AID SRI LANKA FOUNDATION

The Aid Sri Lanka Foundation was set up in the immediate aftermath of the tsunami which devastated parts of Asia on 26th December 2004. Using international and Sri Lankan volunteers on the ground, the Foundation aims to provide assistance to some of the one million people affected by the disaster.

In the days and weeks following the tsunami, the Aid Sri Lanka team mobilised to provide direct aid to survivors. As Sri Lanka now moves away from emergency relief to the immense task of rehabilitation, the Foundation is supporting projects to rebuild the lives of those affected. To this end, Aid Sri Lanka is currently working on a number of projects, which will provide long-term, sustainable benefits for the people and communities we work with.

The projects have been carefully designed to ensure that they will be sustainable in the long-term for the people of the island. We see our role as helping the people and communities we are working with to build their futures. Projects are therefore developed in consultation with the communities, drawing on and respecting their knowledge and skills and working together with them to instil a sense of ownership and pride in the work.

With the vast majority of the team living in Sri Lanka long before the disaster, the local knowledge and contacts have reduced the cultural and language barriers and enabled us to work efficiency and effectively from the outset. This has also helped us to understand the needs of the people and provided the cultural sensitivity crucial to the success and sustainability of the projects.