On December 26th, 2004, 200,000 lives were lost and thousands of people were left homeless. Sujeewa Fernando was visiting her family in Sri Lanka at the time and was so deeply touched by the disaster that she immediately got involved in the relief work. She worked day and night in the centres to help provide basic needs for the refugees and saw to their welfare until she returned to Switzerland. Soon after, the Swiss based non-profit organiszation Tsunami-HANDAID was founded.
In the following years, Tsunami-HANDAID completed at least one building project, involving volunteer work, per year.
Organising project work was not always an easy task, especially with regards to obtaining land and other official requests. Effort and dedication remained high in the organisation. With more experience, Tsunami-HANDAID managed to work through all the hardships and difficulties, making it possible to build 62 houses, 2 pre-schools and a dairy farm which helps 10 families to be sustainable with their income. In 2012, Tsunami-HANDAID expanded its activities to the north of Sri Lanka. After many years of civil war, the Jaffna peninsula became accessible again. With the help of volunteers and local workers, we provided spacious classrooms and a library to an existing school on the outskirts of Jaffna Town. In April 2014, Tsunami-HANDAID rebuilt several buildings in two schools in Burauen, Leyte in the Philippines’ aftermath of the Typhoon Haian.