Volunteers working with IOM have played a vital role in the recovery process for survivors of the tsunami.

In the Sri Lankan southern coastal district of Matara, volunteers Heather Goodwin, Wanna Camcam and Stephanie Bleyer have been working as social mobilizers for the past 3 months. A new volunteer social mobilizer is heading to the north east region of Trincomalee in the coming weeks.

Heather, Wanna and Stephanie all have experience working with NGOs around the world. In Matara, the women have been organizing psychosocial events in IOM camps and coordinating local trainers and teachers to be involved in programmers at various camps.

Stephanie Bleyer a New York native was involved in the creation and organization of sewing centres that have been set up in the camps. “It evolved from various conversations I had with people in the camps,” she says. “We started with an idea and made it happen.”

Other projects that the three volunteers have coordinated are dance and drama classes in camps, two traditional Sri Lankan puppet shows, art, music and singing sessions.