Asia Tsunami
World Vision's tsunami response has
received extraordinary support. Funds raised through the international
appeal have allowed World Vision to respond to the immediate needs of those
affected, while also planning long-term programs to help people return
to their normal lives.
Six months on
Hope emerging, road to recovery long
Six-months after the Boxing Day Tsunami hit South Asia, World Vision is fully engaged in an integrated recovery program, but many challenges lie ahead as the program strives to meet the mid-longterm needs of communities across the region.
"World Vision has responded on an unprecedented scale, benefiting close to one million tsunami survivors," says Rein Paulsen, World Vision Operations Director for the Asia Tsunami Response Team.
The relief work has been accomplished in close coordination with government and peer agencies. The communities themselves have also been given a central role. as provision of basic needs naturally transitions to activities focused on longer-term recovery.
"Families and communities continue to face massive challenges as they rebuild their lives," says Paulsen. "World Vision remains committed to walking with these communities during the coming months and years."
Providing for basic needs, assisting in reconstruction
Food assistance is still being provided in areas where survivors are struggling to access food. An emergency school feeding program reached more than 38,000 children in Sri Lanka alone. Fresh water, hygiene kits, mosquito nets, and household kits, including blankets, clothes and soap have been distributed to affected communities, many of whom are living in temporary living circumstances.
Given the massive land devastation caused by the tsunami, labour intensive work such as clean-up and reconstruction has been crucial in the early stages of the response. "Cash-For-Work" initiatives are being employed for such activities and provide much-needed income to affected families. World Vision has also provided cash to repair or replace fishing boats and donated boats, nets, sewing machines, and shop materials to help communities kick-start small businesses. Training in new livelihood activities, such as mechanical repairs, computers, and vegetable cultivation are assisting beneficiaries with the vital economic recovery process.
As part of construction efforts, World Vision is rebuilding and rehabilitating roads, local markets, water-supply systems, schools, clinics and community meeting places. Temporary and permanent homes are being built in their thousands to provide essential shelter and community to thousands of families, particularly as monsoon rains and oppressive heat persist.
Protecting children and advocating for the vulnerable
World Vision has prioritized the integration of child protection across all sectors and is currently supporting 189 Child Friendly Spaces as well as newly established play areas across the four countries. Staff are working to document and disseminate learning to establish good practice guides in child and family protection for use in future emergencies.
Displaced persons and vulnerable groups impacted by the tsunami are benefiting from with interventions such as paralegal training in land ownership, advocating for land inherited by widows, protection programs and targeted womens' livelihood activities. World Vision is also exploring awareness raising and capacity building on people living with disabilities and in prevention of disability.
According to Rein Paulsen, "Having worked through the challenges around mounting an initial emergency response, we now need to address issues around long-term recovery. Transparency through collaboration and coordination to ensure we are providing the most appropriate support to the beneficiaries we have committed to for the life of this response, and beyond."
Stories from the response
Indonesia: Cash for Work program brings displaced people hope
By Enda Balina - WV Indonesia Communications Officer
Displaced people living in the Bungong Tanjung Temporary Living Centre are helping build a road to connect them with the rest of the community through a World Vision Cash-for-Work program.
As well as providing much-needed infrastructure, the program is a way for people to begin earning money again to help re-start their lives.
The construction itself involves 250 internally-displaced people in the program, with about 100 of them women. Besides clearing the land that will be used to build the road, the workers have also worked to finish drainage clearance in the area.
Those involved in the project are working four days per week from 8 to 11.30 AM. Work time is limited to ensure that as many people as possible could benefit from the project.
With funds from the program, Dalimah has now been able to start a small business. "Before joining the program, I did not do anything. I used to be a vendor before the tsunami, but then the disaster took away everything I've got. I couldn't save anything but the clothes on my body. I couldn't even save my child that was on my shoulder," Dalimah said.
After working on the project for several days, Dalimah said she saved enough money to buy more goods to fill her small shop inside the Temporary Living Center area. At the moment, she sells daily goods such as vegetables, salty fish, and cigarettes.
"This program really supports me," Dalimah said. Together with her husband, they are now building hope for a better life.
Currently World Vision is implementing cash for work projects to provide income for men and women in several villages at Sama Tiga and Johan Pahlawan sub-districts. They are being paid about 35,000 rupiah (about 4 dollars) per day, following the standard that has been set up by all NGOs. With the cash in hand, they can pay for their immediate needs, since sometimes the goods being donated by NGOs are not always enough.
Imelda Abarquez, the Meulaboh zone manager, said the cash for work program was an important way to help people recover from the disaster.
"Working was part of their daily life before the tsunami. In the situation where the people had a disaster, one way to bring back normalcy is to give them work," said Imelda. "The cash for work project doesn't only give them cash, but it provides them with psycho-social support. They are able to focus on something that can remove the burdens from their mind, at least for a while."
Sri Lanka: NGOs join forces to assist tsunami survivors in remote Vakarai
By Harini Dias Bandaranayake - Communications Coordinator
Nearly 5,000 families affected by the December 26 tsunamis living in the remote coastal area of Vakarai in eastern Batticaloa district have received much-needed household goods and clothes from World Vision and Care International.
More than 37,000 people benefitted from the donation, including around 10,700 children, said Jeyarahah Jebaraj, the distribution leader for the tsunami relief effort in Batticaloa district.
He said the tsunami affected 16 of the 18 villages that make up the LTTE-controlled Vakarai division.
Local authorities were happy with the joint effort from Care International and World Vision.
"This is the first time these people have received new clothes for their entire family," said K. Thayalan, a village headman.
Care International's project team leader J. B. Pragash said his organisation had been working in Vakarai for three years. Care collected the initial data for the distribution with the help of around 40 CBOs, as well as undertaking the logistical arrangements for the distribution and mobilising the people in the villages.
"Care International is also very happy with World Vision's work through this linkage program, as World Vision worked through CBOs and the people really appreciate that," Pragash said.
Jeevanathan Chandralekha, a 25-year-old mother of three, expressed her gratitude to both World Vision and Care for the donation, which included clothing and a kerosene stove.
"Firewood has been very scarce ever since the tsunami struck. It is a blessing to have a kerosene cooker. We are moving to a temporary shelter so using firewood would be dangerous and a cooker will be a great help," Chandralekha said.
According to government statistics, 314 people lost their lives in Vakarai after the tsunami hit. More than 1,400 homes were destroyed, leaving thousands homeless.
In March, World Vision distributed food rations to 1,187 children in five schools, as part of a World Food Programme (WFP) school feeding program.
Jebaraj said World Vision had already completed construction of over 700 transitional shelters for those displaced, with a further 550 planned.
India: Tsunami fisherman back at sea -- World Vision boats set sail
by Kristy Allen-Shirley - Asia Tsunami Response Communications Manager
It was a day to remember for one tsunami-affected community in Cuddalore last month, as nineteen new World Vision catamarans set off on their maiden voyage, captained by a lively band of local fishermen.
Akaraigori village's newest fiberglass fleet boldly set off into the Bay of Bengal, reviving hopes that once again, fishing could be this community's mainstay. The laughter and banter aboard each boat was salient evidence of just how vital this new program is to the fishermen's psychological and economic recovery.
The village nominated five fishermen per boat, each crew receiving an outboard motor, boat and brand new nets (to be distributed) from World Vision in Cuddalore. The beneficiaries have not received fishing boats from the government or other organizations and have been subsisting from food and cash handouts since the tsunami struck. They have all waited for the day when they might take to the sea again, initial fears aside.
On their maiden voyage, the boats danced among the waves, and many threw in their old nets, eager to seize the ocean's finest. World Vision has thought beyond boats and nets however, ensuring each boat crew becomes a "cooperative", pooling an agreed percentage of weekly profit to invest in a long-term savings account. Many of the fisher-groups will soon be visiting the local bank to open an account -- for the first time in their lives.
Fifty-year-old Sampath has fished for most of his life and lost his home and three catamarans in December. He said it was one of his happiest days in recent memory.
"I have always been asking 'why did this happen?' and 'when can I go back to fishing?' and today I find myself sitting in this boat. I can't tell you how happy this makes me feel and tomorrow I can establish my business and help my family," exclaims Sampath as the boat's flag flaps wildly in the sea breeze.
World Vision's boat provision program is also supporting women widowed after the tsunami. The women are tasked with taking the daily seafood catch to auction, and can keep 20% of the takings.
Akaraigori village is also benefiting from a suite of other livelihood recovery projects, temporary shelters and approval for permanent shelters, and setting up of children's playgrounds.
Paul Sudhakar is World Vision Cuddalore's Economic Recovery Coordinator. "This is a really great occasion for these fishermen, the community and World Vision. We have worked hard to put in place the program and want to see these people get back on their feet and improve their situations. We are also helping other fishermen looking for an alternative livelihood with training in mechanics, screen printing and driving lessons," says Paul.
In Cuddalore alone, World Vision is planning no less than thirty different economic recovery programs, including fish vendors, tailoring businesses, small grocery stores and assistance to marginalized communities. Today's boat launch is just one component of the country's tsunami response that seeks to empower and develop tsunami-affected communities.
Thailand: Women's creative spirit provides means to recover
By Cecil Laguardia - Thailand Tsunami Response Communications Manager
There was laughter and enthusiasm among the Muslim women at the World Vision batik-making project in the temporary shelters in Ban Nai Rai, as a visiting World Vision delegation dropped in to view their work.
"Such a positive spirit," said WV Senior Vice-President Watt Santatiwat, after talking to them during his recent visit to World Vision Thailand's tsunami projects.
Twenty-three women have joined the batik-making project. Popularly known as an Indonesian craft, batik making has taken hold in various parts of Thailand, including the tsunami-affected village of Ban Nai Rai.
The method of dying the fabric for the batiks is a painstaking one, known as resist dying. The manual labour involves the women drawing intricate designs and planning the hues and patterns used.
World Vision has provided materials for the project, but the women have been left to their own devices in doing the designs, among them a tsunami design that can be nicely framed and displayed. One design featured a man looking down into the devastation with tears in his eyes, a poignant expression of how people felt about their experience of the disaster.
The cloths, with hand-made batik designs, can be used for a number of purposes such as dresses, blouses for women and shirts for men, wraparound sarongs (skirts), shawls, table covers and many other uses.
Suchada, a World Vision staff member, said the women are excited about the project. Once heavily reliant on fishing, these families are looking for other ways to earn a living as they wait for boats to be repaired.
Given what these women have gone through, the project also helps keep the women occupied, and builds a sense of community among the families living in temporary shelters.
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