An Aid Worker

When I was looking for someone to help me find temporary housing for the villagers of Satniwasapura, I did not turn to a foreign aid worker. I needed a local who could talked to the villagers and bureaucrats in their own language, and knew how to get things done in Sri Lanka. Kapila Jayasekera was my man.

Up until the tsunami, Kapila worked for a local tire factory, Loadstar, as a training manager. After the tsunami, when Loadstar became heavily involved in relief work, he became a full-time aid worker. He still receives a salary from Loadstar, but spends most of his time working on the recovery effort.

Initially, the government promised to rebuild all tsunami-devastated areas within six months. But it turns out that this estimate was wildly optimistic -- and Kapila believes that it will take "at least 12-15 months" to fully rebuild the town. His immediate goal is to move everybody living in tents -- including the Satniwasapura villagers -- into sturdier temporary housing by the beginning of the rainy season, which is almost here.

With Loadstar's backing, Kapila began erecting temporary wooden huts on the ruins of houses destroyed by the tsunami. It seemed the obvious and cheapest solution: the builders could make use of the same concrete slabs that served as the foundations for the original houses. But officials objected, saying that the plan violated a government-imposed 100 meter setback from the sea.

Kapila found a new site further away from the coastline for the temporary houses, but it's still unclear where the permanent housing will be built.

-- Michael Dobbs

By washingtonpost.com |  February 18, 2005; 12:37 PM ET  | Category:  Kapila Jayasekera , Michael Dobbs
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