On December 26, 2005, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and other members of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International will mark one year of responding to a disaster of unimaginable proportions — the tsunami that struck the eastern coastal regions of South and South East Asia and parts of Africa 12 months ago.

The earthquake that measured 9.15 on the Richter scale and was centered off the west coast of the northern Indonesian island of Sumatra unleashed the tsunami that killed as many as 230,000 and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless. Within hours, ACT members in India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka mobilized relief-assistance teams through their local partner networks to help identify and remove bodies of people killed in the disaster and start a relief response that still continues.

In the aftermath of a disaster of this scale and scope, it quickly became clear that relief and rehabilitation and long-term development programs would be fraught with challenges and difficulties, given the unprecedented loss of life and the destruction.

A year after the tsunami, the story of the humanitarian response is a difficult one, as thousands of people are still without permanent homes and many more are struggling to make ends meet. Jenny Borden, interim director of ACT, says, “Despite great needs, in these complicated situations with multiple donors, consultation processes with governments and beneficiaries have taken longer than anticipated.”

While in the very early days after the tsunami, relief supplies were mobilized very quickly, Borden says, she adds that “the development of long-term plans with full consultation with beneficiaries and agreements with local governments and coordination with other donors is a lengthy process.”

The past year has seen an outpouring of financial support for the survivors of the tsunami, making it possible to assist thousands of people in efforts big and small to re-establish lives and livelihoods.

Response - a varied and holistic response with long-term goals

The ACT appeal for $103 million for assistance to people in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Somalia includes relief and rehabilitation activities in the sectors of shelter, livelihood, education, water and sanitation and disaster preparedness. Assistance has covered, among other things, distribution of food, clothing, bedding, kitchen utensils, kerosene stoves, boats, engines and other equipment, fishing nets, help with repairing boats and motors, initiating food and cash programs, and providing facilities and counseling for children.

Longer-term plans are aimed at strengthening local capacity, thereby alleviating the suffering of the most vulnerable tsunami survivors. Building resilient communities — by assisting people in re-establishing livelihoods and through income generation — is an important goal that goes beyond taking care of people's immediate needs, a crucial part of the work ACT members do in the crisis phase of any emergency. Key areas of work are now focusing on long-term recovery, such as the construction of permanent housing, assisting people in getting back to work, preparing for future disasters and helping the most vulnerable.

The response has been made possible through support of ACT members worldwide. To date, the ACT tsunami appeal for $103 million has received 74 percent funding.

Following is a summary of the response in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Somalia. This is not a comprehensive and official interim report from the members who are responding. The period this summary covers is up to the end of November 2005.

India

Life and livelihood support

• 59,159 households received offered food relief during the 30 days immediately following the tsunami.
• 63,000 households received dry ration kits and participated in the cash-for-food program.
• 81,887 households received relief kits and non-food items: these include family kits, hygiene kits, kitchen sets, student kits, clothing, household items, etc.
• 6,901 households received livelihood or fisherman kits: these include net packages, fiberglass boats, engines, and other accessories like rope, leads, floats, etc.

Shelter

• temporary shelter for 1,451 households
• permanent shelter (some now under construction) for 3,651 households

Psychosocial

• care for 8,108 households; included 13 programs involving group activities, individual trauma counseling and other psychosocial support

Health care

• 61,738 households received health care and support.
• two programs on HIV and AIDS were provided.

Education

• educational support materials were distributed to 845 households.
• 270 persons attended 18 water and sanitation awareness programs; 13 additional group activity programs were offered.
• 45 village meetings, with 950 persons attending, were conducted on housing issues.
• 300 persons attended a mass rally on independence day.
• self-help orientation/training was offered for 447 participants.
• 10 self-help groups were offered in promotion of funds and opening of bank accounts.
• 540 persons attended sports events conducted in seven villages.
• 280 persons attended disaster preparedness training.

Indonesia

Life support

• food and non-food items were distributed to 152,219 people

Livelihood support

• 5,901 households received livelihood support; included seeds, tools, capital assets (such as pedi-cabs and fishing boats), capacity building assistance, fishing equipment, etc.
• support offered in home-industry, animal husbandry, sewing/tailoring, fish raising, casava & coconut raising for food and other products

Shelter

• 1,357 households were provided with tents or construction of houses

Water and sanitation

• 71,801beneficiaries were provided with water and sanitation; included water tanks, construction/rehabilitation of latrines, wells, boreholes, trash bins, hygiene kits, and water-purification training.

Health and nutrition

• 11,457 beneficiaries of health and nutrition support; included supplementary feeding, distribution of micro-nutrient sprinkles (Vitalita), fortified soy sauce, health and nutrition education
• Health services were provided through mobile and fixed clinics
• over 61,532 health patient visits

Psychosocial

• 7,266 individuals participated in psychosocial care programs; included early childhood development activities, fun and educational activities in tents, individual and group counseling, cultural-based religious activities, etc.

Education

• 2,304 people participated in educational activities; included kindergartens, study clubs, preschool, and elementary play groups.
• 116 households participated in disaster preparedness discussion and knowledge-sharing

Sri Lanka

Life support

• Emergency relief was provided to 9,677 households; included food (cooked and dry food rations), water, clothing, cooking utensils, urgent household requirements.

• 450 households were provided with nutrition support; included midday meals for 35 children, nutritional food for children and lactating mothers in IDP camps.

Livelihood support

• 6,709 beneficiaries
• Income-generation support training, equipment, materials and financial assistance for women (including widows and single-parent households) and men to help them restart their income flow

Shelter

• 61 temporary shelters provided
• 154 houses provided
• kitchen in a center for the displaced to benefit 75 families

Water and sanitation

• 2,384 households assisted; included generators (pumps and drinking water), protection of drinking wells, and construction of toilets

Psychosocial

• care provided to 239 households; included training of trainers, "befrienders" at village level, and counseling programs

Health care

• 1,496 households served through mobile clinics, provision of medicine and hygienic requirements for women in welfare centers

Education

• 3,986 households received assistance; included books, educational materials, school uniforms, shoes, seminars, educational support, information-technology centers and supplementary classes.
• 100 persons participated in disaster preparedness training; short training courses provided for local leadership (mainly clergy) and staff of the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka (NCCSL).

Somalia

Clean water and sanitation was provided for 10,440 people.

Advocacy — some of the issues at stake related to the post-tsunami humanitarian response. (Source: Reuters-AlertNet)

Indonesia

• A buffer zone — The government’s plan for a buffer zone between the sea and populated areas continues to be a point of contention, as it means that many coastal residents will not be able to return to rebuild their homes in their old locations. In some areas, residents have been forced to move as far as 70 km (40 miles) inland.
• Housing — With more than half a million people left homeless by the tsunami, the pace of rebuilding has been criticized as being too slow. Shelters in refugee camps vary from flimsy shelters to barrack-style housing, with the government’s reconstruction chief, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, saying that some people will have to live in tents for two years.
• Land — The government faces a huge task in determining land ownership, as many people never had any written titles or lost them in the disaster. Many records were washed away when the waves destroyed government buildings.
• Logging — Aid agencies and some foreign donors are concerned that the need for huge quantities of timber will further devastate Indonesia’s tropical forests, many of which have already disappeared due to illegal logging and agricultural expansion.

Sri Lanka

• Coastal buffer — This remains a point of contention in some areas, although some restrictions have been lifted. Many fishing communities have gone ahead and put up small huts to keep their work materials near the sea.
• Housing — Many survivors complain temporary houses that aid groups have built using concrete and metal sheeting are stiflingly hot and cramped. It will be months before permanent homes are built.

India

• Dalits — In some tsunami areas, the fishing community discriminated against Dalits or so-called “untouchables,” who are at the bottom of the caste system. They refused to share emergency shelters with Dalits and denied them access to communal taps and toilets. Minorities and lower castes in the tsunami region normally live in segregated areas. All survivors are now living alongside one another in temporary shelters and seem to be co-existing peacefully, although the different communities have their own sections within the camps.
• Housing — Survivors in southern India have regularly complained about the quality of temporary shelters. Most have tin roofs, which made them too hot during the March to June summer when temperatures exceeded 40 degrees centigrade (104 F). Thatched roofs have now been built over the tin ones to reduce the heat.
• Fishing boats — Owners of big mechanized fishing boats were furious at a regional government decision to only partially reimburse them for their lost or damaged vessels, which were worth upwards of a million rupees (about $23,000). They demanded the government foot the entire bill just as it had for smaller fishermen whose catamarans cost about $800. The government said it simply could not afford to pay for the big vessels, and their owners have now relented. Instead, they will be offered cheap loans to cover their outstanding costs.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

• Relief — India moved swiftly to help survivors on its eastern shores and sent its navy to affected neighbors, but was slow to help people on its own Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which lie 1,200 km off the coast. Relief materials piled up at the airport as distribution systems failed. Aid agencies were left stuck in the capital, denied permission to visit the southern islands.
• Temporary housing — Some 10,000 temporary shelters have been built from metal sheeting, but the tropical heat turns them into ovens during the day. Islanders say they should have been given tools instead so that they could use trees to build traditional houses appropriate to the climate.
• Permanent housing — Aid groups opposed Delhi’s plans to build thousands of new concrete-floored homes, saying they would not last in the salty, humid air and would be hard to maintain. They also feared vast amounts of soil would need to be removed to level the hilly terrain and that this would get washed out into the coral reefs and damage the fisheries. A local architect has now come up with a design for stilted houses made from wood and bamboo.
• Sea barrier — Mud barriers have been built along parts of the coast to keep the sea out at high tide. But environmentalists say loose soil from the wall is damaging the nearby coral reefs, which are some of the most pristine in the world. They also say the barrier is preventing water running off the land, increasing the risk of malaria as mosquitoes breed in the standing water.
• Settlers — Thousands of mainlanders who have settled on the islands over the decades have been sidelined in the relief effort. Many have not received compensation because their shops were registered in the names of indigenous partners as required by law. Settlers from Nicobar have been evacuated, many to the mainland.

Partners

In India, ACT members Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA), Lutheran World Service-India (LWSI) and The United Evangelical Lutheran Church of India (UELCI) are responding in Tamil Nadu , Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Pondicherry.

In Indonesia, ACT members Church World Service-Indonesia (CWS), Yakkum Emergency Unit (YEU), and Yayasan Tanggul Bencana Indonesia (YTBI) are responding in Banda Aceh, Aceh Besar, Aceh Barat, Nagan Raya, Aceh Utara, Nias, and Aceh Jaya.

In Sri Lanka, ACT member National Christian Council of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) is responding in the Wanni region in Killinochchi and Mullaittivu, and in Thirukovil, Ampara, Trinco, Muttur, Batticaloa, Galle, Matara, Tangalle, Hambantota, Colombo, Kalutara, Wattala and Negambo. The Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India (JDCSI) is responding in Jaffna and Mullaittivu.