From Rescue to Rebuilding: Thousands Flock to Gammadda’s ‘Care & Dare’ Camps in Central Province

 Sri Lanka (News 1st) — Nearly three months after Cyclone Ditwah tore through Sri Lanka with floods and landslides that shattered homes, livelihoods and access to basic services, Gammadda’s “Care & Dare” today concluded its 9th and 10th recovery camps in Sri Lanka’s Central Province, drawing thousands upon thousands of affected residents to access vital support—right as renewed rainfall keeps the landslide threat alive in the very same region.

At the heart of this effort is a partnership that has enabled a rare, world-class model of disaster response—one designed not to fade when the headlines move on. “Care & Dare” was made possible through a generous AU$1 million contribution from the Minderoo Foundation, established by Dr. Andrew Forrest and Nicola Forrest, a commitment that has helped Gammadda scale its work beyond emergency aid and into sustained recovery, with dignity and coordination.

Sri Lanka’s recovery burden remains immense. United Nations reporting in the weeks after the cyclone described extensive housing damage—nearly 6,000 houses fully destroyed and more than 108,000 partially damaged—with displaced families and communities still facing broken routines, disrupted incomes and weakened access to services. That gap—between surviving the disaster and rebuilding a stable life—is precisely where “Care & Dare” has aimed its focus.

Beyond relief: a recovery camp designed like a one-stop public service lifeline

Gammadda’s model has been to take multiple essential services—normally scattered across offices and long journeys—and bring them into one place, in a structured “camp” format that can reach deeply affected communities quickly. Previous News 1st coverage has described how each camp combines recovery-focused support under one roof, including medical and public health services, legal assistance and help with documentation and claims, alongside pathways for restoring livelihoods through vocational guidance and skills-linked support.

In practical terms, families arriving at the Central Province camps today were guided through service “zones” that addressed urgent daily realities—access to safe drinking water solutions, household essentials, nutrition and infant needs, sanitation support for men and women, dry rations, health services, legal guidance, documentation assistance, career guidance, and direct Gammadda support—so recovery could be tackled as a whole, not as a series of exhausting errands. (News 1st)

A national journey of recovery—camp by camp

“Care & Dare” began its recovery-stage rollout on January 10 in Kotmale, marking a deliberate shift from the first, immediate phase of Ditwah response—rescue and relief—into a longer recovery programme with a clear structure. From there, the camps moved across severely affected areas: Passara (January 24), Madolsima/Lunugala (January 25), and Welimada (January 26)—then into the hill-country and Kandy-facing localities as the recovery phase continued to expand, including programmes covering Nuwara Eliya and Kandy districts, and Gampola. Today’s 9th and 10th camps in Matale district, in the Central Province, represented both a milestone and a message: this is not a one-week push, but a sustained commitment—especially important as weather conditions remain volatile, with landslide “red” warnings continuing to be issued for parts of Matale and Kandy districts amid heavy rain.

What comes next: from Recover to Rebuild

Crucially, Chevaan Daniel, the Leader of the Gammadda Movement says that the conclusion of the camp series is not an ending—it is a handover to the next phase."We will unveil the next stage very soon. Our efforts will be relentless", noted Daniel.  

With the Rescue/Relief stage completed in the immediate aftermath of Ditwah, and the Recover stage delivered through the “Care & Dare” community camps, the movement will now transition into a major Rebuild stage: a nationwide programme intended to support affected communities as they move toward long-term stability—helping families regain secure footing, restore livelihoods, and rebuild the foundations that disasters destroy long after the floodwaters disappear.

This is the point of the model: to keep going after the cameras and lights have moved on, and to prove that disaster response can be measured not only by what is delivered in the first days, but by how completely communities are supported back into normal life.

With Minderoo’s support, and growing national coordination through institutions and professional partners highlighted in earlier phases of the initiative, Gammadda’s “Care & Dare” has positioned Sri Lanka’s response to Cyclone Ditwah as something more than emergency action—an evolving, recovery-first mechanism designed to reach people where they are, and stay with them until the rebuilding is real.