Mantai West Assessment Visit - 1. Richard talking to a colleague about the poor state of wells in Mantai West. Many were silted up or contaminated with salt water. Improving them will allow IDPs moving through the area to access safe drinking water.
Mantai West Assessment Visit - 2. Karuna talks to a displaced family.
Mantai West Assessment Visit - 16. Richard peers down a well.
Mantai West Assessment Visit - 3. A brother and sister displaced by the fighting. The boy showed me the injuries he had received when he evaded the shelling.
Mantai West Assessment Visit - 4. To him being displaced was a big adventure. I'm sure it wasn't as much fun for his parents.
Mantai West Assessment Visit - 5. Members of five families take the shade of an abandoned building they had taken over.
Mantai West Assessment Visit - 6.
Mantai West Assessment Visit - 7. A typical shelter for IDPs in this area. This one houses two families at night.
Mantai West Assessment Visit - 8. Most people in Mantai West have become very adept at moving. If you and your family can't carry it you don't need it.
Mantai West Assessment Visit - 9. Tractors are a primary means of transport. They can move several families at once.
Mantai West Assessment Visit - 10. Listening to the community is important if an appropriate response is to be planned.
Mantai West Assessment Visit - 11. IDPs and host families talk about the shelling. Explosions could still be heard in the background. When I asked how they received information for making choices to stay or leave one man quipped, "The artillery is the information".
Mantai West Assessment Visit - This girl was more interested in the strange foreigner.
Mantai West Assessment Visit - A self-built IDP shelter.
Mantai West Assessment Visit - Another typical shelter in the baking sun.
Mantai West Assessment Visit - 14. This man had just returned to Sri Lanka six months ago. He had spent the last 15 years as a refugee in India. He thought it was safe to return to his paddy fields. Now he is homeless once again. I really thought he was going to ask for aid. He didnt. He just wanted someone to know his story. Now you do.
