Flood disaster awakens volunteerism in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan actor and musician GK Reginold traveled on a motorized fishing boat through the outskirts of Colombo in the hope of bringing food and water to people in desperate need.

Reginald said some families had been without assistance for days due to the South Asian island nation’s worst weather disaster in recent years.

Cyclone Ditwa struck the country last week, bringing catastrophic floods and landslides that killed more than 400 people, left hundreds missing and destroyed 20,000 homes.

But the floods also galvanized volunteerism as they faced what the president called the “most challenging natural disaster” in history.

“The main reason I wanted to do this was to at least help them get a meal,” Mr Reginald told the BBC. “I’m delighted I was able to do this.”

More than one million people have been affected by the disaster and President Anura Kumar Dissanayake has declared a state of emergency.

The Sri Lankan military has deployed helicopters for rescue operations, while foreign governments and non-governmental organizations have continued to provide humanitarian assistance.

But recovery will be a long journey for Sri Lanka, which has experienced its fair share of turmoil in recent years.

In Colombo’s Wijerama neighborhood, activists who protested against former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022 are now helping run a community kitchen producing food aid.

The protests three years ago were triggered by an escalating economic crisis that led to shortages of fuel, food and medicine. Public outrage erupted and led to Rajapaksa’s ouster. Now that kind of politicking is being channeled into hurricane relief.

Social media activist Sasindu Sahan Tharaka told the BBC, “Some volunteers come after get off work, some come on a rotating basis, some even take time off to go there.”

“We reactivated the group as soon as we heard what happened last Thursday,” he said.

Mr Sahan also sees the kitchen as an “extension” of his volunteer work in 2016, when heavy rain and flooding killed 250 people across the country.

Mr Sahan said volunteers had collected hundreds of requests for help, sent them to authorities and organized food distribution to residents.

“Whatever we asked for, we got an adequate response from the community,” he said.

There has also been a flurry of activity online, with social media users creating a public database to direct donations and volunteers.

Another volunteer-supported website helps donors find relief camps and what is most needed in those areas.

Private companies organized donation drives and local television channels also worked to provide food and basic necessities such as soap and toothbrushes.

Facing criticism over preparations for Cyclone Ditwa, President Dissanayake urged Sri Lankans to “set aside all political differences” and “come together to rebuild the country.”

Opposition politicians accused authorities of ignoring weather warnings, saying this was exacerbating the effects of the disaster.

Opposition lawmakers staged a walkout in parliament on Monday, claiming the ruling party was trying to limit debate about the disaster.

Locally, however, there remains a sense of unity as Sri Lankans pick up the pieces after the floods.

“Eventually, the joy of helping others save lives will make this fatigue go away,” Sahan wrote in a Facebook post on Monday after working long hours at the community kitchen and other relief sites in Wijerama.

“Disasters are not new to us. However, the empathy and capacity within us is greater than the devastation that occurs during disasters.”