Tsunami Diary: A couple of weeks ago one of the Global Crossroads volunteers, Joe Numann, was working on the Dadalla site and came across a lump of asbestos burning on a fire.
Asbestos, banned in most countries, is a natural mineral found in the earth's crust. In its unbroken state it is relatively safe.
When disturbed, however, the fibres which have been found to be carcinogenic may be released into the air and are easily inhaled. Asbestos cement sheets and accessories have been manufactured and used extensively for roofing in Sri Lanka for a long time.
When we approached our GC co-ordinators initially about this issue, we didn't receive the response we were looking for - we wanted tiled roofs (which are also cooler) instead of asbestos ones. The company that sells the asbestos cement sheets provided information on the material, saying it "does not pose any significant risks to the general public under normal conditions and use". Well, the conditions are certainly not normal over here at the moment and unfortunately, because the product is cheaper than tiling a roof, that was the option used. Money talks. We decided to chase the issue as we felt strongly about it. We had come from all over the world to make a difference to people's lives here, but we felt we were lying and betraying them by allowing this to happen.
I am happy to report that we achieved our goal yesterday. A meeting of the volunteers was held and it was announced that from now on, all the new houses being built will have tiled roofs. Cheers erupted when we heard the news.
Although only a small step in the right direction, we really feel we achieved something here yesterday.
We might be leaving Sri Lanka minus one volunteer. Simon, an 18-year-old Briton, had an interesting experience earlier. By 3pm he was covered from head to toe in cement from the house building, and some of the locals decided to do something about it.
One man whom we call ThaTha, Sinhalese for father, beckoned Simon over to one of the many water taps and took out a bar of soap. He pulled Simon's T-shirt off and proceeded to scrub away. All the volunteers downed their tools and came to watch and take pictures. The poor guy never felt so embarrassed in his entire life.
Suddenly ThaTha shouted at the women to go into the house and, amid much laughter, they all ran inside and closed the door. ThaTha produced a sarong, wrapped it around a worried looking Simon and before he knew it, his shorts and boxers were ripped off and ThaTha was working his way up his leg with the soap. Simon thought he had just taken part in a Sri Lankan baptism and adoption ceremony. What a day.
Fiona O'Connor (24) is from Dublin and opted out of her IT job to do voluntary tsunami relief work for a fortnight near Galle in Sri Lanka. Her diary will continue for the rest of the week in The Irish Times