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by Chandani Jayatilleke

PUTTALAM Ummu Kuldum who hails from Mannar would never have expected to spend her twilight years rearing a herd of goats in a tiny fishing hamlet in Kalpitiya in the Puttalam district. Her family's successful ventures included a bakery and a few shops in the once thriving business centre in Mannar. They employed about 200 workmen.

But, when the war erupted, the LTTE threats began, Ummu and many other families in the area could not continue business. Instead they fled into safer areas.

Overnight, Ummu lost all her wealth and became another internally displaced person (IDP). It was not only Ummu who had gone through this trauma, but hundreds of other families from Mannar who have now found 'new shelters' in several villages in Kalpitiya, which is known as a haven for the displaced.

Their lives are unlit. There is no hope but and darkened despair. Then a local partner organisation supported by CARE International and European Union (EU) came to their rescue. Following a series of income generation projects implemented by the CARE, financed by the EU, the villages - Elanthamottai, Sammaddiwadi and Mohideen Nagar have begun to see a new ray of hope.

Despite hardships gone through for nearly 11 years since they became displaced, the villagers are eagerly looking forward to a better future. For them, a better future means a life with a regular income and basic sanitary facilities. Their needs are very simple. When we asked a young mother what she wanted for her son, her reply was, "I want him to be educated and find proper employment".

Though the Government has implemented programs to resettle the IDPs, some of the basic needs of the people had not been known. Therefore, the EU/CARE project decided to meet the basic needs of the increasing number of IDPs to re-establish normal lives in resettled areas.

There are 126 displaced families living in Elanthamottai. The majority of them are Muslims from Mannar. Twenty-six displaced women in the village have formed an Association called Elanthamottai Development Society for Women led by Ummu Kuldum. The Association which works very closely with the local partner - Development Association for Integrated Community (DAIC), financially helps women to start their own income generation (IG) activity. The Society receives financial assistance from EU through DAIC. These IG activities are aimed to ease increasing economic and social problems among the displaced community.

Under this project, the women have started business activities such as goat rearing, packeting chilli powder, tea and tooth powder, bottling herbal medicine and eau-de-cologne, carpentry and running retail boutiques. Being one of the remotest villages, Elanthamottai had received little or no attention from the authorities and even NGOs prior to the CARE/EU project.

"We've been here for the last six years. We didn't have proper income activity until our Society got some financial assistance from the CARE through the DAIC. With the assistance of this ongoing project we manage a mere living," Ummu said us when the 'Daily News' visited the village last week. The 'proper income' what she referred to varies from Rs. 1,500 to Rs. 2,000 a month. What is significant is that, unlike large-scale businessmen in the city, they manage to repay the loans while attending to everyday needs of their households.

"We have been successful in recovering loan repayments and we continue to give loans to new members," Ummu said. M. Jaufar and his wife have started packeting chilli powder and tea with the loan they received from the Society. They get the chilli ground in a mill in the town and pack them in their little cadjan hut where the five-member family lives. Jaufar takes tea and 'chilli packets' to neighbouring villages on a pushcycle.

"We make a profit of about Rs.1,400 a month with which we manage our expenses and send our three children to school," Jaufar said.

In another IG activity, I. Kuraisa, a mother of five is involved in bottling 'Asamodagam' and eau-de-cologne and packeting tooth powder. "Traders come to our house to buy our products," said Kuraisa adding that it saves much of her time. "In Mannar, we used to run a hotel and we had a good life there. Now, we earn about Rs. 100 a day which is hardly anything for a seven-member family," she said. Kuraisa's eldest son is 18 and all her children go to the village school.

Aziya Babi rears goats for meat. She has 16 goats. Her seven-member family lives on the income they generated by selling goats. "We bought goats with the money we received from the Society. It was a great relief and now we are in a position to make our own income," Aziya said.

From Elanthamottai, we were driven to another settlement area - Sammaddiwadi, a 1 1/2 hours drive on fairly good roads before turning to the village. Sammaddiwadi is another successful project undertaken by the CARE and the implementing partner - Islamic Relief Committee. Again, there was a strong focus on women in these projects and the women here seemed very enthusiastic about their work. They are determined and dedicated to achieve a goal in life. There are 40 women involved in IG activities here.

They had been engaged in farming and fishing activities in Mannar before.

They said this was the first time that a funding agency has come forward to support their living condition since their arrival in 1990. "Representatives from many organisations visited our village before. But, due to various conflicts among the men folk, we couldn't get any assistance from them," A. Rahiba of the Women Society said.

That's where women took over the command and settled conflicts among men. The women group said that they have been able to transform the old saying: 'A day dawns with a cock crowing' to 'A day dawns with a hen crowing' in their village. "This project has given us a new lease of life. We are very grateful to all who are involved in the implementation of the project," Rahiba said.

A. Asmiya, is a cancer patient. Yet, she has to feed and bring up three schoolgoing children. Asmiya has taken to farming onions with the loan she received from the Society. F. Thasmiya has a chicken farm. She has also received some training on running a broiler chicken farm through the partner society. Saribu Nisha and Majeena Nisha are engaged in conchell painting.

They take orders through some contacts in the town and sell them to the buyers in the outstations.

The third project we visited was a water and sanitation project in Mohideen Nagar.

The significance in this project is the involvement of a Bhikku - Ven. Buddiyagama Chandarathana who is the Secretary to the Vanni Cultural Foundation in Karuwalagaswewa which assists displaced families in several areas. The Bhikku's involvement is a unique example for communal harmony.

Under this project, 40 water-sealed toilets have been built so far. There are 65 families living in this village. They have come from different villages in Mannar and Mullativu. The villagers stressed the need for a preschool for children, a proper road to the village and the introduction of some income generating activities.

However, he said that the IDPs in the village have not received any assistance from the Government. Infrastructure facilities and services had not been expanded to accommodate the needs of the large numbers of displaced persons who had migrated to these areas from war-torn areas.

As a result there were severe shortages in basic needs such as water, housing, sanitation, health care services, transport, food, education and employment opportunities.

Despite lack of facilities, the women had taken the initiative to send their children to the school, a plus point indeed. Admirably, all three projects we visited were targeted at women. The women were playing a catalytic role in developing the households.

This was especially significant in the case of women in the Muslim communities who traditionally took a back seat in the household and society. These projects had transformed this myth and the women assumed leadership roles. Their husbands truly appreciated and supported the women's contribution which is an added income to the family.

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