Who Will Help Over 100,000 Refugees?
27 April 2009
“We fled with tens of thousands into the security zone. On one side was the ocean, on the other a lagoon. It got worse every day. So finally my wife and our five kids fled through the lagoon. When we were in the middle they started shooting at us. Our twelve year old son was hit. In order to save the others we left him there, dying. Finally, government troops came to us through the water and saved us. Now we are here, in a refugee camp.”
This is the story of just one family of many who is struggling to survive the intense battling between the Tamil Tiger rebel groupand government forces in Sri Lanka. By now over 100,000 refugees have reached the camps; tens of thousands are probably still in the area of fighting. Some have lost all they had, including their entire families. At the same time, they are torn emotionally by the 25 years of civil war and it will take many years to overcome this trauma.
It seems that the war will soon end “officially.” Who will then help the far more than 100,000 internal refugees? Where should they go? Who will build them new homes? Who will help them rebuild their lives in the aftermath of such devastation?
The director of NCM Lanka is on his way to the refugee camps. The Sri Lankan government has asked him as well as a few other organizations to help. Thankfully, the work after the Tsunami and with the internal refugees in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka has laid a foundation of trust between the government and NCM. But what a challenge they are facing!
Local specially trained NCM workers will help the suffering to overcome their emotional scars through trauma counseling. They will also supply food, household kits, and tents if resources permit it. Crisis Care Kits are being compiled to provide some of the most basic comforts. All steps will be planned in such a way that they result in long-term change and allow the refugees to build the foundation for a new life. This has already worked after the catastrophes in the East of Sri Lanka where NCM International is still working effectively together with its local and international partners.
Through prayer and financial support you can be part of serving the refugees in Sri Lanka and helping them start new. Every gift, whether large or small, will be invested in the future of people who hardly see reason for hope.
Persons and churches wishing to make a donation can mark their checks “Sri Lanka Internally Displace People NCMPRLK09” and mail them to the Global Treasury Services, PO Box 843116 Kansas City, MO 64184. In Canada, checks should be made payable and sent to the Church of the Nazarene Canada, 20 Regan Road, Unit 9, Brampton, Ontario L7A 1C3.
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