The
following week as she sat at home with her
parents, she heard people outside crying,
"The sea is coming, people are dead",
and she ran for her life. A great earthquake
1,500 km away underneath the Indian Ocean
had caused tidal waves that engulfed her
town on the eastern coast of Sri Lanka.
Selvavani survived the waves, but she was
separated from the rest of her family. As
the waters subsided she walked in search
of her family. In due course she found her
brother, but she would never see her mother
again. Selvavani's brother had already found
their mother's dead body and buried her.
Homeless
The home in which she had grown up now
destroyed, Selvavani and her family settled
in the Nehru refugee camp where aid agencies
were providing shelter for survivors.
She watched Islamic Relief staff build
a shelter for her family, and although she
would never be able to buy her mother that
sari, she was determined to find a job to
help her family and the other survivors.
IR's new Technical Assistant
She asked Islamic Relief staff to consider
employing her and was asked to come for
an interview. Islamic Relief staff in Sri
Lanka decided to employ her as a technical
assistant and she began work on the home
repair project.
Selvavani now spends her days assessing
damaged houses to determine which are repairable,
then she prepares estimates for the work.
She received her first pay cheque in June
this year, but working for Islamic Relief
has helped her in other ways. Selvavani
has been able to cope better with the trauma
of the disaster and the loss of her mother,
"The environment in the office helps
me forget the tragedy", says Selvavani.
Home Repair Project
IR's engineers have so far surveyed 894
houses, and the team now is now beginning
repair work on them. IR also employed 600
local labourers to clear the debris that
the sea washed into people's homes. So far
more than 2,300 houses have been cleared