Reaching out: Website ‘HandsUp’ to connect people
Dan Jebamony
Anyone living in Sri Lanka during the recent floods can attest to the fact that this disaster touched the hearts of Sri Lankans. Many people did not expect the scale of generosity that was extended to the victims who suffered so much loss.
However, along with this generosity came tales of wasted lunch packets and misdirected aid donated by well-meaning citizens who did not have the means of knowing what was necessary. It is exactly this issue that Dan Jebamony, a resident of Australia, hopes to help with by setting up ‘HandsUp’ a website which connects people who need aid directly with potential donors.
‘HandsUp’s concept is very simple. People who need aid upload their requests on the website along with the area they are from and anyone interested in helping can contact them directly. Alternatively, anyone interested in donating can also post what they are willing to give so that people in need can contact them directly. Sounds too advanced for Sri Lanka? Dan begs to differ. “‘Smart phones have become very cheap and accessible,” he points out. It is also his belief that people can post on behalf of people in their neighbourhood who are in need if they themselves do not have access to a smartphone.
The title itself is quite symbolic of the website’s purpose. “If you’re in need you can put your hand up and alternatively, if you are looking to help, you can also put your hand up,” explains Dan. What he hopes to do is eliminate the middlemen and bureaucracy sometimes associated with aid donation. In this case, there is no-one between the people who want to donate and those who need aid. Dan does not make a database or verify the credentials of anyone. Contacting those in need and assessing their need is purely up to the person donating. Says Dan, “In an ideal world we would be able to do all of that and make sure that the right people are getting the aid. However, that would take time which we do not have. I am also a big believer in the phrase certainty gets in the way of progress because if we were to verify the credentials of everyone, then we would also be halting the progress which can be achieved if people did this themselves and donated right now.”
HandsUp began when a friend of Dan’s, Sebastien Maupas, was moved by an incident where one of his friends wanted to help flood victims in Sydney in 2015 and was unable to do so. When he contacted the State Emergency Services, they asked him if he was a doctor and hearing that he wasn’t said they had no way of acquiring his assistance. “This is what Sebastien wanted to change and that’s how we began HandsUp,” says Dan.
Bethany Ransom
HandsUp was active in Fiji following cyclone Winston and is now operating in Sri Lanka. “The great thing about online platforms is the fact that other people can learn from the lessons of others,” says Dan. He plans to keep a record of what he has learnt through making the website in order to help anyone else looking to conduct disaster relief projects. The Fiji experience helped him immensely in setting up the website in Sri Lanka.
It is no coincidence that Dan who has a degree in Information Systems and Computer Science was moved to come to Sri Lanka when he heard of the floods. His parents, both Sri Lankans moved to Zambia in the 1970’s, where Dan was born and raised till he was 11, following which the family settled in New Zealand. It is the sense of community between the Sri Lankans living in Zambia which he has experienced that has Dan convinced of the success of a website of this nature in Sri Lanka. “In Zambia I used to spend the weekends in the homes of different Sri Lankans. In fact, I think Sri Lankans have the strongest connection to their motherland when compared to other countries. This means that expatriates will be willing to help people out through this initiative,” he says.
The operation at present consists of Dan and Bethany Ransom in Sri Lanka who are supported by Sebastien in Australia.
For more information see the HandsUp website https://handsup.help/ and their Facebook pagehttps://www.facebook.com/handsup.help/