The Asian Tsunami One Year Later

On the first anniversary of the 2004 Asian tsunami, Action Against Hunger is now working on the second phase of its rescue and rehabilitation programs in Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

Thanks to generous support from the international community, neither Sri Lanka nor Indonesia experienced a malnutrition crisis or an epidemic, and reasonable access to drinking water was available. In total, the Action Against Hunger International Network received $19.1 million earmarked for tsunami relief. In the first eight months, we spent $7.9 million on programs in Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The remainder will be spent during the next 18 months.

Present in Sri Lanka since 1996 and in Indonesia since 1997, Action Against Hunger launched emergency programs immediately following the December 26 calamity. Our initial operations collected the dead, cleared roads, distributed drinking water, and educated survivors in emergency hygiene. In the first 15 days, we dispatched five aircraft that delivered 150 tons of supplies.

Today, we have 23 international aid workers plus 216 national staff in Sri Lanka and 25 aid workers and 275 national staff in Indonesia. In both countries, rehabilitation has replaced emergency assistance. Immediately after the tsunami, the people of Sri Lanka and Indonesia urgently needed food aid, and we responded. But distributing food displaces local farmers' produce, destabilizes prices, and creates dependency. So we reduced food distribution and instead are developing support for activities that revive the local economy and agriculture.

Longer and more complex than our initial emergency response, Phase Two of our programs includes re-launching agricultural production, establishing sustainable access to clean water, and monitoring food security.

Our Efforts in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, we've directly assisted 72,000 beneficiaries. Though most of the emergency camps are gone, nearly 200,000 people now live in temporary shelters. Both in shelters and in villages, we continue to set up, maintain, and supply water-and-sanitation facilities that enable refugees to live in healthy conditions. UNICEF, in fact, has adopted our standards for evaluating water quality and has placed us along with Oxfam in charge of evaluating the water at all temporary housing facilities for tsunami refugees in Sri Lanka. We're also concluding agreements with the Institute of Research and Development, the local Red Cross, and the Sri Lankan government to integrate research and action to provide secure and sustainable supplies of drinking water.

In addition, we've distributed a variety of kits, each responding to the specific needs ofa beneficiary family. For example, the tsunami destroyed the fishing industry, so we focused initially on distributions of fishing nets, boats, and related gear to 771 families. Now, we're concentrating on rehabilitating the fishing industry's local infrastructure, the production of ice, and so on. In agriculture, we've distributed not only tools but also 101 tons of seeds (corn, cucumber, lentil, pepper, rice, tomato), selected to maximize productivity of fields cultivated by 8,055 families. We've also distributed artisan kits to builders and carpenters, and we established work-for-cash programs that have paid refugees to rebuild roads and fields. We've helped restore approximately 32,000 Sri Lankans to self-sufficiency, and today nearly 85% of tsunami victims are working again.

Still, our team faces serious challenges in Sri Lanka. First, armed conflict between the government and rebels who come from an ethnic minority seeking autonomy has produced widespread psychological trauma, destroyed infrastructure, restricted economic opportunities, inhibited agricultural production, and polluted water sources. Rebels have also enforced strikes that prevent everyone from working, and they've assassinated Sri Lankan officials. In the midst of this tension, tsunami survivors don't know how to plan, and no one can predict the communities' political future.

Second, a government decree prohibits new construction within 200 meters of the shore (hotels are excluded). But two-thirds of Sri Lanka's tsunami victims earned their livings by fishing, and most of their homes were washed away. Victims must now acquire land to build new homes, and coastal areas are densely populated. Land available for construction is located inland far from the coast and is often unsuited to the needs of fishing families.

Our Efforts in Indonesia

In Indonesia, we've directly assisted 120,000 beneficiaries. After an evaluation phase on the west coast of Aceh, our teams launched emergency food and water-and-sanitation programs in Arrongang, Chalang, Lam'no, Samatiga, and Teunom. Because roads and communications were destroyed by the tidal wave, access to these areas was—and in some places still is—possible only by helicopter or boat. As a result, we decided to dedicate certain bases only to logistics (Banda Aceh, Medan, and Meulaboh) to ensure dependable delivery of supplies. Today, most logistical problems have been overcome, and we've closed the bases in Medan and Meulaboh.

At all bases, we've built latrines, showers, and washing areas, we've cleaned wells and rehabilitated springs, and we've built or repaired traditional boreholes. Because the tsunami destroyed harvests, blocked roads, and ruined stocks in storage, we distributed 293,966 food rations to 73,492 people during the first four months of 2005. Now our teams have terminated food distribution in order to concentrate on rehabilitation programs.

In Aceh, Indonesians and humanitarian expatriates are working to reconstruct affectedareas and resume normal economic activities. Many roads, largely destroyed by the earthquake, are being rehabilitated and certain links between the towns on the west coast are getting easier. A large part of the population still lives in temporary shelters, however, and our teams are striving to prevent epidemics that could be caused by poor hygiene in the camps. Our priority is to ensure that the next harvest is successful and enables people to regain self-sufficiency.

Along the coast of Aceh, the tsunami damaged soil and water drainage systems, introduced a tangle of waste and branches, destroyed irrigation channels, and deposited high levels of salt and sediment in the ground. Agriculture had been the main source of income for 80% of the people in Aceh before the tsunami. So the second phase of our relief effort includes the rehabilitation of damaged agricultural areas and distribution of seeds (chilli, cucumber, eggplant, nuts, rice, spinach), accompanied by agricultural training programs designed to improve productivity.

As in Sri Lanka, we established cash-for-work programs that cleaned public places, rehabilitated irrigation channels, and built temporary structures, while also launching income-generating activities such as food processing (the production of tofu, for example), building (such as carpentry and stone cutting), and services (including hair-cutting and bike rental).

Also as in Sri Lanka, we're developing research programs to find and put in place solutions to problems related to water access. We're also establishing disaster preparedness programs in Jakarta and Aceh designed to reduce the vulnerability of Indonesians to floods.

Despite the recovery's dynamism, however, people in Aceh (and in Sri Lanka) fear the arrival of another tsunami. Rumors have driven people from the coast to higher ground. Since the tsunami, earthquakes have occurred daily in this area of strong seismic activity, keeping the population unnerved.

Politically, too, the situation in Indonesia remains ticklish. Despite a recent peace agreement between the government and rebels, relations are fragile.

Meanwhile, we continue to invest our time and effort in the ravaged communities of Sri Lanka and Indonesia. We project that the reconstruction of homes will take at least two years, and rebuilding the infrastructure will take at least five years. We plan to stay the course.