Knanamutthu Jebanesan's garden in Periyakulam in North East of Sri Lanka has become a model of courage to many in the area affected by Tsunami as well as the conflict. “Many people visit my garden to see it cherished with green vegetables and bloomed with flowers,” says this thirty years old proud proprietor of his one and a half acre land. A mason and a small scale cultivator by profession, Jebanesan carried on his shoulders the responsibility of his wife and child. Thus, when the tsunami left him with an injured leg and compelled him to give up masonry he had no other way to turn to but cultivation to support his family. He owned a plot of land and wanted to expand his cultivation. But, “I did not have the necessary agricultural equipments to do so,” recalls Jebanesan. “I approached the Caritas- EHED Trincomalee submitting all documents in support of my losses due to the Tsunami and

Today, he has managed to prepare the hilly land for cultivation and grows aubergines, chillies, ladies' finger, pumpkin, bitter gourd, beans, tomatoes, cadju nuts, tapioca, plantains etc. In addition, he sells plants in high demand in the area such as “seedlings of mango, guava and rose plants.”

Jebanesan earns around SLR 10,000 per month now, which is almost SLR 4,000 more than what he earned per month before tsunami.

His business is still developing with his own relentless efforts and “the encouragement given by the EHED Caritas Trincomalee,” according to Jebanesan.

Jebanesan seems highly optimistic of the future of his business. “I have great hope of developing it to a large scale,” he says.

The Tsunami Mini-Business Group, based in Thalapitya in Galle , was created in collaboration with Caritas SED Galle in June 2005. Its members, 6 men and 9 women are primarily Muslim. Through regular monthly deposits to the group's joint savings account, they have saved Rs.10,500.00. These funds are used for community projects and for internal lending. In June 2006, a project was submitted to Caritas SED Galle with the objective to improve the livelihoods of the Tsunami Mini Business Group. In collaboration with the Coconut Development Board, 50 families were given 2 coconut plants each as an example of a coconut growing project. The Coconut Development Board provides advice and technical support to the project and has arranged to provide two coconut plants and fertilizer for each family. Although 50 families received the saplings, an additional 400 indirect beneficiaries will benefit from this coconut cultivation project through the improved environment.

Ms. Baranige Sukumali, 35, and her husband have three daughters, aged 3, 5, and 15 and live in Habaraduwa Division. After the tsunami struck, the roof, walls, doors, and window frames of the house that she had built with money she saved for eight years while she lived and worked abroad in a garment factory were damaged. Immediately, she and her husband used ropes and tarpaulin to construct a makeshift shelter until Caritas SED Galle provided her family with a temporary shelter.

Caritas SED Galle conducted a housing survey with names of individuals, received by the government, who were in need of housing assistance, and Caritas SED Galle informed her family that they would receive assistance to repair their damaged house. Currently, Caritas SED Galle has finished the repairs to her house which include repairing the walls, roof, and window and door frames and installing new windows and doors.

As part of the tsunami rehabilitation program, Caritas SED Galle has repaired 184 houses since January 2006 and has a further 152 repairs in progress.

We intend to finish a total of over 600 partially damaged houses by March 2007. Ms. Sukumali explains that the timber used to construct her home before the tsunami was of inferior quality and the timber that Caritas SED Galle has used to repair her home is of better quality. Now that her house is almost ready, she can invest her income on the education of her children.

Mr. M.M.M. Faris, 42, worked in a jewelry shop selling jewelry to foreigners in the tourist town of Unawatuna , near Galle , before the tsunami struck. In February 2003, he left the shop he was working in to start his own business selling his own handmade items to a variety of jewelry shops located in the same area that he was previously working in. When the tsunami hit on December 26, 2004, only one of the 30 jewelry shops remained in the area and all of his items were washed away.Mr. Faris and 10 other tsunami-affected businessmen started the Talapitiya BusinessDevelopment Welfare Society with the

Together with Caritas SED Galle, the society's members came up with a group activity plan that included community development projects to be spearheaded by the various members, regular meetings where Caritas staff offered advice and peaceful ideas on how to restart their businesses, and asset restoration to be provided by Caritas. On January 19th, 2006, the group received silver and other raw materials from Caritas to help restart their businesses.

The members of the Talapitiya Business Development Welfare Society organized and exam review seminar for 200 local students studying the Tamil language. Fourteen teachers and fourteen schools participated in the five-day program. In the future, the society plans on expanding their own community projects to include village clean-up activities, repair of damaged chairs and desks in local schools, and neighborhood road repair.

Through the group-led approach, Caritas has been able to motivate its livelihood groups to take a leadership role in their communities by working together for the common good, as is evident in the activities already carried out and planned by the Talapitiya Business Development Welfare Society. By focusing its strategy on building capacity of livelihood groups, Caritas is able not only to strengthen the support of the households directly benefited by Caritas activities but to also indirectly strengthen the support provided to local communities through channeling local leadership within Caritas supported livelihood groups themselves.