An appeal for Sri Lanka has been launched in the diocese to try and help the Anglican Church of Ceylon in rebuilding homes and livelihoods for thousands of people still affected by the devastating floods of May and June 2017.
The Diocese of Colombo, one of the overseas partner dioceses of the Diocese of Leeds, has appealed for help for reconstruction work in districts across the south and west of Sri Lanka.
Writing to the Bishop of Richmond, the Rt Revd Paul Slater who chairs the Sri Lanka task group, the Board of Social Responsibility for the Diocese of Colombo has described the urgent situation.
“The Church continues to support many people recovering from the disaster. People have returned to their homes to find their houses either fully destroyed or partially damaged.
“Household goods have been damaged and washed away and many do not have the basics to restart their lives. They do not have utensils to cook and eat, they have to sleep on wet floors, school pupils’ books and uniforms have been lost or soaked in the flood water, and there are basic human needs required for people who have lost nearly everything.
“The Church is in the process of providing recovery assistance, cooking utensils and bedding but while some are returning and settling, others are left out without proper shelter and livelihoods for their income. These people are helpless to overcome the situation.”
The Disaster Relief team in the Diocese of Colombo has been heavily involved in relief efforts over a number of months, but as they say, “facing a mudslide or a flood which takes your home and in some cases the very lives of your loved ones away is clearly a trauma from which people will take a long time to recover.”
The Sri Lanka appeal aims to raise £13,000 across the diocese between now and Christmas and all monies will be used directly in relief efforts by a trained recover and Relief team who work with local churches and priests to coordinate relief and recovery in the worst affected areas. Bishop Paul Slater will be visiting the stricken areas on his first visit to Sri Lanka later this month.
If you, your church or school can respond to the Appeal you can either send a cheque or make a BACS payment as follows:
Cheques should be made payable to ‘Leeds DBF’ with a note or written on the back of the cheque indicating it’s ‘For the Sri Lanka fund’
BACS payments to
Santander
09-02-22
Leeds DBF
10466302
Reference: Sri Lanka