Danish Red Cross provides psycho-socioalsupport to Trinco tsunami victims

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 April 2005, 16:54 GMT]
The Danish Red Cross (DRC) has been actively engaged in the Trincomalee district providing psycho-social support to tsunami-affected people to recover, empower them and increase their capacity to help themselves. DRC, funded by European Community Humanitarian Organization (ECHO) sent a psychosocial delegation to Sri Lanka in January this year following December 26 tsunami disaster, DRC sources said.

PSP volunteers of Kuchchaveli division are with their bicycles seen with Ms Elin Jonasdottir and Dr.Gnanagunalan

Ms Elin Jonasdottir and Dr.Gnanagunalan, President of the SLRCS, Trinco district branch at the bicycle distribution event held in Nilaveli Monday

Ms Elin Jonasdottir from Icelandic Red Cross working in Trinco as PSP delegate of the Danish Red Cross

PSP delegates are currently working in four districts in the northeast, Batticaloa, Amparai, Trincomalee and one has been in Jaffna since 2003. The principal objective of the PSP is to reduce the psychosocial impact of the tsunami in Sri Lanka, sources said.

DRC has recruited about 47 volunteers from the Sri Lanka Red Cross (SLRCS) in the Trincomalee district and trained them in the psycho-social project (PSP). PSP volunteers are currently deployed in eighteen welfare centres in the four tsunami-affected divisions, Kuchchaveli, Kinniya, Eeachilampathu and Muttur.

Ms.Elin Jonasdottir, PSP delegate stationed in Trincomalee, with the assistance of SLRCS, Trincomalee branch, selected these 18 welfare centres. Primary focus is on supporting the tsunami-affected children to recover from the trauma under the PSP, sources said.

Construction work on community cells in some of the welfare centres has already been started enabling tsunami affected people to listen to radio programmes, read newspapers and magazines, DRC sources said.

DRC collaborates with the zonal education office in Trincomalee to provide assistance to primary schools, sources said.

DRC is also providing additional training to PSP volunteers to improve their PSP skills and capacity.

DRC has also started a scheme to provide them with bicycles as some of them lost their bicycles in tsunami last year, DRC sources said.

At an event held Monday at the SLRCS Nilaveli office bicycles were distributed to eleven PSP volunteers. On Tuesday bicycles were distributed to 29 volunteers- 12 in Eachchilampathu and 17 in Muttur, sources said.

Ms Elin Jonasdottir, PSP delegate in Trincomalee and Dr.E.G.Gnanagunalan, President of the SLRCS, Trincomalee district handed over bicycles to PSP volunteers deployed in Kuchchaveli division. Ms Elin Jonasdottir comes from the Icelandic Red Cross (IRC) and included in the DRC delegation in Sri Lanka.