Action by Churches Together (ACT)
Appeal - Sri Lanka
Drought Relief and Rehabilitation - ASSL12
Appeal Target: US$ 40,953
08 November 2001


Certain parts of Sri Lanka have not had rain for the past 22 months
causing a drought situation threatening the livelihood of 345,000
families, totalling 1,770,000 persons. The worst affected districts are
Hambantota, Monaragala and Puttalam.

ACT member the National Council of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) wishes to continue
the support already provided by the churches and is proposing assistance
comprising the following:

  - relief distribution of food
  - distribution of seeds and fertilizers
  - tree planting and awareness raising.


Project Completion Date: 30 April 2002


Summary of Appeal Targets, Pledges/Contributions Received and Balance
Requested

                                          US$
Total Appeal Target(s)                  40,953
Less: Pledges/Contr. Recd.                   0
Balance Requested from ACT Network      40,953

Ms. Genevieve Jacques		Thor-Arne Prois		Rev. Rudolf Hinz
Director			Director, ACT		Director
WCC/Cluster on Relations				LWF/World Service



REQUESTING ACT MEMBER INFORMATION

National Christian Council of Sri Lanka (NCC/SL)


IMPLEMENTING ACT MEMBER AND PARTNER INFORMATION

The National Christian Council of Sri Lanka has been in existence for
approximately forty five years and promotes joint action in many areas of
the life and witness of the churches. The Programmes of Peace &
Reconciliation, Relief & Rehabilitation, Christian Education,
Communication, etc. are some concerns where the Council generally
co-ordinates the activities on behalf of all its members. However, the
members are also free to initiate activities on their own. The churches
and institutions belonging to the members are spread throughout the island
and consist of both Sinhala and Tamil congregations.

Since 1983 the Council has been systematically involved in Relief and
Rehabilitation work in all affected areas in the country. The Council has
a separate unit to implement such work and has served all communities. It
is also recognised by the State and has the approval to work in the
"un-cleared" areas.

The membership of the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka consists of
the following Churches & Institutions.

MEMBER CHURCHES:
Church of Ceylon - Diocese of Colombo
Church of Ceylon - Diocese of Kurunegala
Methodist Church of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Baptist Sangamaya
Church of South India
Dutch Reformed Church
The Salvation Army
The Presbytery of Lanka

MEMBER INSTITUTIONS:
Young Men's Christian Association(YMCA)
Young Women's Christian Association(YWCA)
Ceylon Bible Society
Christian Literature Society(CLS)
Student Christian Movement

The drought relief and rehabilitation will be implemented in the
Hambantota district in association with the Church of Ceylon - Diocese of
Colombo and the Methodist Church situated in the towns of Tangalle and
Hambantota. A Programme Co-ordinator from the National Christian Council
of Sri Lanka will ensure that the programmes are carried out efficiently &
effectively.



DESCRIPTION of the EMERGENCY SITUATION

Background

Sri Lanka, a country which continues to suffer due to the ethnic conflict,
is occasionally hit by natural disasters too. Certain parts of the country
have not had any rain for the past 22 months which has resulted in people
losing their livelihood and living in miserable conditions.


People have been unable to cultivate crops for a long time and whatever
was grown was destroyed by the drought resulting in loss of a basic income
which has in turn increased poverty. The worst affected districts are
Hambantota, Monaragala & Puttalam while Badulla, Batticaloa & Ratnapura,
districts are also affected.

According to official statistics, 354,000 families are suffering from the
devastating drought that prevails in the country.  This totals around
1,770,000 persons about 10% of the total population of Sri Lanka.


Current Situation

Many in the drought stricken areas barely have one meal a day resulting in
increased malnutrition rates and illness.  Should this situation continue,
thousands of people will soon face starvation.

Two NCC/SL of our staff members carried out an assessment mission, meeting
the drought victims as well as the priests and government agents in the
area.


Impact on Human lives

Due to the drought, people have insufficient water even for drinking let
alone cooking, washing, sanitation facilities, cultivation etc. This
situation has lead to transporting drinking water in bowzers and bottled
water from other areas. Hardy crops such as coconut plantations, in the
Weeraketiya area, have been completely destroyed due to lack of water.
Since most agricultural crops have been destroyed, people have lost their
basic means of income and employment. People have been unable to cultivate
for almost four main cultivating seasons which has caused many
difficulties.

The drought has not only severely undermined the livelihood of the people
but has brought it now to a stage where it could lead to possible
outbreaks of diarrhoea and cholera. Water supplies from outside sources
transported in bowsers intensifies this problem as this water is not
purified.

The NCCSL, through its churches situated in the Hambantota district, has
already embarked on providing dry rations to affected families and
facilitated the supply of water from bowsers in some villages. Details see
below.


PROJECT
AMOUNT (Rs.)
IMPLEMENTED THROUGH
NATURE OF WORK

41/01
35,000
NCC Staff Welfare Society
Drought Relief

44/01
35,000
Methodist Church DSR
Drought Relief

45/01
200,000
Bishop of Colombo
Drought Relief

46/01
20,000
Methodist Church, Colombo South Circuit
Drought Relief



Locations for the Proposed Response

DISTRICT
SECRETARIAT
DIVISION
SELECTED VILLAGE
Distance from  Hambantota Town (km)
Closest town
Distance from the closest town

Hambantota
Hambantota
Katanwewa
20
Hambantota
20

Hambantota
Hambantota
Bundala
16
Hambantota
16

Hambantota
Hambantota
Bellagaswewa
06
Hambantota
06

Hambantota
Weeraketiya
Kemegala
40
Tangalle
20

Hambantota
Weeraketiya
Wekedawala North
45
Tangalle
25


Three villages in the Hambantota Secretariat Division and 2 villages in
the Weeraketiya Secretariat Division have been selected, all situated in
the Hambantota district. They are approximately 10km from each other.

The villages have been selected for the following reasons:

- Large scale relief assistance has not reached these villages.
- The villages are situated in remote areas, therefore access is
  difficult.
- Since these villages are small in proportion very often they tend to
  be left out in the overall large scale programmes.
- The churches have access to these villages through their relationship
  with the Temple.
- Since they are small in proportion they are of a handle able size
  with regards to the resources available in the local churches and the
  NCCSL.




GOAL & OBJECTIVES

The overall goal of the programme is to alleviate the suffering caused by
the drought in selected villages where relief does not easily flow and to
empower the most vulnerable to regain their self sufficiency.


Objectives
 - Provide Immediate Food Relief.
 - To empower those affected to re-cultivate their land once the drought
   ends.
 - Create awareness on the causes of drought and encourage tree planting
   in villages.


TARGETED BENEFICIARIES

NCC/SL has earmarked the following villages in the Hambantota District for
assistance, covering the total population as all are affected.

SELECTED VILLAGE
NO. FAMILIES AFFECTED
POPULATION IN EACH VILLAGE
NO.OF CHILDREN (Under 15 Years)

Katanwewa
148
650
120

Bundala
98
545
100

Bellagaswewa
106
648
75

Kemegala
164
680
91

Wekedawala North
135
650
48

TOTAL
651
3173
434


Criteria used for beneficiary selection

Almost all of the above families are engaged in farming. They are mainly
small-scale farmers cultivating on land given on permit and some who work
for daily wage in bigger agricultural lands. These families were selected
because they have lost all means of livelihood and overall relief has not
reached these areas for reasons mentioned earlier. These villages were
identified through the Government Agents, Grama Sevaka (Village Helper),
Churches etc.

Number of villages selected for relief assistance          =    5
Total Number of families residing in the selected villages =  651
Total Number of beneficiaries                              = 3173


PROPOSED EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE & IMPLEMENTATION

CRISIS PHASE ASSISTANCE

Distribution of food commodities

Essential dry rations such as rice, flour, sugar, dhal, milk powder etc.
amounting to Rs.1,000/= will be provided for 651 selected families (the
entire family including men, women & children) for three continuous months
(from November 2001 to January 2002). The dry rations will be purchased
from Hambantota town & parcelled in the churches and distributed
thereafter.

Each family will receive a parcel containing the following quantity of
items for a month:


- Rice 10kgX Rs.26/=	260
- Flour 5kg X Rs.20/=	100
- Dhal  2kg X Rs.55/=	110
- Sugar 3kg X Rs.36/=	   108
- Milk Powder 400g pkts X 2X Rs.119/=	238
- Coconuts 10XRs.10/=	100
- Condiments - Curry powder, Chilly powder etc.  84
- TOTAL             Rs  1,000


POST CRISIS PHASE ASSISTANCE

Once the rains set in NCC/SL plans to assist the families by providing
some implements towards regaining food security and to create awareness on
the causes of drought. This part of the programme will start almost
simultaneous with the food distributions as the first rains are expected
in November/December.


Distribution of agricultural implements

Seeds, plants and fertiliser worth Rs 2,000/= will be distributed to each
farmer family to re-cultivate their land:

Purchase of seeds/plants	500
Fertiliser	1,500
Total Rs.	2,000

Tree-Planting Project & Awareness Programme

To create environmental awareness and engage people in planting trees
throughout the village it is planned to provide plants amounting to
200,000 Rs to identified families in the area according to the
availability of land.
Coconut plants 2,000 x Rs.75/=each	150,000
Jak plants 1,000 x Rs.50/=each	    50,000
Total Rs.	200,000


ADMINISTRATION, FINANCE, MONITORING & REPORTING

All Relief and Rehabilitation work will be directly monitored by a
committee specially set up for the purpose and based at the NCC/SL office.

All policy decisions will be made by the committee and will be responsible
for the overall implementation and monitoring of the project. On the
advice of the committee, the General Secretary and the Treasurer of the
NCC/SL will be responsible for disbursement of funds, financial control,
audit etc. The General Secretary will be assisted by the Administrative
cum Programme Assistant of the Relief and Rehabilitation Unit.


The Finance department of the NCC/SL will monitor the disbursement of
funds and will be responsible for accounting and audit. The General
Secretary will be responsible for the final reporting along with the
audit.

At the ground level, the church will form a small committee comprising of
the Parish Priest, Grama Sevaka, Buddhist Monks in the respective village,
a few village heads and the Co-ordinator from NCC, who will manage the
programme and ensure the smooth flow of activities.



IMPLEMENTATION TIMETABLE

Crisis phase:	November  2001 - January 2002
Post crisis phase: 	November/December - April 2002



COORDINATION

All work done by NCC/SL will be co-ordinated through the divisional
secretariat of the Government. The implementing churches are generally
members of the NGO consortium in the local town and this enables NCC/SL to
co-ordinate and avoid duplication, share resources and co-ordinate among
the NGOs.

At the village level, implementation is done in consultation with the
village Grama Sevaka (Village Headman) or the Assistant Government Agent
and where possible with the Samurdhi volunteer workers. Discussions to
this effect have already been held with the relevant authorities.

See the diagram below.

NCCSL - Government Agent (Head of the District)

Assistant     Grama Sevaka(Village headman)
Government
Agent


ICRC/WFP/NGOs


Church/Co-ordinator


BUDGET

Description	Type of	No. of	Unit	Budget	Budget
	Unit	Units	Cost	LKR	USD

CRISIS PHASE ASSISTANCE
Relief Programme for 651 Families
   Over 3 Months
Rice (30 kg per family)	Kg	19,530	26	507,780	5,501
Flour (15 kg per family)	Kg	9,765	20	195,300	2,116
Dhal (6 kg per family)	Kg	3,906	55	214,830	2,328
Sugar (9 kg per family)	Kg	5,859	36	210,924	2,285
Milk powder (6 packets per family)	Packet	3,906	119	464,814	5,036
Coconuts (30 per family)	Number	19,530	10	195,300	2,116
Condiments (curry powder, chili powder)	Packet	1,953	84	   164,052	  1,777
Sub Total				1,953,000	21,159


POST CRISIS ASSISTANCE
Food Security and Agricultural Inputs
Seeds and plants	Family	651	500	325,500	3,527
Fertilizers	Family	651	1,500	   976,500	10,580
Sub total				1,302,000	14,106

Re-Planting
Coconut plants	Plant	75	2,000	150,000	1,625
Jak plants	Plant	50	1,000	  50,000	   542
Sub total				200,000	2,167

Total				1,502,000	16,273


MATERIAL TRANSPORT, STORAGE, WAREHOUSING AND HANDLING
Transp. of food inputs: town to villages	Village	5	15,000	75,000	813
Transport of fertilizers 	Village	5	5,000	25,000	271
Transport of plants 	Trip	10	5,000	50,000	542
Fees for parceling, loading/unloading
   of food	Village	5	6,000	30,000	325
Description	Type of	No. of	Unit	Budget	Budget
	Unit	Units	Cost	LKR	USD

Fees for parceling, loading/unloading
   of seeds and fertilizers	Village	5	4,000	  20,000	   217
Sub Total				200,000	2,167


PERSONNEL, ADMINISTRATION, OPERATIONS AND SUPPORT COSTS
Staff salaries and support
Coordinator	Month	6	15,000	90,000	975
Staff Travel
Local and regional travel	Lump sum			25,000	271
Communications
Telephone and fax	Lump sum			  10,000	   108
Sub Total				125,000	1,354


TOTAL EXPENDITURE				3,780,000	40,953

BALANCE REQUESTED 				-3,780,000	-40,953



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Action by Churches Together (ACT) is a worldwide alliance of churches and
their related agencies, meeting human need through co-ordinated emergency
response.  The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of
Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland.
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