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Tsunami Relief - Sri Lankan Community Support

Region:
Author:
Consortium Member: Tr-Ac-Net
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $19800 Collected: $2500 Needs: $17300
Result: To provide direct assistance - volunteer labor and building materials - to Sri Lankan communities damaged by the December 2004 Tsunami.

Donor: The Edward and Helen Oppenheimer Foundation, Texas [June 2005]
Comment: Tr-Ac-Net is working with VSL to track the flow of money and volunteer labor into its Sri Lankan community projects, and to link these contributions to sustainable results. Working in cooperation with Sri Lankan community members, VSL provides appropriately scaled support and follows through to identify the most effective and enduring impacts.

Background to the Problem:

Sri Lanka was heavily affected by the Dec 26, 2004 tsunami disaster. An estimated 50,000 people died; utter devastation occurred for several hundred miles along Sri Lanka's coast, a heavily populated area.

While huge amounts of funding were quickly promised for tsunami relief, recovery and rehabilitation, little of this funding has been easily available for critical work in affected communities. Most of the funds are “tied” to organizations who are focusing on the work that the organization normally does, with little attention being paid to critical community needs in the aftermath of the tsunami crisis. A large proportion of the money is also flowing through “official channels” and is not easily available for community use, especially in poor and disenfranchised areas.

Volunteers Sri Lanka: Grassroots Assistance to Link Volunteers and Communities in Need

Volunteers Sri Lanka (VSL) organized in the immediate aftermath of the tsunami disaster to provide as much assistance as possible. The initiative was developed by Tod Bruning and some colleagues who had been in Sri Lanka for more than a year. They began to coordinate arriving volunteers by setting up a "help desk" at the Colombo airport and thus were able to guide volunteers to useful assignments. Subsequently Volunteers Sri Lanka (VSL) became registered as a formal NGO in Sri Lanka, and launched a bigger program.

VSL cooperation with Tr-Ac-Net has developed because of a similar commitment to transparency and accountability and how scarce resources can be best used in relief and development situations.

The VSL Community Support Project has three key components

  1. a coordinating activity that helps volunteers do valuable work in communities where their skills are needed;
  2. a financial support activity that helps communities have access to modest funds that are needed for critical needs; and
  3. a community analysis component and oversight management activity that provides transparency and accountability - so that it is clear how and where donors' money was used.
The VSL Community Support Project is a very low cost way of getting a lot of value into communities in need of help. Volunteers are able to do some work without any materials, but their value is leveraged many times over if the work receives support to make it practical and effective. VSL's initial value is in helping to get volunteers available in Sri Lanka to places where they can do the most good.

Materials of various sorts are needed to implement critical small projects within the community. The goal is to complement available work and local effort with a modest material contribution if needed.

The third dimension of VSL's work is documenting the value of this and other projects at the community level. Socio-economic activity in most communities usually receives little or no external support, yet such activity is crucial for the long-term sustainability of relief and development efforts. The community analsyis component enables VSL to gather information about the effectiveness of resource use and its value in terms of socio-economic progress. VSL documents the 'multiplier effect' of the volunteer labor and material contributions. This not only helps VSL to be extremely effective on the ground, it also provides guidance for the management of similar relief efforts anywhere in the world.

Annotated Budget

Tr-Ac-Net is working with VSL to track the flow of money and volunteer labor into its Sri Lankan community projects, and to link these contributions to sustainable results. Working in cooperation with Sri Lankan community members, VSL provides appropriately scaled support and follows through to identify the most effective and enduring impacts.
Community Support Funds
Latrine materials* 1,200
Roofing materials* 1,200
Construction tools 1,200
Emergency medications 1,200
Wages to local workers** 1,200
Paper, pens, supplies 800
Bicycles 1,200
Other 1,000
Sub total Community Support Funds $9,000
*Community members and VSL staff have identified the most pressing needs: sanitation (through building latrines) and housing (sturdy metal roofing).
**By hiring local workers, VSL provides some temporary income to skilled workers who are unemployed due to the disaster.

VSL Management***
Rent (accomodations) $300 a month for 6 months 1,800
Per diem $10 per day (180 days) 1,800
Office rent To end 2005 $700
Transport -car rental 3 month equivalent $1,200
Telephone 6 month equivalent $1,200
Internet access 6 month equivalent $600
Other $1,700
Sub total VSL Management $9,000
VF Administration fee $1,800
***Management is an important part of this process, ensuring efficient use of resources, identifying communities in need and with the capacity to handle the contributions, and working alongside the recipients to support and document the aid delivery from start to finish.

Total Requested from Virtual Foundation $19,800