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The dry rations and water are now flooding into the Hambantota district. So much so that by the end of this crisis, there may even be a surplus. Most organisations are focusing on providing immediate relief to the suffering people. Perhaps the atmosphere of uncertainty caused by the numerous ongoing crises has generated this nature of thinking – to take it one day at a time. People are now acclimatised to living by the day without considering what will happen tomorrow. But sooner or later, the rains will come, the relief programmes will end, the limelight will fade and it will be the residents of Hambantota who will have to face reality once again. One organisation has considered this. World Vision, while providing some immediate relief, is focusing their energies more on a long-term solution. “We are not interested in going and distributing food right now because we know that the government and other NGOs are right now involved in that,” Andrew W. Sundersingh, National Coordinator of Disaster Management said. World Vision, however, remains committed to the division in which they have previously carried out their development work – Lunugamvehera, Tissamaharama and Thanamalvila. Sundersingh said, “The reason for selecting these divisions is that we have a 15-year long area development programme in this area and firstly we are committed to the children there. Of course we may go into about 20000 families which will also include other divisions.” Sundersingh was of the view that a more participatory approach is now needed to provide a long-term solution to the crisis. “We are planning to start the programme which is a long term programme,” he said. “We are thinking about a 6-month programme where the people will also participate in some kind of work and then perhaps distribute according to the number of hours of work.” Prasanna de Silva, team leader at World Vision, living and working in Tissamaharama commented on the actual situation there. “It’s pretty severe,” he said. “Having gone out in the field I can tell you that there are some really remote areas that are suffering quite a bit. That is why we are focusing on a long-term solution. If this kind of a situation happens again, we should be prepared.”
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