December 16, 2005

P2P Rescue assists Sri Lankan communities
still suffering from last year’s tsunami

By Bea Baechle
Editor

Forget the floods, tool breakdowns, language barriers and terrorist activities escalating in the northern part of Sri Lanka.

P2P Rescue assists Sri Lankan communities still suffering from last year’s tsunami

An Evergreen-based public benefit organization, P2P Rescue, Inc., overcame these obstacles last month in its first effort to rebuild and renew communities devastated by the tsunami that struck Southeast Asia one year ago.

“Our focus is on creating work-for-relief programs that provide people with new skills and jobs so they can carry on with their lives, even after they’ve recovered from the tragedy,” said P2P Rescue Inc. founder Sean T. Kelly.

Kelly traveled to Sri Lanka in October and began his work-for-relief efforts by opening a workshop in the tsunami-devastated coastal village of Venamulla. There he provided tools, training and jobs to more than a dozen Sri Lankans recruited to create a unique hand-crafted product called Waveworks Birdhouses.

P2P Rescue partner and Berkeley artist Michael Parayno of Berkeley Rustic Birdhouses joined Kelly in Venamulla to teach the “Bird Boys of Venamulla” the basics of building birdhouses and the finer aspects of making each birdhouse a work of art. In the United States, Parayno has popularized the concept of reusing junkyard wood and other tossed-out treasures to create rustic birdhouses.

Amila, one of the Bird Boys, saws a piece of wood for his next creation.

Waveworks Birdhouses, however, are made from salvaged “tsunami wood”—recovered pieces of door panels, window frames, boat decks, school desks, and more, that are no longer useful for their original purpose.

“Each piece tells a story and is an absolute original,” said Kelly. “No two houses are alike.”

P2P Rescue has beaten the odds and shipped its first 271 Waveworks Birdhouses to the Bay Area. “It’s hard to imagine that in less than a month, we’ve been able to train and employ such remarkable talent in Sri Lanka from scratch,” said Kelly.

Where the money goes
In addition to providing work and wages for local Sri Lankans, P2P Rescue will donate 90 percent of the net proceeds from birdhouse sales to fund the construction of new homes for families living in Venamulla. Much of the country’s coastal population hit by the tsunami still lives in temporary shelters.

New homes built in Venamulla by the Colombo Friend-in-Need Society measure about 550 square feet of floor space with two bedrooms, one bathroom, a common area and a kitchenette. They are built on strong foundations with sturdy cement walls for an average price of $4,600. The organization has already completed and fully furnished 35 of the 140 homes it plans to build in Venamulla.

2P Rescue Inc. founder Sean T. Kelly visits a preschool in Sri Lanka, where he is providing work for local residents.

The remaining 10 percent of P2P’s net proceeds will pay for artificial limbs throughout Sri Lanka. The Jaipur Foot Program, also run by the Colombo Friend-in Need Society, creates custom-fit artificial limbs for people of all ages. Some have lost limbs from land mines. Others have malformed limbs from diseases such as polio.

“In Sri Lanka, people with such deformities and their families are often ostracized for being ‘attractors of bad luck,’” said Kelly. “C-FINS’ artificial limb efforts not only restore a patient’s mobility, but also include social support designed to provide cultural education to help re-integrate people back into their social fabric.”

According to Kelly, the sale of just one birdhouse can fund an artificial limb.

The Colombo Friend-in-Need Society, established in 1831, is the longest-running non-profit in Sri Lanka.

The Waveworks Birdhouses cost between $89 and $295. Net proceeds from the sales will be donated to build homes in Sri Lanka or provide artificial limbs for those in need.

“We know that a number of organizations offering support to the people of Sri Lanka are corrupt, at best, and even using tsunami relief money for funding terrorist activities, at worst,” said Kelly, who personally interviewed a wide variety of potential non-profit partners before determining that C-FINS was a legitimate, open and efficient organization.

“It’s awe-inspiring to see Sri Lankan people drop everything to help see to this project’s success,” said Kelly. “They know if it succeeds, even a few people will live more comfortable lives.”

P2P Rescue is busy building channels to sell the houses in stores and online. For the time being, however, Kelly hopes to come into direct contact with some of his first customers. “I initially want to come face-to-face with people interested in these works,” he said. “I know where the wood came from, I know who created the houses. Only when I personally encounter the buyers’ connection to the project will the circle feel complete.”

Waveworks Birdhouse prices range from $89 to $295 based on the size and intricacy of the design. Interested parties are invited to contact Kelly directly to arrange a viewing or discuss the project further by phone at (415) 860.3979 or via e-mail at sean@p2prescue.org.

For more information about P2P Rescue, go to www.p2prescue.org. For more information about Berkeley artist Michael Parayno, go to www.berkeleyrusticbirdhouses.com.