British couple launches housing scheme at Kosgoda

by Ambalangoda Special Correspondent

On the fateful morning of tsunami a British couple Jan and Ian Linch were relaxing on the beautiful serene beach stretch of Vilamendhu located on the South Ari Atoll of the Maldives. They said they could never forget the way the monstrous waves surged towards the beach and how they ran for safety.

After returning to England both of them started a charity programme known as "Aurora Tsunami Orphanage Appeal" which was legally registered in England comprising a dedicated team of volunteers from England who worked hard day and night on raising funds for their dream of constructing a special model tsunami village "The Aurora Village of Kosgoda."

About five years back Jan and her husband happened to visit Sri Lanka to attend their daughter's wedding ceremony which took place at the Triton Hotel, Ahungalla.

On hearing about the massive devastation caused by the tsunami at Kosgoda on the South Coast of Sri Lanka from Dr. Sam de Zoysa who is one of their close friends living in England and through his guidance they reached Sri Lanka in February two months after tsunami on a fact finding mission.

After visiting each and every tsunami devastated village in the Galle district both Jan and Ian decided to start a Permanent Housing Project for the tsunami displaced people lived within 100 metre buffer zone at Kosgoda.

With the assistance of a well-known philanthropist Vijith de Zoysa Jayathilaka of Kosgoda they identified a suitable land extent of 5 acres at Palagaspalatha in the hinterland of Kosgoda for the proposed Permanent Housing Project. High quality materials were used in the construction of these houses under the personal supervision of Vijith de Zoysa and all the recipients said that they were highly satisfied with their newly built houses during the ceremonial handing over of the 12 completed houses built in the Aurora Village.

Out of the 40 permanent houses 12 completed houses having all the modern amenities were handed over among the displaced during the weekend before a gathering of British Volunteers who raised funds for this humanitarian project.

Ian Smith who is a professional horticulturalist is making plans to cultivate a variety of fruit trees and coconut seedlings to enhance the landscaping of Aurora Village. In addition the founders of Aurora Village are making arrangements to conduct awareness educational programmes on various aspects of healthcare and the maintenance of a healthy environment.

They said it was very important to create civic conscious environmental friendly and harmonious community for the sustenance of this village.

Chief Minister of the Southern Provincial Council, Shan Wijelal de Silva said that the Permanent Houses of Aurora Village proved to be far superior in quality and structure.

This could be attributed to the sincere dedication, personal supervision of Vijith de Zoysa Jayathilake, he said.

The United Kingdom and its people were among the first countries to offer immediate relief and emergency requirements for the benefit of the tsunami affected people of Sri Lanka. The people of this country were ever grateful for the humanitarian assistance extended, he said. He promised to provide a regular bus service for the convenience of the villagers of Aurora Village and help in the further development of the infrastructure facilities of the village.

Mrs. Jan Linch who hails from Kent, England said that she came to Kosgoda in May, to lay the foundation for Aurora Village. She said she was extremely happy to be present to see her vision a reality. Her dream was to build beautiful houses with all the basic facilities for the tsunami displaced at Kosgoda.

Ian Linch said both he and his wife and a group of dedicated British Volunteers who were present here took great pains and worked hard for a considerable period in England on raising funds and to make the Aurora Village a reality.

Collecting funds at this juncture in England for tsunami affected people in Sri Lanka was not so easy as the people in England had already lavishly contributed funds for the affected in Sri Lanka. He and his wife Jan thanked all those helped in the successful completion of the 12 permanent houses of Aurora Village.