Connecting the Dots…
Long road to recovery leaves credit unions and communities stronger SRI LANKA photos: David Shanks
T
he Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) is in the final stage of assisting tsunami-affected communities in Sri Lanka. The eight-year long project was triggered by the deadly 2004 Asian tsunami. Members of SANASA credit unions (known as primary thrift and savings societies) were among the dead, injured and homeless in tsunamiaffected cities and towns along much of Sri Lanka’s coastline. Society buildings were also damaged and in some instances washed out to sea along with teller wickets, safes and records. SANASA—with its deep networks in tsunami-affected areas—was in a position to put in place programs that would have immediate and long-term impacts. SANASA responded quickly with emergency aid and loans and put out a call to its co-operative partners abroad for assistance.
A Wave of Support CCA and the Co-operative Development Foundation of Canada (CDF) responded quickly. A team met with SANASA founder Dr. Kiriwandeniya in Colombo that January to assess the needs and consider ways Canadians could help. They established ground rules to ensure recovery efforts did not diminish SANASA values of mutual self-reliance and were co-ordinated with other contributing co-operative movements. In the days and weeks that followed, past CDF president Jim Barr captained the charity’s most successful fundraising campaign to that date, raising $750,000 from Canadian co-operatives, credit unions and their members for tsunami relief. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) contributed $9.3 million and the Canadian Red Cross stepped in with over $6 million to ensure much greater reach. What began as an effort to help tsunami affected Sri Lankans cope and recover has also helped SANASA members affected by that nation’s long civil war re-establish their livelihoods, homes and savings.
The Project The CCA-SANASA project Rebuilding and Strengthening Livelihoods in Post Tsunami Sri Lanka was designed to be a multi-faceted development response to the tsunami disaster. At the outset, CCA and SANASA recognized that those affected by the tsunami resided on both sides of the
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SANASA Federation General Manager L.B. Dissanayake (L) and Rosamma (R), a member of the Al Hutha Women’s Primary Society, brief past CDF Chairperson Jim Barr soon after the tsunami. They are standing on the remains of Rosamma’s primary society in Sainthamaruthu, on Sri Lanka’s eastern shore.
high water mark left that day. SANASA contributed its reach, reputation and institutional capacity. The Canadian International Development Agency’s involvement enabled the reconstruction of SANASA primary societies and records, the formation of development centres to assess local needs for services, the installation of wells and toilets and the delivery of needed livelihood training.” When CIDA tsunami funding ended on June 30, 2009, the project continued and construction of new houses began with the support of the Canadian Red Cross. The project focussed on replacing housing, rebuilding capacity and livelihoods, and managing risk (insurance).
And while they will be the focus of much discussion at a closing forum planned for early next year, a number of themes have emerged which suggest that recovery is a slow and highly complex process that works best when affected communities are in the driver seat, deciding needs and directions right from the start. Recovery efforts must take into account the impact on communities of what some have dubbed a second tsunami of free, often duplicated and uncoordinated aid from around the world. Also, recovery efforts need to pay special attention to vulnerable groups who are disproportionately affected by such disasters—women, children, the elderly and the disabled.
In seven years the project has built 320 new houses and 490 water and sanitation units, trained over 78,000 people in livelihoods and leadership, issued 14,740 microfinance loans, and insured more than 35,000 people in tsunami and conflict affected regions. Beyond the numbers, this contribution of financial and human resources is a testament to the power of partnerships, successfully bringing government, donor and private sector expertise to bear at a time of unprecedented need. The project has left the SANASA movement stronger and influenced the co-operative recovery strategies of every participant.
The CCA-SANASA partnership:
The lessons learned from this historic rebuilding and recovery effort are many.
The Canadian Co-operative Association began its longstanding partnership with the SANASA Federation in 1986 after recognizing the dynamism that a new leadership was bringing to the revitalization and expansion of the credit union movement in Sri Lanka. Since then, CCA has undertaken nearly a dozen different projects with SANASA, covering a wide range of activity that has included capacity building of the Federation, member education and leadership development, vocational training and enterprise development,