Team two landed in Columbo (West coast, Sri Lanka) and immediately embarked on an 8 hour journey, hampered by torrential rain and pot- holes, arriving in Batticaloa in the early hours of the following morning. Khalsa Aid chose to focus on this area after finding out that 20,000 families were made homeless by the tsunami in this major town.

Jagroop Singh, Nick Singh Kandola and Rushvinder Rai are the Khalsa Aid members who have been charged with this particular mission, which is currently working in partnership with the local TRO (Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation) office. They are currently working on a project which will provide 500 tents for local Tsunami victims who are still in a state of despair one month after the disaster. 200 tents are already being erected, with a further 300 to be supplied within the next four weeks. Khalsa Aid is also looking into acquiring and fitting 30 water pumps for local villages.

Whilst carrying out a needs-assessment, Khalsa Aid visited several locations including a relief camp, the local disaster-hit areas as well as warehouses. The victims had been housed in local schools, which are dilapidated, smelly and cramped, for the last month. Only recently were they re-housed in empty warehouses which are also in a very sorry state. This will be home for them for the next month whilst we help to construct some of the 3,000 huts that are desperately needed by the 10,000 local victims. It is expected that they will remain in this temporary shanty-town for up to one year.

Of the co-operation we have received from TRO, Jagroop Singh said `The TRO guys are great and are doing a lot of work here and definitely deserve Khalsa Aid's support'.

Other Updates:

Andaman & Nicobar Islands
Upon receiving requests from the district commissioner at Port Blair, Ravinder Singh visited Hut Bay at Little Andaman with 20 sewing machines and two technicians for installation. The local community had requested these to aid them in becoming self- sufficient.

The second team sent to the Islands, Amrik Singh and Ajmer Singh, are focusing on the project setup to help relief camps in the Port Blair area. Sanitation facilities are also being prepared at these camps. In fact, the team here has focused their attention on providing sanitation facilities in as many camps as possible, to counter the spread of diseases.

Tara Singh of Campbell Bay was able to convey requirements from that area to Ravinder Singh. A third shipment is now being prepared to take over mosquito nets, books, notepads, stationary, undergarments and clothing, including turbans. Upon his return from Hut Bay, Ravinder Singh will begin preparing this third shipment along with the second team.

How the Sangat Can Help
We ask the sangat to pray for all the Tsunami-affected families. Khalsa Aid also requires more volunteers. If you would like to help, please call our hotline or visit our website www.khalsaaid.org (UK Registered Charity 1080374). You can also contact the ground team at the numbers given below.

Phone:
Hotline (England) 01753 728630
Ground Team (India) +91 984 025 8984 OR +91 984 060 3528

Contact Us

Phone:

( 0 ) 7966 414 774
( 0 ) 7733 124 520

Fax: To be announced soon

Mailing Address:
Khalsa Aid
Office 16
111 Whitby Road
Slough
Berks
SL1 3DR
UK

Online: www.khalsaaid.org
E-mail: khalsaaid@khalsaaid.org