FrOG's principal aim now is to support house building and livelihood projects. We believe dependency is to be avoided as much as possible and instead provide local people themselves with the means to start rebuilding their communities. We believe shelter and jobs are fundamental in the rebuilding effort.
Monthly updates on our projects can be found below.
In the immediate aftermath of the tsunami FrOG channeled donations to help fund the emergency relief work of Project Galle 2005 (PG05). This is an organisation comprising locals and ex-patriots who live and work in the area, who came together to deliver a co-ordinated relief effort, and who are now being supported by unpaid volunteers from across the globe. They are based in the Fort in Galle and continue to provide some aid (food, water, medicine, practical assistance) to around 20,000 displaced local people. Efforts are now focused towards long and medium term reconstruction projects, including delivery on the ground of FrOG funded livelihood and housing projects, as well as repairing schools damaged by the tsunami. See the website www.projectgalle2005.com for details
October Update
Dear Friend,
This month’s great news is that the rebuilding of the Golden Feathers school in Katugoda has been completed. The village held an opening ceremony on Wednesday 28th September, attended by all the kids and their families, as well as Mrs Saraswathie, Education Department Planning Officer for the Southern Province, and members of the local Mosque committee and Bhuddist temple.
In the words of Allen Cooper, our current Project Manager in Katugoda: “It was quite a morning and, most importantly, the kids loved it.”
All of our full house rebuilds in Katugoda have now been completed – that’s 23 brand new homes in their old locations, built to a high standard with steel-reinforced concrete frames, tiled roofs and a bright, airy feel. At 5 or 6 people per household, that’s well over 100 people out of camps or relatives’ houses and back into their own homes. The total cost of this project was £62,500, so each house cost around £2,700.
Finally for now, 33 of the partially damaged houses we are funding repairs of have now been completed. The total number of houses on the PG05 / FrOG list for repairing has fluctuated slightly over time, as more houses have been surveyed and, indeed, as some have been taken on by other agencies. There are currently 22 on our waiting list in Katugoda, at an estimated cost of £28,000 to finish. Last week we sent £10,000 to PG05 to continue the project, bringing our total contribution so far to £49,000. We are currently seeking potential donors to fulfil the rest. If you know of anyone with access to un-allocated tsunami aid money, please ask them to get in touch.
You’ve probably read about the recent survey that was carried out into problems with the delivery of aid to tsunami victims. The trustees of FrOG remain confident that we and PG05 have, through hard work, common sense and co-ordination with knowledgable locals and the other agencies on the ground, made the best possible use of the funds at our disposal to provide relief and meaningful long-term assistance to those affected in and around Galle. We thank you again for your trust and support.
Best wishes,
FrOG Trustees
August Update
It may be out of the news but, eight months after the tsunami, work goes on in Sri Lanka and elsewhere, rebuilding the homes and lives of those affected. Here's the latest from our little corner of the relief and reconstruction effort...
Project Galle and their teams of local builders continue to work apace on the full and partial rebuilds in the village of Katugoda, outside Galle. Eighteen houses have now been fully rebuilt with the families moved back in, out of the 23 we have committed to fund. Last month we also sent part of the money towards repairing 61 partially damaged houses = 10 of those are in progress. Donations continue to come in, and we will put all new funds into this project until it has been completed. Our redoubtable Katugoda project manager Keith Page is back in the UK now for a well-earned break, and has been succeeded by Allen Cooper, who sends his thanks to FrOG's donors for their continued support.
We told you last month about the Golden Feathers school, which had been damaged beyond repair in the tsunami. The school has been in temporary accomodation ever since. We agreed to fund the purchase of a great new piece of land and the building of a new school for the 21 primary-age kids and staff. This month's great news is that the roof went on at the weekend and the school is due to open at the end of next week. The Israeli charity IsraAid has expressed an interest in funding a playground in front of the new building and altogether this will make a massive difference to the lives of the pupils and staff. There is due to be an opening ceremony soon = we'll hopefully bring you pictures in our next update.
The Golden Feathers project has been funded by a donation from a Sri Lankan evening held in Solihull in May, run by Walter Goonewardane and friends (including Virgin Interactive and the cricketer Phil Tufnell). Walter came to us with the story of the school and the fundraising idea and it's been great to see it come to fruition. This, like the Paul Weller gig back in February which first led us to Katugoda, has been an excellent example of how FrOG, PG05 and individual event organisers have been able to turn cash donated in the UK into real bricks-and-mortar, long term assistance for those who need it on the ground.
Even though we may not be able pin-point exactly the house, temporary shelter, business or family that your own donation or event has helped, your contribution, whatever the amount, has made a massive difference and allowed us to achieve more than we ever imagined at the start of the year. Thank you.
To date FrOG has put £137,360 into relief and reconstruction projects, broken down as follows:
General donations to PG05 - £16,450
Transitional shelters - £10,450
Livelihoods (FrOG = Tuk Tuks) - £1,000
Liveihoods (PG05) - £4,184
Livelihoods (Hands On Sri Lanka) - £3,000
Permanent Housing Rebuilds and Repairs - £91,082
Golden Feathers School - £10,694
Other school projects - £500
For the full story of the work we have helped to fund in Katagoda, check out the PG05 website at www.projectgalle2005.com
Finally, if you're thinking about booking a Christmas holiday, Sri Lanka is, despite everything, open for business. It's a beautiful place and the people will give you a welcome as warm as the weather. Here's the Sri Lanka Tourist Board website to browse for ideas and info: www.srilankatourism.org.
Thanks again and best wishes,
The FrOG Trustees
July Update
Lots more to report in this month’s FrOG update so here we go...
We were back in Galle for a whirlwind week at the end of June. The purpose of the trip this time was to check out the progress of projects we had previously funded and to look at another couple of projects to fund with money that has come in since. But before going into the detail, we have to say how blown away we’ve been by the whole experience.
When we started up we thought we might be able to raise a few thousand pounds to pay for some emergency supplies that were being distributed to victims in the immediate aftermath of the tsunami by a group of volunteers who came together, in the absence of emergency aid being provided on the ground by anyone else, and formed Project Galle 2005 (PG05).
Six months on, thanks to your generosity, FrOG has done much more than this, particularly focusing on education, housing and getting breadwinners back to work. We think we’ve done this successfully and we owe a debt of gratitude to all those that have put their trust in us. The guys on the ground are amazing and, as you’ll see below, their work continues apace.
The many ways in which people have contributed to fund-raising is heart-warming stuff; from the few pounds and pence of schoolchildren to the large donations of companies and individuals, and from those who have organised events such as coffee mornings, gigs, dinners and dances or been sponsored for one energetic activity or another. All are important and we thank you all in equal measure.
We hope one day you may have the opportunity to visit Sri Lanka to see first-hand the real difference your contribution has made to the community.
Now for the detail…
Livelihoods
We spent some time with Erik Coleman, PG05's Livelihoods Manager, and visited some of the businesses that had been helped with the money from ourselves and the Sri Lankan Charity Friends of the South. Most of the money has been spent, with just one instalment remaining. There was a large variety of different businesses, among them
cafés, electrical stores, a cycle and tuk-tuk repair shop, a key-cutter, and general stores, who had received varying amounts depending on the size of the business, but typically around Rs50,000 (about £250). Again, a big variety of items had been bought with the money - compressor units, shop shutters, fridges and freezers, tables and chairs, display cabinets, shelving and in some cases stock to sell. By and large business seemed to be ticking over OK, mostly based on sales to the local community. (There still isn’t a big tourism element there, especially as it’s the off-season.) The ones that were doing best were the ones with a high turnover of day-to-day items, and particularly the cafés.
We were struck by how important this project has been to the local community, as most of the recipients have families who rely on them for the income, and a couple of them had a large number of employees = one eatery had 12 staff who now had been able to return to work. There was a generally very optimistic atmosphere, and even a little of the buzz of pre-tsunami visits to Galle.
Temp Houses
The PG05 Transitional Shelter operation is in full swing and about 40 of our temps in Katugoda are up, with another 26 to come on a great piece of land that the Salvation Army is funding through PG05. While permanent houses are being built on it, the families who will eventually move into them will be living in FrOG-funded temp shelters on the land. These will all be families who are still living in tented camps in the 100m zone (where they are not allowed to rebuild houses or erect temp shelters), so the difference for them will be immeasurable.
Permanent Rebuilds
We had an extraordinary day touring Katugoda with Keith Page, our project manager from PG05. The last time we were there we had walked through a scene of unbelievable devastation in the part of the village closest to the sea, with exposed foundations, only the odd wall still standing and rubble everywhere. This time, on many of those same foundations were fully finished brand new houses, with the owners moved back in.
The original ten we funded are virtually finished, most of them in a great little “Brookside Close” type of arrangement, and we also saw the foundations of four of the next 12 in progress. Those four are already at roof level. The rate of work is astonishing and the local teams we have been using have done an amazing job. The houses are designed so that they are much stronger than the previous buildings and if something else were to happen they shouldn’t collapse so catastrophically. The owners had input into some elements of the design, so each felt individual and homely, with bright whitewashed walls and red-tiled roofs.
It really was quite emotional, particularly being welcomed in by some of the beneficiaries.
Partial Rebuilds / Repairs
In light of the quality of the work the building teams have been doing, we’re going ahead with part-funding repairs to another 50 or so houses in the village. The estimated cost of the project is £70,000 approx, and we˜re in the position to fund around half of it now, while working to raise as much of the rest as possible. PG05 are talking to other potential donors in the meantime.
Golden Feathers Montessori School
This primary-age school was destroyed in the tsunami, and the teacher and 21 children have been in temporary accommodation ever since. PG05 has identified a great piece of land where a new permanent school can be built. We are going ahead with funding this, which will cost around £10,000. The new building will have the capacity for up to 50 children, and is on the highest point in the village, which wasn˜t reached by the wave. The work should take about two months to complete and we hope to sponsor the teaching staff for some years ahead to ensure a bright future for the school.
Project Galle 2005
Still going strong, with plenty of volunteers pitching in, and a great team of local managers, drivers, interpreters and admin staff. See www.projectgalle2005.com for more.
We would like once again to say an enormous thank you to everyone that has contributed to FrOG and PG05 throughout 2005. It’s been an adventure and a massive learning experience, but we believe it’s been worth it and that these efforts will make a lasting difference to many families in the small area we’ve been able to help.
Best wishes,
The FrOG Trustees
June Update
It's been a couple of months since our last update and lots has happened, with much more to come. Please check out the new-look Project Galle 2005 (PG05) website for a full update on what they're up to www.projectgalle2005.com.
You may have read reports in the press recently about aid not getting through to the people that need it in Sri Lanka. This is certainly true in some cases but is, of course, only part of the story. There are many small groups on the ground who are getting things done and we can assure you that the money you have donated through FrOG and PG05 IS not only getting through but is beginning to make a real difference to many families in the area. It's been hard, sometimes frustrating work, but we feel we've selected the right projects to fund and with your support, we've been able to achieve some amazing things.
Current Projects
The ten full house rebuilds we funded in the Katugoda / Dewatta area are almost complete and the project has been a major success. The village held a hand-over ceremony for the first family to take possession of their replacement home on Sunday 8th May. Four more are complete and the finishing touches are being put to the remaining five.
An independent assessor has been looking at the quality of rebuild projects in the area, and the FrOG / PG05 houses have been rated as the best of the bunch, thanks to our project manager Keith Page and his four teams of local builders. We are in the process of completing the paperwork to build a further 12 replacement houses in the village.
There are also 55 partially damaged houses in the village, which are currently being surveyed to ascertain the cost and feasibility of repairs. This is a more complicated project to undertake than the full rebuilds, as each house is going to need a different amount of work and money, but we're hopeful that the ground-work being undertaken now will enable us to get involved in helping to fund the repairs.
Fundraising
It's been a great couple of months for fundraising, with two particular events having been incredibly successful, enabling us to look ahead at what else we can achieve alongside PG05. The FrOG Ball, organised by Richard Thomas and his team at Weston Events in Norwich was an awsome night out, raising well over £12,000 for FrOG and Save The Children. The auction alone raised £4500, thanks to the brilliant auctioneering of Eastenders stars Hannah Waterman and Ricky Groves. (Personally, I'm looking forward to the round of golf with Hannah's dad Dennis, which I couldn't resist.)
Walter Goonewardane put on a superb Sri Lankan night in Solihull for FrOG on 21st May. With backing from Virgin Interactive and another brilliant celebrity auctioneer in the shape of Phil Tufnell, Walter and friends brought in around £15,000.
We've also had substantial donations over the last few weeks from: Andy Cockeram of Renault UK and friends, who made a massive contribution through a successful auction (and has just held a second); Linda Brooks and friends; David Gray, who used his 60th birthday party as a fundraiser; Chris Mathias who ran the Malta half marathon for the cause; the pupils and staff of Warden Hill School in Cheltenham; Louise McCunniff and friends in Bradford, with the generous help of Zurich Insurance; Sheila Fox, whose son and 3 of his friends from Alexandra Palace Ice Hockey team did a sponsored rollerblade in Hyde Park; the tireless Katie Austin and Lydia Hughes, whose sponsored trek in Mexico goes ahead next month; the Teenskindo drama group in Renton, Dunbartonshire; and many more kind souls who made individual donations.
We know how much work goes into organising these events and we can't thank those people enough for putting their energy and enthusiasm into fundraising
for FrOG projects.
Sponsored Swim
We'd like to say a very special thanks to Dominic and Milly Welby (and tribe), who have quietly raised over £10,000 for FrOG / PG05 through various events, talks and functions. Their next one is a sponsored swim by son Hector. Dominic writes:
"Undaunted by his horrific Tsunami experience, Hector is donning his super-pants and plunging back in the water with the rest of his school to raise money for Project Galle. The pool is 15 metres long and he's planning on doing 100 lengths, which, knowing him he will probably achieve. We're well aware of tsunami fatigue but if you could pledge something per length, the money will go a long way. If you could also forward this email to anyone you think might help that would be fantastic. With love, Dom Milly Tavy Maria Hec xxxxx"
To sponsor Hector, contact welbytribe@tiscali.co.uk
FrOG in Galle
Gordon will be back in Galle for a week from 26th June (six months on) to spend a bit of time with PG05 and look at further projects we can support. He'll also be on a major mission to collect photos, video and feedback, so look out for an overhaul to our website in early July. Rest assured we're still very much on-the-case and this trip will help us to put the next few months' projects into action.
Thanks again.
April Update
The big news is that we've just passed the £100,000 mark in total donations! Thanks again to everyone who has organised, collected, auctioned, line-danced(!), coffee-morninged, publicised, performed, partied and donated their money and time. All of the following work we're funding around Galle, Sri Lanka is down to you.
Katugoda
The money raised from the gig that Paul Weller did for FrOG in February (nearly £30,000), along with some general and donations for house building, are funding a spread of projects in the village of Katugoda, which was particularly badly hit by the tsunami.
Our permanent housing project is fully up and running now. Project Galle 2005 (PG05), who are managing it for us, have employed two building teams (made up of local labourers) working on a house each simultaneously. Despite a few days of heavy rain (it's the start of the monsoon season), the walls of the first two houses are up to about 9 feet, almost ready for the tiled roof to go on. Our heroic project manager reckons our design is the best quality of the permanent rebuilds he's seen, and although the cost of some building materials is going up due to the unusually high demand, the 10 current houses should come in on budget. We reckon they'll be completed by mid-May.
PG05 are also running our temporary housing scheme, and are putting together five of the wooden structures per day in their new, dedicated warehouse. We are funding 75 temp houses for Katugoda, with the aim of getting as many families as possible out of the tents they are currently living in before the monsoon hits in earnest. One problem we have encountered is the fact that local regulations now prohibit rebuilding anything within 100m of the sea, including temp houses.
Unfortunately, and naturally, that's where people have been worst affected by the wave. PG05 is spearheading an initiative for local families out-with that zone to host a temporary house on their land for a family who is currently camped within the 100m zone. The donor family will receive a monthly contribution from the government in return. A survey of willing donor families is currently underway, while temp houses go up for encamped families further inland.
Again with the monsoon in mind PG05, in conjunction with UNHCR and local government, is engaged in upgrading existing camps - replacing unstable tents, improving layout, drainage and sanitation and giving advice on how camp residents can keep safe and healthy in the difficult conditions ahead.
Our final project in Katugoda is in conjunction with a local charity called Friends of the South. Together we are funding a livelihoods project in the village, where there are around 100 or so small people who lost the means to make a living in the disaster. Many of those, from fish sellers to seamstresses, are now back in business thanks to your generosity.
We hope to have some photos and specific information on the people you have helped on the site soon.
Project Galle 2005
Their website www.projectgalle2005.com has their latest update. We've made another donation to PG05 this month to help fund various projects in camps, schools and the community in general.
Volunteers
PG05 specifically need eight to ten volunteers for the temporary housing project and to maintain manpower throughout the impending monsoon season. They also need an IT/networking manager and a webmaster. If you know of anyone who might like to volunteer, please let us know.
It's a hell of a team, to which FrOG-er Odette Van Ommen, who recently spent five weeks with PG05, attests:
"My legal background was useful in making funding applications to support the work of the Project and I have just heard that the big one I did for a food rogramme was successful, so that was really rewarding. The rebuilding projects FrOG is funding are also really important. More houses are what are needed most, definitely. There is so much going on all the time that the office has a great buzz. There is so much energy and everyone gets on with each other really well. It was a great environment to work in. People are flat out all the time but the bond between people is strong and everyone respects one another. I'm really glad I did it".
Hands On Sri Lanka
This is another livelihoods project. Henri Tatham at the Sun House hotel in Galle continues her -Hands On Sri Lanka˜ project - £3,000 has come into FrOG on behalf of HOSL, which is on the way to help individual small businesses that need a variety of items to get them back to work.
Going forward
Ten more sites for permanent house rebuilds have been identified in Katugoda and we're close to securing funding for these. With the excellent progress of the first 10, we will keep working to fund as many more as we can. Over 150 homes were lost in this village alone. We'll continue to react to the changing situation on the ground and allocate funds according to priority and feasibility of individual projects.
Support your local FrOG Fundraiser:
Get your ticket for the April 23rd FrOG Ball in Norwich at www.frogball.co.uk -dinner, dancing and some great auction lots on offer.
Katie Austin and Lydia Hughes, students at Cardiff University, are trekking Mexico for FrOG in July. If you'd like to sponsor them, e-mail them at katiea46@hotmail.com or lydyloo414@hotmail.com
Walter Goonewardane is hosting a Sri Lankan evening in Solihull on May 21st - e-mail Walter at Walter.Goonewardane@AIG.com - authentic food, big prizes and star guests.
Thank you again for your support, and please pass on the site details to anyone else you think may be interested in helping.
March Update
The FrOG team reports following their recent assessment in Sri Lanka (it’s a long one but there is a lot to report)….
Just over two months have passed since the Boxing Day Tsunami and, as you may know, FrOG trustees Andrew and Gordon, along with Paul Weller gig organisers Rob Bateman and Sarah Feeney, spent last week in the Galle area assessing how best to spend the funds we have raised so far.
The first thing that hit us was the utterly unfathomable scale of the destruction and the number of people who have been affected in one way or another. Loss of family and friends; destroyed and damaged homes; devastated shops and businesses; loss of tourism revenue; trauma and grief. Everyone you meet has a different set of problems. At first, we felt very small and insignificant in the face of this vast and enormously complicated situation.
However, with the invaluable help of our friends at Project Galle 2005 and key members of the local community, we gradually started to build up a picture of which projects we would be best placed to fund. A particular focus for us is the village of Katugoda, which was extremely badly hit (over 500 people killed), and for which we had raised around £30,000, through the Paul Weller / Beth Orton gig at London’s Cargo earlier in the month.
We spent a lot of time in the village, with local leaders and ex-pat residents, and learnt a huge amount about the problems they are facing. This consultation led us to a spread of projects summarised as follows.
Some details are still being tied up, but the general picture looks like this:
Temporary Housing
Approximately 160 families in the village are unable to live in their homes and many of those are in tents at the moment. These tents vary in quality and some will not provide adequate shelter during the monsoon season, which is around 6 weeks away. A survey is currently being conducted to assess which families would like to move into temporary accommodation. We have allocated funds for between 75 and 100 temporary wooden houses, to an approved and sturdy design, that will be wind and water tight. Building will be administered and carried out by Project Galle 2005.
Permanent Housing
We have committed funds to building at least 10 new permanent homes, on existing plots of land where the owners can prove title. Again, Project Galle 2005, in conjunction with the village committee, will administer and project manage the construction, using local contractors and labour.
We are liaising with UNCHR in Galle to ensure proper co-ordination of these rebuilding programmes.
Business Restart Scheme
In the words of one of the local committee members, the villagers need to “keep the wheel turning” ie get back to work and generate sustainable cash flow for themselves. Village leaders have carried out an assessment of what tools and equipment local people need to restart their small businesses. The 150 businesses assessed so far include fish sellers (bicycles, knives, scales etc), tailors / dress makers (sewing machines etc), bakers (scales, baking tins etc) and many others. We have committed to fund half of the project, and hope to work with a local charity to fund the remaining half and who will oversee the project on the ground.
Project Galle 2005
In addition to our Katugoda work, we also spent time with various members of Project Galle, who are still supplying aid to over 20,000 displaced people in camps and communities. They also have an on-going project building new toilets in schools which had been used as camps in the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, as well as a temporary housing scheme, provision of “back to home packs” of household essentials, first aid kits and other needs as they arise.
We were extremely impressed with the level of organisation and quality of volunteers from all around the world. Many have never been to Sri Lanka before and some had a 24 hour plus journey from the US to get there and help. We have agreed a general donation to Project Galle, which will effectively fund their day-to-day work for one month.
Hands On Sri Lanka
Finally for this trip, we met with Henri Tatham, who manages the Sun House and Dutch House hotels in Galle. Hen has set up “Hands On Sri Lanka”, a scheme to identify, assess and fund individual small businesses which, in her words, fall between the gaps and may not find help from other sources. We have committed to working with them on an ongoing, case-by-case basis. Keep an eye on FrOG’s site for updates.
Dalawella
Finally, we checked out the projects FrOG funded early on, based around the village of Dalawella.
Two badly damaged tuk-tuks were back on the road, with the third ready to be picked up, with Frog money having paid for about 75% of the total cost; Lalith’s kitchen is under construction and his brother-in-law Amal has built a temporary wooden house for his parents with some of the money we donated. While we were there, Amal’s mother was making her first batch of string hoppers (a rice-based staple served along with curry), which was an order for a local hotel. Finally, Alex Barrett is in consultation with the school in Dalawella, to identify the best use of the monies allocated.
A mind-blowing week, and we couldn’t have come to sensible and informed decisions about how best to spend the money without being there. We believe we have put the money you donated to good use and we are committed to carrying on for as long as we can make a contribution to the recovery of the island.
Thank you for your generosity and trust.
