Catholics and Caritas change quality of life in Sri Lanka

August 23, 2011: In the remote, impoverished parish of Seemawelia, in Sri Lanka, the local church and a group of determined Catholic villagers are working with Caritas to build a set of substantial brick houses, replacing the improvised clay dwellings they have used for years. It is perhaps ironic that the material needed to build the houses is what the residents have been sitting on all along.
“Businesses often come here to dig up clay for their brick factories, yet we’ve been using it for these temporary homes for years and years,” Shama Herath, one of the villagers said. “It was Caritas who made us aware of what’s available right here and got us motivated.” Nissanka Fernando, a Caritas worker, explained their role in the project. “We believe that everybody has something. Our responsibility is just to show them what resources they have” he said.
Further help came from Father Jude Nicholas Fernando, director of the local diocesan Family Apostolate Centre and chairman of the Dimuthu Foundation, a Sri Lankan NGO. With the support of a benefactor from Italy, the Foundation has bought enough land to erect 43 new houses. Impressed by the villagers’ effort and enthusiasm, Fr. Fernando also donated equipment to dig and transport the clay. The bricks are now being formed and three skilled masons from the village are being amply aided by several others, eager to give their labor. The new houses will make a vast difference to the quality of life in this far-flung parish, where people have endured a miserable existence in their temporary dwellings.