Disaster Tourists and Professionals

After meeting with the Belgian divers, I went to see the local supervisor of an Irish relief group called GOAL, the most effective of the traditional non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in the Weligama area. Over the last few weeks, GOAL has repaired around 250 wrecked fishing boats and organized a successful cash-for-work program, paying volunteers around $3 a day to clear rubble and dig ditches.

Neil Elliot, who arrived in Sri Lanka a few days ago from Sierra Leone, had just come from a rather frustrating "coordination" meeting with other NGOs. There are many of these groups here -- Oxfam, Save the Children, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees -- all with their own pet projects. With some exceptions, such as GOAL, none of them have made much of an impact, as far as I can tell.

In Weligama, and in several other towns along the coast, local businessmen seem to be taking the lead in relief efforts. (A Belgian tire manufacturer with a factory just outside Weligama was responsible for bringing a 70-man Belgian army engineering unit to town.)

I'm discovering that there's little love lost between the professionals and the amateurs. The professionals think of the amateurs as "disaster tourists," who don't know what they're doing. The amateurs feel that the professionals spend far too much time writing reports and proposals, and have so far done little to justify the huge donations they have received in the wake of the tsunami.

My own opinion, as a semi-outsider, is that the two groups should be cooperating much more closely with each other. Both aid models are inherently flawed. The traditional NGOs spend a lot of the money they raise on administration and logistical support (exactly how much is difficult to determine because of complicated accounting practices). The amateur groups that sprung up in the wake of the tsunami are enthusiastic, but can be ... well, amateurish. The good ones will learn from their mistakes. The bad ones will collapse on their own accord.

One obvious area where the two groups have to work together is in the resurrection of the Sri Lankan fishing fleet. There are some fishermen in Weligama who have been promised boats two or three times over by different relief groups. If all the fishing boats pledged to Sri Lanka actually materialize, the country's fishing fleet will grow to monster proportions, endangering fishing stocks.

A meeting has been called for next Tuesday to work it all out.

-- Michael Dobbs

By washingtonpost.com |  February 9, 2005; 11:30 AM ET  | Category:  Michael Dobbs
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