Update, three years later.

Dear Friends,

Our sincere apologies for not keeping you updated on the scene at the Turtle Hatchery in Kosgoda. This is a brief note to say a big thank you to all of you, for your generosity at the time of disaster — December 26, 2004. It is difficult to visualize what the outcome would have been if you had not come to their rescue. Here we are not talking only of the turtles, but of the many families, living around, who were affected.

Right now, the hatchery is back to base, with an additional area for the egg-chambers and bigger and better water tanks. This was much needed because the number of turtles 'beaching' around the area has increased, hence the number of eggs collected has increased as well. Chande, who takes care of the hatchery, is very proud of the fact that he has not turned away a single egg-collector due to lack of funds or space.

Chande is also a fisherman, and lost his livelihood when his fishing net disappeared and his boat was badly damaged. There are 15-20 families that depend on his net and boat for their survival. Chande and all these families have been given a new lease on life due to your generosity. A very interesting and disturbing feature seen among some of the hatchlings born post-tsunami is that a few are born either blind or with some deformity. We have discussed this with Dr. Ruchira Cumaranatunga who is the Dean of the Faculty of Marine Biology. She is due to investigate into it. Chande has set his eyes on building a little hospital to take care of these gentle giants.

The website will be updated whenever there is news. We have now added an RSS news feed to which you can subscribe in order to be informed when new information is posted here. Please check back occasionally for more details and pictures. We wish you all the best and thank you for your help and support.

Ranganie Wickremasinghe
Wellawatte, Sri Lanka

The Mission

In the wake of a 9.0 earthquake on the morning of December 26, 2004, and the resulting tsunami in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka alone is expected to have over 40,000 deaths, if you can imagine that. We can't. But hundreds of thousands are homeless and have lost everything. So instead of worrying about the dead or the perfectly safe like us, let's focus on people who need help now. We're a group of locals and friends working directly with a small part of the affected area that we're familiar with, to efficiently give assistance to people when and how it's needed, and not be overwhelmed by the sheer faceless numbers that we see in the media.

Kosgoda is well-known for its sea turtle hatchery (read more about it at the bottom of this page), and like most coastal towns in Sri Lanka, it has a large population of fishermen who live close to the ocean. Though it's only 40 miles south of Colombo, it suffered the effects of the waves much worse — tourists and natives alike died, and many more lost everything they had. The hatchery, a non-profit conservation project that employed many locals and attracted tourism dollars, is a complete loss, as are homes and fishing boats and nets that are the means of support for many others.

This town is representative of many in Sri Lanka. The people have basic shelter and food thanks to the local Buddhist temple, but aid from the government and relief agencies has only started trickling in a week later. We want to help Kosgoda because we know the people, and we can work directly with them to rebuild their town. But we can't do it without your help.

Who We Are

We are the relatives and friends of the late Dr. Siri Wickremasinghe, who along with Dr. T.S.U. de Zylva and Kosgoda resident Similius Abrew started the Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery in 1981. Through the hatchery and a close relationship with Abrew's family, Siri and the rest of us took an interest in the welfare of the Kosgoda community. We are Sri Lankans living in Rwanda and America as well as Sri Lanka.

• Ranganie Wickremasinghe - liason in Sri Lanka, writing, photos
• Therese Kestner - liason in U.S.
• John Kestner - writing, photos, website

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• Tsunami aftermath - Reports on the effects of the disaster in Sri Lanka
• Our adopted town - News and updates on Kosgoda
• Help! - How you can help
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