Rebuilding Hope and Lives
With help of other humanitarian organizations and those in the devastated regions, CRS has identified priorities: shelter for the homeless, food for the hungry, medicine for the sick, and help to rebuild the communities and livelihoods of those ravaged by the catastrophe. We have a 5-year plan to aid the survivors and to provide them with the tools they need to rebuild their own lives.
India
With your support, CRS helps provide:
- Basic necessities for 300,000 people
- Shelter for 15,000 families
- Educational supplies for 26,000 children
- Committed resources of $36 million USD
Through the work of Catholic Relief Services, the basic needs of 300,000 people are being met with food, medicine, clean water, shelter, sleeping mats and sanitation. CRS is working with other humanitarian organizations to build homes for 15,000 families. With our partners we are rebuilding schools and making sure students have the tools to learn and expand their horizons. CRS is also working with those who lost the means to support themselves and their families. We are distributing fishing boats, nets and other equipment needed to maintain work for hundreds of fishermen.
Our long-term objectives for India are to restore daily living for those affected, help communities prepare for the possibility of future disaster, and provide information and tools communities need to protect their most vulnerable-children, woman and those living with HIV and AIDS.
Six months after the disaster, CRS, our partners, and community groups are designing and building permanent homes, market places and community centers. By working with those in the villages and towns, we are also providing vocational training, cash-for-work programs and supporting local economies. We are working with partners and community leaders to set up task forces to educate, prepare for future disaster and begin vocational training for the young people of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andaman and the Nicobar Islands.
Our work is ongoing, but Catholic Relief Services is committed to aiding the people and communities still struggling from the worst natural disaster to hit India in centuries.
Indonesia
With your support, CRS helps provide:
- Healthcare for over 100,000 people
- Job training for 120,000 men, women and youth
- Shelter for more than 1200 families
- Health training to more than 350 volunteers in 59 villages
- Committed resources of $118 million USD
Indonesia is the country worst hit by the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami-125,443 people died, 94,696 are still missing and 419,682 people were left without a home. Catholic Relief Services has committed staff and over $116 million to a 5-year plan to aid the reconstruction of homes, schools, businesses, churches and mosques, hospitals and markets. Most importantly, we are dedicated to the rebuilding of the hundreds of thousands of lives.
Our efforts are concentrated in Meulaboh and the coastal area to the south, which were severely affected. Over 100,000 people will soon have access to health care, community health centers, and nutritional and wellness education. An additional 120,000 men, women and adolescents will have new programs that will provide job training, allow for the rebuilding of businesses and provide cash-for-work initiatives. CRS is distributing building and roofing materials. With our partners, we are cleaning household water wells and improving community water facilities in order to prevent the spread of cholera and other water-borne diseases.
This latest tragedy in Indonesia is compounded by three decades of conflict between the government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh movement. Fighting has been marked by on-going accusations of human rights abuses. Despite the many obstacles, the survivors of Indonesia-with the help of Catholic Relief Services and other international humanitarian organizations- have begun to return to their homes and villages. Hope is slowly returning to the hearts and lives of the people of Indonesia and Aceh.
Sri Lanka
With your support, CRS helps provide:
- 150 temporary homes each week
- School uniforms and supplies for 40,000 children
- Trauma counseling for 20,000 children and training for community leaders
- Regular work for hundreds of tailors, laborers and small businesses
- Committed resources of $23 million USD
Much of the work of Catholic Relief Services in Sri Lanka takes place on the fringes of violence and war. Prior to the great tsunami, conflict between the government and insurgent groups devastated the country. Today, CRS and our partners are working to help the people of Jaffna, Mullaihivu, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Galle, Matera and Hambantota districts to heal from the emotional and physical devastation of the tsunami and years of war.
CRS has committed $23 million over the next 5 years to the rebuilding of homes, communities, businesses and schools, the restoration of livelihoods and the care of thousands of orphaned children. We continue to provide trauma and psychological counseling to thousands of adults and children.
CRS and our partners are nearing completion of a temporary Montessori school in the Galle district. And the rebuilding of schools will continue in other districts. Local tailors have returned to their sewing machines in a cash-for-work program, stitching uniforms so thousands of school children can return to learning. We are working to ensure that tailors, fishermen, builders, farmers, storekeepers, and teachers have the skills and means to rebuild their sources of income-and will be able to look ahead to a future filled with hope.