Over 30,000 Sri Lankans died in the tsunami that struck the coastal areas of the island nation on December 26, 2004. Around one third of the dead were children. More women died than men. Thousands of children lost either one or both parents whereas thousands of parents lost their children. The parents who lost children were guilt-ridden and many were depressed for long periods of time.
Baby-81 is symbolic of the plight of babies and mothers in disasters. After the disastrous sea waves declined, a villager of Ampara district heard a baby crying on a bush and the rescued toddler was sent to Kalmunai hospital in an ambulance. Hospital staff named the two-months old infant as Baby-81 as it was the 81st person admitted to the hospital after the disaster struck the coasts.
The baby's parents had survived the deadly waves and came looking for the baby immediately after they were discharged from the hospital. Meanwhile, media sensationalized the news of Baby-81 and reported that nine parents had come to claim for the baby. The true parents had lost everything and they had neither document nor any other kind of proof to claim for the baby. They were desperate and once police arrested them for trying to take their baby home.
The issue was resolved after 53 days by Kalmunai magistrate court after obtaining DNA reports of the prospective father. Despite sensationalized reports on media about nine parents claiming rights of Baby-81, only Murugapillai Jeyaraja offered for DNA testing.
Baby-81, Jeyaraja Abhilash, posing in the image taken from Lankadeepa newspaper, is a 14-year-old teenager today. He is a grade 10 student of Chettipalayam Vidyalam. He told to a journalist who interviewed him for a Sinhala language Lankadeepa newspaper that his ambition is to be a doctor in future. There family of four persons with later born younger sister is still poor. Abhilash's father works as barber to earn a living for the family.
Media fame they gained from the NBC’s Good Morning America show spared them only the memory of a 13-day journey to US. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club rock band called their 2007 album Baby 81 and sold 14,000 copies in its first week alone thanks to Abhilash but his family said they had not received any help from them to recover from the disaster.
Five million people in the Indian Ocean region were directly affected by the earthquake-triggered tsunamis. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimated that there were at least 150,000 women who were either pregnant or who could be facing complications of pregnancy among the 5 million people directly affected in the region. Such complications included trauma-induced miscarriage and urgent needs of medical and nutritional support. Over 50,000 women within the affected communities gave birth in the next three months while the countries were recovering from the damage to health facilities and loss of basic delivery care supplies.
Disasters jeopardize the women's chances to deliver under clean and safe circumstances. Women who experience obstructed labor or other birthing complications (15 per cent of pregnancies, even under normal conditions) require urgent assistance to ensure their health and the survival of their babies, UNFPA states.
"Other special needs are often overlooked. Women and girls, in addition to needing access to water, food, shelter and medical care, have particular hygiene needs which must be considered if they are to be able to carry on their daily lives with dignity, yet these needs are often overlooked in the larger emergency response. In some of the affected communities, women who have lost all possessions do not have access even to the most basic of clothing items which are required in order for them to participate fully in community life. Yet, in many cases, it is women and girls who assume the primary burden of caring for other family members and for obtaining the survival needs for the family," a communique of the time by UNFPA stated.
iVoice Idea Competition
iVoice is an online platform that encourages youth to discuss social issues and to drive innovative solutions. The platform features stories relating to social issues in Sri Lanka, which are submitted by iVoice contributors and the general public.
The objective of the iVoice Idea Competition is to encourage youth to play a participatory role in solving social issues. After reading a story featured on iVoice, youth can submit their ‘idea’ to help to address the social issue that is highlighted in the story. The ten best ideas will receive seed capital of Rs. 100,000/- each, and mentoring, to support in implementing their ideas.
The majority of articles featured on iVoice relate to a social issue. These stories have a ‘Submit Your Idea’ button at the end of the article, inviting youth to share their innovative ideas on how to address these social issues.
Submitted ideas must be innovative and unique. The ideas must also be practical and implementable by 31 December 2017.
The deadline for submitting an idea is 3 September 2017.
To submit an idea, the following details must be provided through the online form:
Note: Participants can submit any number of ideas; however, only one idea per article is permitted.
Ideas will be evaluated through a competitive process.
03 Sept 2017: Closing of submissions at 23:59 on 3 September 2017
06 Sept 2017: Shortlisting of 20 ideas
13 Sept 2017: Shortlisted applicants to present their ideas in further detail to the judging panel
21 Sept 2017: The ten winning ideas will be announced at the Award Ceremony at which Rs. 100,000/- seed capital will be granted to each of the winning applicants
Evaluation criteria includes creativity of the proposed idea to address the given social issue, and feasibility of implementation within the stipulated budget and timeframe.
The number of votes received per idea will not be a deciding factor.
The judging panel’s decision will be final.
iVoice Idea Competition
iVoice is an online platform that encourages youth to discuss social issues and to drive innovative solutions. The platform features stories relating to social issues in Sri Lanka, which are submitted by iVoice contributors and the general public.
The objective of the iVoice Idea Competition is to encourage youth to play a participatory role in solving social issues. After reading a story featured on iVoice, youth can submit their ‘idea’ to help to address the social issue that is highlighted in the story. The ten best ideas will receive seed capital of Rs. 100,000/- each, and mentoring, to support in implementing their ideas.
The majority of articles featured on iVoice relate to a social issue. These stories have a ‘Submit Your Idea’ button at the end of the article, inviting youth to share their innovative ideas on how to address these social issues.
Submitted ideas must be innovative and unique. The ideas must also be practical and implementable by 31 December 2017.
The deadline for submitting an idea is 3 September 2017.
To submit an idea, the following details must be provided through the online form:
Note: Participants can submit any number of ideas; however, only one idea per article is permitted.
Ideas will be evaluated through a competitive process.
03 Sept 2017: Closing of submissions at 23:59 on 3 September 2017
06 Sept 2017: Shortlisting of 20 ideas
13 Sept 2017: Shortlisted applicants to present their ideas in further detail to the judging panel
21 Sept 2017: The ten winning ideas will be announced at the Award Ceremony at which Rs. 100,000/- seed capital will be granted to each of the winning applicants
Evaluation criteria includes creativity of the proposed idea to address the given social issue, and feasibility of implementation within the stipulated budget and timeframe.
The number of votes received per idea will not be a deciding factor.
The judging panel’s decision will be final.
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