Rebuilding Homes, Transforming Lives

The very place that we live in is something most of us in Singapore take for granted. But for thousands of people on the eastern coast of Sri Lanka, having a place to call home is something that they have longed for. Since the tsunami in December 2004, TOUCH Community Services International (TCSI), together with our Sri Lankan community partner, has helped to house 200 families displaced by the disaster in temporary shelters made of wood and corrugated zinc sheet. Such arrangements, although critical, are not meant to be long-term solutions.

Thanks to a $1.7 million funding support from Singapore Red Cross Tidal Waves Asia Fund, TCSI started on a project to build 200 houses for victims of the tsunami. After two years of planning, sorting out administrative issues and construction, we are pleased to report that Phase One of the rebuilding effort has been completed. Mr Eugene Seow, Executive Director of TOUCH, was in Sri Lanka in October 2007 to give out the house keys and title deeds to beneficiaries.
All smiles - children from the Thirukkovil Camp making their way to school.

64-year-old Mr Sangara Pillai Devarasa is a typical resident of the temporary shelters set up in Thirukkovil Camp. A labourer by trade, he has been homeless for more than two years with his wife and two children. During the tsunami crisis, he endured the loss of loved ones, property and his tools of trade, which sent his family into an emotional and economic tailspin. Being the first to receive the keys to his new house, he was visibly overjoyed as he hosted the TCSI team to tea. He said, “We hit absolute rock bottom. Now we know we are on our way up. I am so grateful to be the first to receive the keys to my new house.”

Thousands more like Mr Devarasa cannot take the necessary steps to put their lives in order until they have a decent place to call home.

All 200 houses are due to be completed by end 2008, after which TCSI will continue to build other infrastructures such as a school, community centre and other facilities to help the tsunami victims return to their normal lives.


Meanwhile, the children living in the camp have started to go back to school. As the camp is quite a distance away from the schools, public transport has also been arranged to fetch them there and back. Oblivious to the struggles surrounding their parents, the children in the camp are living life the only way they know how – with a sense of hope, joy and laughter.