Meet Kapuri...

Our friend Paul, who we mentioned in an earlier post has been here for about 6 weeks helping us out wanted to ride an elephant before he headed home in a few weeks.

So on a beautiful Sunday morning we set out to find an elephant to ride and we found Kapuri...she lives in Bentota which is about 45 minutes from our house. She is owned by one of the local hotels and as the pictures show...we had a great time.

Meet Kapuri...

Construction Update…

*I placed of Key of Terms at the bottom of the page in the event I use a term in which you may not be familiar. Hope it is helpful!

It’s hard to believe that we have been here for three months. Over the course of that time I have been heavily involved in preparation for building…not actually building yet…but planning. We have been meeting with government officials, NGO’s, beneficiaries, and everyone in between. The information we have been gathering is in regards to who still needs houses, what communities still need infrastructure and facilities, info about schools, and anything else you could think of.

We were going to do most of our building of homes in the Galle district (where we are currently living). But we found out that there are enough houses for the beneficiaries that needed them…no need for us to build more…even though the government was still pushing us to build 236 homes in Galle (long story). We had to reassess our entire project and focus it on where the need is…and then put together plans for making that happen. We have had to spread our project out over the entire southwest and to the east. We will be working in at least four different districts, building as many as 500 homes and numerous community facilities.

Our project is called PD 2553. Our project is phase 2 of Tsunami rebuilding. The first phase was called PD 2416 and is coming to the close in the next few weeks.

We are excited to announce that a contract was signed last week to build 14 homes in Kalutara (see pictures below). These houses are not actually under project PD 2553 (the funds came from a different donor)…regardless, we are excited that there is construction underway. We signed the contract on Thursday and construction started on Monday and at the end of week one of construction, 7 of the 14 homes will be started. We hope to have the construction on these 14 homes done by December 15. Pretty quick turn around!

We have finally gotten approval to start the project (PD 2553) that we were brought here to help with (long story). This means that the next few weeks will be very hectic. We will be sending Requests for Proposal out every week for the construction of homes, community centers, market palaces, and playgrounds…reviewing the proposals, signing contracts, etc. We will also be involved in monitoring the construction process, insuring that building is quality and being completed in a timely manner.

We count it a blessing to have so many people praying and supporting us, thank you. Please continue to pray for us as our work load gets heavier and our work days get longer.

Key of Terms:
Beneficiary – Tsunami affected person who is registered with the government and eligible for assistance.
NGO – Non Governmental Organization. Groups like World Vision, Caritas, Red Cross, etc. These agencies are the ones who go to countries to provide development help.
Community Facilities – Community Centers, Marketplaces, Playgrounds, etc.)
Buffer Zone – After the Tsunami, the Government decided to reclaim some of the beach. You are no longer allowed to build or have homes between 0 – 50 meters from the beach. Which means that those home owners who lived inside of 50 meters have to relocate.
Owner Driven – Beneficiary who will build back on original land outside the buffer zone.Donor Driven – Beneficiaries who lived inside the buffer zone and have to relocate to another community.

These pictures are of a of beneficiaries who will be recieving houses. The house they are standing in front of was damaged by the Tsunami and temporarily fixed to be liveable.



Some of the beneficiaries needed places to stay while their house were being constructed. We gave them tents and helped set them up.



Part of the responsibility of the beneficiary is to tear down their existing house so we can quickly come in and begin construction of their new home. The below pictures are the same houses as the above beneficiaries, three days after we asked them to begin demolition. Quick work!



Construction began this week and this picture was taken on day three. The are almost finished with the foundations of two homes and should have started a total of 7 house by the end of week one.