MALDIVES / DISPLACEMENT

Five years on from the tsunami, Maldives continues to face many challenges, made worse by the threat of rising sea levels from climate change. The island of Dhuvaafaru, a community displaced after the tsunami, struggles with a shortage of homes and a lack of space. UNICEF

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:55
• Production Date: 30 December 2009
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF
• Subject Topical: HUMANITARIAN RELIEF; DISASTER PREVENTION; DISASTER PREPAREDNESS; DISASTER RELIEF
• Geographic Subject: MALDIVES
• MAMS Id: U091230b

Description

STORY: MALDIVES / DISPLACEMENT
TRT: 1:55
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / DHIVEHI / NATS

DATELINE: 1, 4 NOVEMBER 2009, MALE & RAA ATOLL, MALDIVES

Shotlist

1. Med shot, boat sailing into the island of Dhuvaafaru
2. Pan left, from new mosque under construction to new homes being completed
3. Various shots, interior of new three bedrooms
4. Various shots, tour of house
5. Pan right, from house to neighboring units
6. Pan left, newly build administration building at centre of community
7. SOUNDBITE (Dhivehi) Ismail Ahmed, Island Councilor, Dhuvaafaru:
“Since the tsunami, we dreamt of a new home. But the island that we have today is not the one we thought we would get.”
8. Various shots, coast from boat
9. Wide shot, Skyline Maldives capital
10. Close up, anti-drugs poster from recent campaign supported by UNICEF
11. Pan left, from people entering offices of ‘Journey’, a pioneering NGO for recovering drug addicts
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed Arif, Chair Person, ‘Journey’:
“In Male if you want drugs, you just make a phone call and it will be at your doorstep within two to three minutes.”
13. Med shot, interior ‘Journey’ offices
14. Close up, map on wall of office illustrating outreach program in overcrowded neighborhoods of Male
15. Various shots, Nighttime street life in Male
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Chair Person, ‘Journey’:
“The majority of them, at least 80-percent of them, somehow, will substitute and go to heroin.”
17. Wide shot, men and boat on shoreline
18. Wide shot, departing island from boat
19. Wide shot, Male skyline

Storyline

Completely transformed into a new home for a displaced community the island of Dhuvaafaru.

But it is a new life that takes a lot of getting used to for fishermen like Ibrahim Waheed.

With nine in the family, their three bedroom house is not big enough, with five children sharing this one room at night.

And the cramped kitchen, he tells us, was built for foreigners, not designed for traditional family life here.

Purpose-built for hundreds of families and with community and government centres, the islanders still complain of not enough homes and a lack of space.

SOUNDBITE (Dhivehi) Ismail Ahmed, Island Councilor, Dhuvaafaru:
“Since the tsunami, we dreamt of a new home. But the island that we have today is not the one we thought we would get.”

Five years on from the tsunami, this is a country still facing many challenges, made worse by the threat of rising sea levels from climate change.

And in the overcrowded capital of Male, the lack of space doesn’t help the growing problem of drug addiction among the young.

SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed Arif, Chair Person, ‘Journey’:
“In Male if you want drugs, you just make a phone call and it will be at your doorstep within two to three minutes.”

Partnering with UNICEF, the NGO ‘Journey’, is a pioneer in tackling the growing drugs problem, with fears that rising cannabis use is leading to more heroin addiction.

SOUNDBITE (English) Chair Person, ‘Journey’:
“The majority of them, at least 80-percent of them, somehow, will substitute and go to heroin.”

Often seen as a desert island paradise, but in reality facing all the problems of the world, from drug abuse to climate change, as much of a challenge as recovery from the tsunami itself.