FoG delivers the first round of Flood Aid Aid post-resettlement

Cyclone Roanu swept across Sri Lanka and India leaving chaos and devastation in its wake. Heralding an early and brutal start to the monsoon season, the torrential rain caused severe flooding and landslides across the Northern and Western provinces of Sri Lanka affecting the lives of 400,000 Sri Lankans, with up to 300,000 of them being forced out of their homes and into temporary shelters and relief camps due to the rising waters.

Now as the floods recede, people have started to return to their homes and are faced with the monumental task of salvaging what they can of their destroyed houses while finding the strength and determination to go on. This is the time that they need our support to rebuild their lives and return to normalcy as soon as possible.

Many of these families obtain their income as casual labourers which earns a daily wage and as such these families need to sacrifice their income in exchange for staying at home and cleaning their houses and neighborhoods. Since much of the aid they received so far was made up of clothes and cooked food, their immediate need is for dry rations that can give them a sense of security, knowing their families will be fed especially during the time that they are unable to return to work.

The Foundation of Goodness has put in place a three step plan to help 100 families who were devastated by the recent floods return to normalcy, and rebuild their lives speedily, even stronger than before. Stage 1, completed on Sunday the 29th of May was the distribution of dry rations and grocery packs to help them through the first month or two after the flood.

The 100 families were selected from some of the most severely flood affected neighbourhoods of Sedawatta (Wellampitiya), Angoda and Mulleriyawa, where water levels sometimes rose as high as 6 to 8 feet in homes that were built in low laying areas.  The families were divided into three categories based on the number of individuals, and packs were catered to families with 2-3 members, 4-5 members and more than 6 members. Each pack contained the following list of items;

These packs average at Rs. 25,000 each, at a total cost of Rupees 2.5 Million (USD 17,241) for the completion of stage 1, with stages 2 and 3 of our flood aid yet to be delivered to ensure their long term wellbeing including the donation of household items, essential school items and scholarships for the kids and psycho-social support including loss and trauma counselling and livelihood restoration (subject to further funding).

Thank you for bringing great joy and relief to 100 families through your kind generosity, which will be a great strength to them as they strive to return to normalcy. With your help, we will continue to assist these families rebuild their lives better and stronger than before.

31st May 2016