Sri Lankan church acts as shelter as tsunami promises remain unmet

Published: 2005-06-24

ETTUKALA, Sri Lanka (CNS) -- For some tsunami-displaced families in Ettukala, the local church is shelter from the rain at night, an alternative to their leaky makeshift huts as they wait for promised new houses. "We are unable to live in the huts during the daytime because of the sun, and at night because of heavy showers," W. Basilica Fernando said, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. "We try to find shelter under the trees during the day and go to the church at night," she said while standing in the shade. Her children sat listlessly in the heat at the church-run Don Bosco relief camp. Fernando, 35, is one of an estimated 450 people in the camp. She and others take refuge at night in nearby Mary Help of Christians Church. It has been six months since the tsunami smashed into the Sri Lankan coastline Dec. 26, killing more than 31,000 people.

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