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    <title>Mercy Corps Sri Lanka Features</title>
    <link>http://www.mercycorps.org/</link>
    <description>The Latest Mercy Corps Sri Lanka Content</description>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <copyright>(c) 2007 Mercy Corps</copyright>
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<item>
	<title>Mercy Corps Food Crisis Response Gets $2.7-Million Boost from the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/aboutus/pressroom/2314/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Mercy Corps is awarded a $2.7 million grant from the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation to advance its food crisis response efforts.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:29:24 -0700</pubDate>
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<item>
	<title>Recovery Amid Conflict</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/srilanka/1742/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Mercy Corps is helping Sri Lankan families from different income levels and ethnic backgrounds to find gainful and sustainable employment.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Wed, 18 Jul 2007 08:16:17 -0700</pubDate>
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<item>
	<title>Mercy Corps Worker Injured in Sri Lanka</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/srilanka/1743/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[On June 13, a Mercy Corps team member - Tony Villamor, the finance and compliance manager - was injured in a shooting incident.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Fri, 15 Jun 2007 10:58:32 -0700</pubDate>
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<item>
	<title>Community Groups Helping Neighbors</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/srilanka/1676/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Tsunami-affected communities are putting their rebuilding plans on hold to help families displaced by recent violence.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Thu, 29 Mar 2007 06:40:01 -0700</pubDate>
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<item>
	<title>A Budding Entrepreneur</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/srilanka/1467/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[One man, with Mercy Corps' help, begins a new career in Ampara. ]]></description>
	<pubDate>Wed, 20 Sep 2006 08:41:44 -0700</pubDate>
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	<title>Q&amp;A: Crisis Displaces Sri Lankan Families</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/civilsociety/1429/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Mercy Corps Sri Lanka Country Director Josh DeWald answers questions about the current crisis.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Fri, 18 Aug 2006 11:03:06 -0700</pubDate>
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<item>
	<title>Sri Lankan Families Flee Violence</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/srilanka/1407/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Fighting in northeastern Sri Lanka has forced an estimated 170,000 people from their homes.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Mon, 07 Aug 2006 09:30:40 -0700</pubDate>
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	<title>Tsunami, One Year Later: A Year of Challenges and Accomplishments</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/india/1023/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Thanks to the unprecedented support of our donors and the courageous resolve of tsunami survivors, once-devastated villages across Asia and East Africa are rebuilding stronger than ever.  In many cases, recovery has come much more quickly than expected.  Farmers are seeing surprising bumper crops, businesses are booming and students are back in classrooms pursuing valuable learning.

 In all, Mercy Corps has assisted well over a million survivors through a wide range of timely, innovative programs designed in close collaboration with the survivors themselves. 

It hasn't been easy.  There's been enough hard work to span decades, let alone twelve months.  The exceptional heroism of survivors, aid workers and donors partnered together, however, has made the near-impossible happen.  We maintain that people are the best agents of their own recovery - and the year following the tsunami has proven that point emphatically.

Thousands of families across India, Indonesia, Somalia and Sri Lanka have reclaimed their lives from the rubble with your help.

Over the last year, some of the accomplishments Mercy Corps has helped survivors achieve include:

Clearing or constructing 238 miles of roads in Indonesia's Aceh Province,
Restoring 483 drinking water systems in villages across Aceh,
Reclaiming hundreds of acres of cropland in India by digging over 100 drainage canals, and
Rebuilding and furnishing 25 preschools in coastal Sri Lanka.

You can find a more comprehensive list of Mercy Corps' tsunami relief and recovery efforts in our recent publication, A Year of Disasters: Accountability Report 2005.  

Cash-for-work programs lauded

Mercy Corps' cash-for-work programs across tsunami-affected areas was critical in providing much-needed income and a return to work for local laborers.  This strategy helped clear roads of debris, clean schools for re-opening and build or repair critical infrastructure.  It also injected much-needed money into local economies, helping small businesses restock and reopen.

Recently, Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health collaborated with Mercy Corps to produce a comprehensive report, The Mercy Corps Cash for Work Program in Post-Tsunami Aceh.  

The report indicates that &quot;Mercy Corps' experience in Aceh demonstrates that relief efforts that provide cash disbursements to local populations can be safely delivered on a widespread basis in emergencies, and that, when implemented on a short-term basis, can have positive impacts at the individual as well as the community level.&quot; 

Cash-for-work is at the heart of Mercy Corps' philosophy - empowering communities to bring about change.  Within days of the tsunami, the program was helping people envision and work to achieve a speedy return to their homes and businesses.  A year later, its positive effects are everywhere.

Ongoing challenges

From the hours after the disaster, we have known that recovery across the tsunami zone will take years, not months.  We continue to work with communities to achieve strong, sustainable results.

It is important to remember that the Aceh and Sri Lanka recoveries are taking place in the context of long-standing civil conflicts.  In Aceh, the tsunami has helped bring the two sides closer together.  In Sri Lanka, it remains to be seen whether the recovery process will help ease tensions between the Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims. 
 
Mercy Corps' recovery programs in Aceh and Sri Lanka are designed to bring people together, emphasizing their many shared goals over their past differences.  In both places, the peace process and the tsunami recovery are totally interdependent: you cannot have success in one without progress in the other.
 
We want the legacy of our work to be not just a healthier and more prosperous region, but a more peaceful one as well.

A year has passed and so much has been accomplished - but much work remains.  As the anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami nears, please consider a generous gift to let hard-working survivors know you're still standing with them.

Thank you for your continued support.
]]></description>
	<pubDate>Fri, 16 Dec 2005 10:10:53 -0800</pubDate>
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<item>
	<title>The Village That Could</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/srilanka/900/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Lyn Robinson remembers the tsunami's aftermath like it was yesterday.

&quot;When I arrived, it was a scene of total devastation,&quot; recalls Robinson, Mercy Corps' Program Manager for the Oprah's Angel Network-funded program in Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka. &quot;The village was destroyed. Everyone had lost someone, and some people had lost their entire families.&quot;

The devastating waves of the tsunami swept away hundreds of lives, as well as the livelihoods of the survivors. Only ruins remained where hotels and restaurants had stood minutes before.  More than 90% of the fishing boats were swept away or destroyed. 

Today, the village has returned to life.  Hotels and restaurants have re-opened, and fishermen have returned to the sea.  People here recognize that a major catalyst for this rapid revitalization was the implementation of Mercy Corps' livelihoods recovery program funded by Oprah's Angel Network.

&quot;Despite the magnitude of the disaster, the survivors began to pull their lives together within weeks and move forward,&quot; says Lyn Robinson. &quot;The courage and determination of the people of Arugam Bay is an inspiring example of the strength of the human spirit.&quot;

Habibaumma, one of the few female fishermen in the community, was on the shore getting her boat and crew ready for the day's fishing when the tsunami waves came.  Older fishermen on the shore recognized that the sea was abnormal and called for her to run.  

She made it to safety, and watched in horror as her friends and neighbors struggled to higher ground.  Already widowed, Habibaumma saw her only means of support, her boat and nets, being destroyed. 

Habibaumma was determined to rebuild her life.  With assistance from Mercy Corps and Oprah's Angel Network, she quickly replaced her fishing nets so that she and the fifty men and women on her crew could return to sea and recover their livelihoods.

The Arugam Bay program was one of the first in Sri Lanka to focus on the recovery of livelihoods.  Within days of the tsunami, Mercy Corps designed a long term, comprehensive strategy with the philosophy of &quot;Building Back Better&quot; which includes training, institution building and support to local businesses. 

Mercy Corps, through funding from Oprah's Angel Network, supports a number of activities in Arugam Bay, including:

The installation of street lights in town to increase security and safety
Tourism recovery clean-up activities
Rebuilding of restaurant and tea shop owners' livelihoods
Support of local fishing industry activities
Landscaping to replace trees and plants lost in the tsunami
Training for tourism industry employees, including hotel and restaurant management, computer support and advocacy
Support to small groceries and stores, mostly women-owned
The design and launch of a website to promote tourism in Arugam Bay (www.visitarugambay.com)

Fighting Back for their Future
Before the fateful tsunami on December 26, 2004, Arugam Bay was just beginning to emerge and prosper after twenty years of civil war.  After peace accords were signed in 2002, it quickly became the most popular tourist destination on Sri Lanka's east coast.  One of the top surf sites in the world, it attracted surfers from abroad in search of great waves and beautiful beaches. 

The white beaches and world-class waves of Arugam Bay not only caught the interest of tourists, but of outside developers as well.  In the midst of struggling to rebuild their lives after the tsunami, the community of Arugam Bay was hit with another potential disaster: an attempted &quot;land-grab&quot; by outside business interests of their prized beaches and budding tourism industry.

Thanks to the determination and spirit of the Arugam Bay community, the take-over bid has proved unsuccessful so far.  The community was able to organize, fight back and win.  

In June 2005, the Chairman of the Sri Lankan Tourist Board sent a letter of formal apology, retracting his previous statements that private property in Arugam Bay would be acquired by the state-controlled Tourist Board for redevelopment. 

To ensure that the needs of the community continue to shape and drive the rehabilitation agenda in Arugam Bay, Mercy Corps and Oprah's Angel Network have designed a series of activities to help this self-reliant community not only get back on their feet, but to determine their own future. 

Mercy Corps is facilitating preparation of a Community Development Plan, in which stakeholders can share their needs and wishes for future development.

Arugam Bay has demonstrated its determination to build back stronger, as well as its fighting spirit, over the past seventeen months.  It has firmly established itself as Sri Lanka's little village that could.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 08:59:32 -0700</pubDate>
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<item>
	<title>Calling Kinniya Back to Life</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/tsunami/782/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Mira Saheem has a hot and dusty commute. I can vouch for that because last week, I endeavored to join him on his rounds.

He was hawking fresh fish to the residents of Kinniya, a remote town on the coast of Sri Lanka with about 15,000 families.  Mira has lived here his whole life, selling fish for almost half of that time. 

He started in his twenties, learning the trade from his father before him.  Mira's father taught him two secrets to being a successful fishmonger: 

1. A quick morning spent racing the sun and other meat hawkers canvassing the neighborhood
2. Establishing loyal customers by providing quality fish and cleaning services at a rate that beats market price  

If the catch is good and the supply of competitive meat scarce, a fishmonger may only have to work two hours of the day before pursuing other interests, like fishing. &quot;Or attending mosque,&quot; Mira adds with a guilty smile. 

Mira has seven children.  All of his family survived, but nearly two months after the tsunami hit Kinniya, Mira was still out of a job and a house.  The tsunami's destruction was so fast and so complete that, for most residents of the sea town, life since has been a waking nightmare. 

It does not take much imagination to see why recuperation has come slowly; as we biked down one of Kinniya's busiest streets, we passed the ghostly skeleton of the regional hospital. Once a building of pride for the community, it's now a deserted, rusting heap of rubble and hospital equipment that sits there untouched.

Five months ago, when Mira was approached by a local non-governmental organization (NGO) called EFFORD and asked if he would be willing to participate in a livelihoods project directed at fishmongers, he took the bait without hesitation.  Mira entered into a contract that provided him all the necessary equipment of his former trade: a bicycle, fish box, gutting knife, scale and weights.  

For extra measure, and because EFFORD knows its fish trade well, a wide-brimmed hat and dark-tinged shirt were provided as a suitable uniform for men who sometimes peddle nearly twenty pounds of fish for miles in the hot, tropical sun - often gutting the sale as they go.  In return for his equipment, Mira pledged to return to work, and reinvest a portion of his profit into a common fund for other fishmongers to rely on when equipment fails or a family member falls ill.

Although the industry still faces a number of hazards like low catches and a high level of competition, Mira doesn't hesitate to thank Mercy Corps for funding EFFORD's project.  

&quot;Now, I can live without debt. I was able to restart my business and provide for my family without taking a loan. I am so grateful to Mercy Corps for the advantage this has given me,&quot; he says.  

As he leans back over his scaly produce, his latest customer chimes in, &quot;And now my family and I can eat fish 3-4 times a week, delivered to our door for less than market price!&quot;

It wasn't long until I succumbed to the heat and dust and waved Mira on ahead of me, throatily pronouncing his wares. &quot;Ora…Seela…Kiyame,&quot; his voice rolling like the tide down main street. 

Empowered and convincing, Mira is calling Kinniya back to life.
]]></description>
	<pubDate>Mon, 15 Aug 2005 06:05:57 -0700</pubDate>
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<item>
	<title>Getting Back to Play</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/srilanka/582/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Joy and fun returned to dozens of Sri Lankan children when a creative, colorful playground was constructed near the camp where they're living with their families.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Mon, 11 Jul 2005 10:38:09 -0700</pubDate>
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<item>
	<title>Stitching Up an Industry</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/srilanka/579/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Over the last three months, Mercy Corps and Singer have repaired over 500 sewing machines, helping Sri Lankan seamstresses begin again.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Fri, 24 Jun 2005 10:51:26 -0700</pubDate>
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<item>
	<title>A Few Words Go a Long Way</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/srilanka/564/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Young students of Sri Lanka's Komari School, still displaced from the tsunami, recently received words of encouragement and friendship from students at a school in Scotland.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Wed, 11 May 2005 11:06:20 -0700</pubDate>
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<item>
	<title>Lights of Hope</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/tsunami/554/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[December's tsunami decimated the bustling tourist town of Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka.  With help from Mercy Corps. townspeople recently celebrated rebuilding - and a return to unlimited potential.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Tue, 03 May 2005 07:20:35 -0700</pubDate>
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<item>
	<title>Critical Assistance to Sri Lankan Communities</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/srilanka/449/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Mercy Corps staff is partnering with local organizations to mount a sustained, efficient response to Sri Lanka's greatest needs. Current operations include rebuilding of water and sanitation facilities, re-supplying schools with teaching materials and sports equipment, trauma counseling, clean up efforts and programming designed to revitalize local economies and livelihoods. These and other projects have benefited more than 610,000 Sri Lankans.

In early March, Mercy Corps approved two new projects in the hard-hit city of Trincomalee: one will provide nets and bicycles to prawn fishermen who live more than two miles inland, and the other will fund two cash-for-work cleanup programs organized by a fledgling community-based organization whose capacity Mercy Corps hopes to build as recovery efforts in the area deepen. More than 5,100 Sri Lankans currently participate in Mercy Corps cash-for-work programs.

Much of our efforts focus on meeting the needs of Sri Lanka's most vulnerable survivors: children.  In Ampara district, Mercy Corps and local partners provided school kits (which include uniforms, pencils and notebooks) to more than 5,000 children. Elsewhere, innovative counseling programs are helping child survivors cope with their losses. In the largest of three current counseling projects, Mercy Corps is training 650 teachers and social workers in active listening and psychosocial support to children in schools and welfare centers.

Mercy Corps staff recently helped hotel owners in Trincomalee, a town on the Bay of Bengal that relies heavily on tourism, form an association that will address marketing, regulations and other industry issues. More than 50 people attended the organization's initial meeting on February 26, where a multi-ethnic slate of officers was elected.

Grants to local organizations, many supporting children's programs, are an ongoing part of our work in Sri Lanka. Here are some of Mercy Corps' other operations in Sri Lanka:


Distributing fishing kits to 300 lagoon fishermen
Providing materials to reconstruct two preschools in the Pottuvil area, where nearly 90 percent of the village's fishing fleet was destroyed
Including women in Mercy Corps' cash-for-work program in Jayangar by employing them to provide meals and tea for clean-up workers
Helping to fund the repair of seven large fishing boats, each with a crew of more than 60 people - over 400 jobs in all
Giving 12 sewing machines to groups of women to sew new uniforms for students and provide the women with the means for future income generation
Distributing school materials to over 200 children and bicycles to 28 teachers
Setting up 10 water distribution points in Arugam Bay to ensure families have access to clean water
]]></description>
	<pubDate>Thu, 24 Mar 2005 07:44:13 -0800</pubDate>
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<item>
	<title>Sewalanka Foundation: Responding to Immediate Needs</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/emergencies/516/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Mercy Corps is helping a longstanding Sri Lankan aid group assist survivors who might have been otherwise overlooked.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Thu, 24 Mar 2005 10:54:35 -0800</pubDate>
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	<title>Rebuild Sri Lanka: The Power of Private Initiative</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/children/517/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[After private individuals launch a powerful aid campaign for tsunami survivors, Mercy Corps helps the group reach the next stage of its humanitarian work.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Thu, 24 Mar 2005 08:19:39 -0800</pubDate>
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<item>
	<title>Chasing Away the Spirits</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/economicdevelopment/518/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Mercy Corps lights the way for villagers living in Arugam Bay to return to their darkened home.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Thu, 24 Mar 2005 07:32:45 -0800</pubDate>
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<item>
	<title>Community Trust Fund: Caring for Confined Widows</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/tsunami/519/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Following religious custom, women made widows by the tsunami segregate themselves at a tent camp, but stay within reach of much-needed relief aid.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Thu, 24 Mar 2005 07:44:17 -0800</pubDate>
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<item>
	<title>Sweetening Kuchchaveli's Wells</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/tsunami/520/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Staff from Mercy Corps and its local partner organization Arumbugal is helping restore freshwater wells that provide clean, safe water to more than 7,000 households.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Thu, 24 Mar 2005 09:50:30 -0800</pubDate>
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