U.K.: 200,000 Elderly Helped By £8m UK Donation

GLASGOW, Scotland (The Herald), December 26, 2007: More than 200,000 older survivors of the Asian tsunami have been helped by £8m in donations from the UK public, according to new figures. They have had their housing restored and their social standing enhanced, thanks to programmes designed to help them help themselves. One example is the formation of hundreds of senior citizens' committees involving 8000 people which have helped older people in India successfully lobby banks for credit. They also administer loans for each other and their communities at low or no interest. Help the Aged and HelpAge International received £8m from the UK public as part of a Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal and invested the money in programmes in Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia. These include 250 age-friendly houses and 10 community centres in Sri Lanka to house older people and their families who lost their homes in the tsunami. It also includes 71 medical staff and 80 home-based carers who received training to help tsunami-affected older people in Indonesia, while Mobile Medicare Units treated more than 80,000 older people in all three countries. The charities are working with DEC to ensure long-term sustainability and help equip older people to respond to global disasters and conflict. Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall, author of the Good Granny series of books, recently visited villages on the Bay of Bengal badly hit by the tsunami. She said she was heartened to find Help the Aged and HelpAge International had ensured that food, clean water, shelter and clothing reached this area. Visiting projects restoring older people to their traditional occupations of fishing, farming and cottage crafts through grants, loans and seed capital, Ms Fearnley-Whittingstall said: "Remembering what havoc the sea had wrought in their lives, I couldn't hold back the tears, but one of my fellow grannies, seeing my distress, grasped my hand and raised it, saying with a smile, Be happy!' "It was heartening to see what Help the Aged had achieved in Tamil Nadu, and now, with colleagues in Help-Age International, they are helping older people to rebuild their lives in the wake of the Bangladesh cyclone." Richard Blewitt, CEO of HelpAge International, said: "The tsunami relief effort has allowed us to focus not only on meeting older people's immediate needs after the disaster, but on building their capacity so that they can generate income, participate in decision-making, and play an important part in lifting their families and communities out of poverty." By James Morgan © Copyright © 2007 Newsquest (Herald & Times) Limited