Fuente : Help the Aged
http://www.helptheaged.org.uk/

Tsunami six months on

/noticias.info/ (through ReliefWeb.int) - Help the Aged and its partner HelpAge International reports on its work in the tsunami-affected areas of Mantara, Batticaloa, Ampara in Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu, Kerala in India.

The tsunami has left many older people without their adult children, the very people they traditionally rely on for support. Even where the adult children have survived they will not necessarily be able to support themselves or older family members, as their livelihoods have been destroyed.

Now more than ever, older people play a central role in caring for children whose parents are working away from home or who have died.

Following the disaster, such older-headed households with dependent children need special support. Help the Aged has received £3,762,833 from the DEC to carry out its first year plans. The funds are being used to support older people and their families in rebuilding their livelihoods and developing support networks.

The Charity will also begin to strengthen health provision and rebuild day centres over the coming months.

To date project expenditure totals £1,018,904.

Eleanor Barker, International Manager for Help the Aged, comments: "The generosity of the public has allowed us to make a real difference to the lives of older people living in the tsunami-affected regions not only in the distribution of aid, but in the rehabilitation process. Thanks to the public, older people can have hope for the future."

Help the Aged delivered aid within 24 hours of the tsunami hitting to anyone who needed help. To specifically assist older people in receiving aid, special distributions were set up tailored to their needs. More than 20,000 older people benefited from the initial distribution of aid.

For more detail on our tsunami plans call Andrea Lane, International Communications Manager, 0207 239 1937 or 07977 138479 or email: andrea.lane@helptheaged.org.uk

Older People Associations and Self Help Groups

These groups will be a mechanism to providing community elders with practical assistance. They will act as a support network for older people, identifying and helping the most vulnerable, assist practically and financially in the setting up of small businesses and be a social meeting place for older people and their families.

Case studies and photographs available. Example case studies (in brief):

Mrs. Manikam Chinnapulla, aged 75 has joined an Older People Association Sri Lanka and is making plans to open a shop. Pattammal, 70, received help to remove sand from farm lands. notas_de_prensa_archivo