Sri Lanka Journal- Andew and Annette Dey: 3/3/2005

Journal Entries

Home
Photos!
Special Photos
Jan 17, 2005
Jan 18, 2005
Jan 21, 2005
Jan 23, 2005
Jan 24, 2005
Jan 25, 2005
Jan 26, 2005
Jan 27, 2005
Jan 28, 2005
Jan 31, 2005
Feb 1, 2005
Feb 2, 2005
Feb 3, 2005
Feb 4, 2005
Feb 5, 2005
Feb 6, 2005
Feb 8, 2005
Feb 9, 2005
Feb 12, 2005
Feb 14, 2005
Feb 16, 2005
Feb 18, 2005
Feb 19, 2005
Feb 20, 2005
Feb 21, 2005
Feb 23, 2005
Feb 24, 2005
Feb 28, 2005
March 1, 2005
March 2, 2005
March 3, 2005
March 4, 2005
March 5, 2005
March 6, 2005
March 7, 2005
March 8, 2005

Links from Andrew and Annette:

Pro Photographer Dixie's web site

Mondo Challenge set up Andrew and Annette's trip.

Unawatuna is the village where they're staying and working

In the north, Andrew and Annette are working with Norwegian People's Aid. NPAID is partnered with the German organization called Arbeiter Samariter Bund.

Bensonwood.com

Andrew

Annette plans to spend the day on site supervising the fabrication of the preschool trusses, and laying out additional shelters. I opt to stay in Kilinochchi to participate in the day-long meeting with the SOLIDAR delegation.

The SOLIDAR delegates, local personnel and I spend the morning on the veranda of the ASB staff house, discussing the specifics ways in which further collaboration between NPA, ASB, and SAH might be structured. I learn a new term: “organigram.” Apparently this is British English for “organizational chart.” Although the proposed structure of the collaboration—who will report to whom about what—is reasonably clear, I have trouble picturing the day-to-day manifestation of this coordination. I also wonder how cultural differences between the organizations—NPA’s mission-oriented approach to demining, for example, versus ASB’s inclusive, culturally-aware perspective on development—will mesh. I conclude that simply meeting to discuss the coordination of future work is a positive step.

After lunch, we take a field trip to visit the house that is being renovated to accommodate SOLIDAR representatives in Kilinochchi. SOLIDAR is leasing the house from an elderly Tamil man who lives next door. When the man learns that Laila, the delegation’s NPA representative, is from Norway, he offers an appreciative political commentary:

“You are from Norway?! Norway is the best country! The Sri Lankan government is hopeless; the LTTE are idiots. Norway is a great country!”

We re-assemble at the ASB house. The agenda for the afternoon is to discuss which of the many elements of Phase III of the recovery effort the three SOLIDAR partners are interested in pursuing. Phase III will focus on restoring livelihoods and rebuilding permanent communities.

The LTTE’s Planning and Development Secretariat—the PDS—has created a comprehensive list of Phase III activities for the NGOs that choose to be involved. Each major heading—Housing, Environment, Education, Health, etc.—includes a number of sub-headings. The sub-headings under “Environment,” for example, are coastal forestry, de-salinization, and re-plantation. Arrayed against the many line-items in the list are three columns in which the NGO can indicate (a) a firm “commitment,” (b) the intention to make a “proposal,” or (c) mild “interest.”

I am impressed by the scope and detail of the document, and wonder whether the government in the south will be able to manage anything similar. The LTTE has certain advantages in organizing relief work in the areas under its control. One of these is the clearly-defined scope of the tsunami-affected areas. The document under discussion covers the coastal areas in the Jaffna, Kilinochchi, and Mullaitivu districts. I am not sure which authority—the LTTE, their breakaway faction headed by a Tiger commander named Karuna, or the Sri Lankan government—is overseeing aid work in the predominately Tamil regions along the eastern coast toward Trincomalee and Batticaloa.

In addition to working within a broad but limited geographic area, the LTTE also has the advantage of exercising firmer control than the Sri Lankan government over its constituents. While on the one hand this concentration of authority can and does lead to abuses of power, it also results in certain efficiencies. It is difficult for me to imagine the fishing families in Vadaramachi East, for example, formally protesting a decision by the LTTE to relocate them half a kilometer from the sea. Mongalesh, the leader of the Sea Tigers in that region, does not appear to be a person who suffers insurrection lightly.

A third advantage held by the LTTE in facilitating reconstruction is the presence of international NGOs already operating in the three northeastern districts. Many heavy-hitters in international aid and development work already had offices and infrastructure in Kilinochchi prior to the tsunami. These groups were working with war-affected persons, they were helping to maintain and monitor the cease-fire, and they were engaged in humanitarian demining. At one of the first post-tsunami meetings of the INGOs with the LTTE, there resulted stiff competition between the INGOs themselves to determine which of them would be responsible for various elements of Phase II. In the middle of the meeting, James Martin, the program manager for ASB, called back to the office and told his coworkers excitedly “We’ve got the shelters for four camps!” The shelter construction in one of the four was subsequently allocated to another INGO that angled in after having lost out on the initial distribution. I am anticipating that a similar “bidding contest” may be precipitated by the LTTE’s long list of potential Phase III activities. This level of organization is in contrast to the south, where I had the impression that the large aid agencies were scrambling simply to establish bases in tsunami-affected areas. At the last meeting that I had attended at the office of the Galle government agent, it seemed that because the local authorities were overwhelmed by the scope of the recovery work, they were simply reacting to various independent initiatives by the INGOs, rather than coordinating and directing their work.

As we settle on the veranda for the afternoon meeting, I am curious to learn how the representatives of the three SOLIDAR organizations will set priorities for the many possible areas of work. My suggestion that they may want to refer to their respective mission statements for guidance is met with polite acknowledgment. However, the ensuring discussion seems to be guided more by an intuitive understanding of the organizations’ respective strengths and interests, rather than by adherence to an explicit set of principles. Although some of the delegates are more ambitious (unrealistic?) than others in terms of the scope of work they envision taking on, all are quite clear about their particular areas of interest.

While Laila and I are chatting during a break for tea, she states matter-of-factly that “the people at the highest risk in these camps are the men.” Her comment takes me by surprise, because until then I had been hearing mainly concern for women and children. Would she care to elaborate?

“In the camps, the women figure out ways to get back to their traditional roles: they cook, they take care of the children, they look after the shelter. But the role of the man as the breadwinner has been usurped by the aid agencies. He has no work, because the fishing sector is destroyed and the local economy is in ruins—and he has no need to work, because food is being provided. This is not a healthy situation for the men. Providing them with opportunities for work as quickly as possible is very important.”

Late in the afternoon I make a plug for maintaining a broad vision of Phase III recovery work. I continue to be dogged by the sight of the small mud huts in which many non-tsunami-affected (but probably war-displaced) families are living. If the SOLIDAR donors in Europe could be educated about the importance of helping all residents of the Vanni, not just those who are victims of the tsunami, then the aid effort could be broadened to address the widest range of poverty and development issues. A comprehensive development program would strengthen the cease-fire, because the war-mongers in the LTTE would have less leverage over people who are healthy, educated, and self-sufficient.

By the end of the meeting, the group has a completed draft of the matrix matching needs and interests. I have attended enough planning and coordination meetings to know that during the coming months, the reality that unfolds will not be nearly as neat or as clear as the matrix suggests, but I am reassured that the recovery efforts in the northeast will continue to receive good attention.