As boxes and boxes of individual, group and corporate donations reach at the Sarvodaya National Headquarters in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, volunteers ranging from young children to adults gather to unload, haul, haul, separate, organize, record and package all the dry rations, medical supplies, clothes, housing supplies and other emergency supplies needed for daily existence.
As these items are separated into their respective piles, family packs are made and loaded onto trucks that will head out to one of the many disaster-struck regions of Sri Lanka. For the last three days, trucks have departed with these emergency supplies to camps and hospitals in the following regions (districts): Unawatuna, Galle, Ambalangoda, Hambantota, Matara, Colombo, Karapitiya, Morotuwa, and Kalutara. Medical supplies and clothes have been sent to Kalmunai, Batticaloa, Ampara, Jaffna, Mulaitivu, Mannar and Kilinochchi, with plans to send additional supplies in the near future.
So far, items such as sleeping mats, plastic sheeting for small tents, rope, large tents, plates, and plastic cups are among the items distributed in these trucks, along with medicines and medical supplies such as gauze, bandages, adhesive plaster tape, dettol, panadol, and Jeevani (electrolyte solution) to name a few.
Closer scrutiny of these devastated areas, have revealed that each region has different needs and Sarvodaya is striving to meet these needs, as relief efforts continue into the new year.