recovery and Political Violence

World Concern has teams permanently based in north eastern Sri Lanka.  They continue to rebuild the lives and livelihoods of families shattered by the tsunami.  At the same time, World Concern has been a leader in responding to the urgent needs of families as they flee their homes due to the violence of the civil war.

The Sri Lankan goverment estimates there are appoximately 160,000 people that have been displaced in the northern region since 2006.

Read a Reuters article on the Sri Lanka situation

To multiply our impact, World Concern is building the capacity of local churches to help desperate families who must rush from their homes with only the things they can carry.

Being a nimble agency, our teams have been able to respond quickly to sudden influxes of displaced families. 

We provide hot meals until they can find a place to stay, then provide them with food to cook until they can either find their own food or return to their homes.

At the same time, World Concern often provides them access to water and toilets to prevent widespread disease and further deaths.

When families are unable to return home for long periods, World Concern has helped them to find both temporary and long-term sources of income.  This allows families to quickly become self-supporting so they can begin the process of healing and we can be free to help other families.

Donate to Sri Lanka relief efforts

Photos from Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka background information

• Sri Lanka is a fertile tropical island country with vast potential
• The economy depends on tourism and exports of tea and manufactured clothing
• The tourism industry has suffered badly from the tsunami and press coverage of the violence associated with the civil war.
• The Indian Ocean tsunami destroyed communities and infrastructure along ¾ of its coastline.
• More than 30,000 people died in the tsunami and remnants of hundreds of communities have had to relocate, away from their jobs.
• A recent return to violence, especially in the north, may be signaling the final throes of a 25-year civil war, but in the mean time it is expected to cause thousands of people to flee their homes in the coming weeks

Restoring Lives and Livelihoods

• Building permanent homes to replace those lost in the tsunami
• Supporting whole communities to form new livelihood strategies
• Helping other communities to double their income through better access to markets and equipment
• Providing wells for drinking water and irrigation, improving health and increasing income
• Supporting churches and other local agencies to increase their ability to serve families chased from their homes by the war
• Providing food, supplies and temporary income to these war-displaced families
• Providing mental health care to those traumatized by the tsunami and the war