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SIRIBOPURA, Sri Lanka (January 9, 2007) - For over a year, the Alahakoon family dreamed of a solid brick house from CARE to replace the old home they had lost during the devastating tsunami of 2004.
| Sriyani Alahakoon, 43, stands outside the new house CARE built for her family after their old home was destroyed by the 2004 tsunami. (©2006 Jason Sangster/CARE) |
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They were so excited and enthusiastic that each day at least one of them would make the long trek between the transitional-shelter camp, where they were staying at the time, to CARE's construction site at Siribopura.
Kumara Alahakoon, 46, told CARE in November 2005 that he was confident his family would get a great home, but he still wanted to be there, to make sure that the work went according to schedule: "If it's a rainy day, I'll come. If it's very hot and sunny, I'll come also, even if for a shorter time. I like seeing the progress here, and I'm counting the days until we finally move in."
At the time, the Siribopura site was little more than a dustbowl. The land was dry and parched, with little vegetation. Only scattered skeletons of houses dotting the scenery held the promise of a new, vibrant community.
By July 2006, CARE's contractors had finished major construction work. Families began to visit the site on a regular basis to plan their move-in date, and to plant trees and flower shrubs.
The Alahakoons were among the first to settle in, on August 8. New keys jingled in Kumara's hands, which trembled with excitement. The family performed a small, private blessing ceremony. And then they entered through the front door and began the next chapter of their lives.
Since that time, Siribopura has undergone a transformation. The landscape is no longer dust brown punctuated by small, prickly water-miser bushes, but lush green. Small dust tornadoes used to swirl and roam just above the ground, but now bright flowers and tall corn plants dominate in newly set-up gardens.
Around 80 families, most of whom were neighbors in their pre-tsunami communities, have moved in, despite the fact that the local government has yet to finish building a number of promised infrastructure facilities -- a good road, water systems, etc.
"Those things will come," says Sriyani, Kumara's 43-year-old wife. "The important thing for us is that this house was finished quickly enough, and that we could move out from the transitional shelter when we did."
Aside from the comfort factors -- and Sriyani simply can't stop talking about how much better it is to be in her new home compared to living in temporary facilities -- there are also important economic reasons for the family to be in their own permanent space.
Before the tsunami, the family owned several businesses that were all run from the confines of their old home compound. Kumara repaired tuk-tuks, the three-wheelers upon which Sri Lankans rely for transportation, in a workshop in his front yard. The area also doubled as storage space for spare parts. Sriyani ran a bustling convenience shop selling staple foods, snacks, drinks and other household items from her front porch. The kids, aged 7 to 16, helped out after school with the running of a small nursery stocking anthuriums, geraniums, ferns and other types of decorative plants.
"We lost all that," says Sriyani. "But in this new home we are beginning again. We have only had a few months here, but our lives are already much better."
A reborn nursery takes up a third of the Alahakoons' new front yard. It blooms with bright flowers and is popular with neighbors, who are planting their own yards with gusto. CARE included Sriyani in a livelihood program and helped her purchase a new refrigerator; a cold soda sells for four rupees more than an unchilled bottle. Kumara has traveled in Colombo to work out a deal on tuk-tuk spare parts, and the family has set aside land beside the house for him to build a new workshop for repair jobs.
Transferring to Siribopura has been easier for the family because they already know their neighbors. CARE committed early in the reconstruction program to the community's wish that they stay together and not be scattered in distant housing complexes.
"It's more secure this way. Everyone knows everyone else, and we already know how to deal with problems between families, if those should arise," explains Sriyani. "We help each other, and that's important. If we had new neighbors, we would have to start new relationships with them, and that can be difficult."
As dusk approachs and Siribopura's families prepare to bed down in their new homes, the mother of three adds that since coming to settle here, she hasn't thought much about the tsunami disaster.
"With a new home like this," she says, "we can forget the terrible thing that happened, and focus on our future. My kids are happier now, and they can dream good things again."
Read more about CARE's response to the 2004 tsunami.
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