Tsunami three years on Q & A

Chellema, her husband and four-old-son Prasad outside their new brick house built with the help of Caritas India, south east India, August 2007 [Judith Rees]

Key facts about CAFOD's tsunami reconstruction and rehabilitation work

Has CAFOD been successful in meeting the needs of the tsunami survivors it works with?

Three years on, CAFOD and its partners have made good progress. People are living in new houses across the region, more houses are being built, and people are back at work and making a living for their families.

CAFOD will continue to work with affected people long term, strengthening communities and ensuring that people have the resources they need to live full lives.

Did you receive too much money for the tsunami?

CAFOD received over £10 million for its work on the tsunami from its own appeal, and nearly £18 million from the DEC (CAFOD also received £6 million from the DEC on behalf of Islamic Relief

The majority of these funds have already been spent and the remainder is being used to support CAFOD’s partners who have continuing rehabilitation and recovery programmes.

Why is there money still in CAFOD bank accounts 3 years after the tsunami?

So far CAFOD has spent £30,319,332 million of the money to support the work of partners in India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

CAFOD is committed to help build back communities in a responsible way. This means ensuring that the help we provide is based on the needs and aspirations of the affected communities.

The remaining monies will be spent on work to strengthen affected communities so they can take more control of their lives.

With DEC money, CAFOD helped in India, 9,633 children with education support, 5,966 people with livelihood support, 34,500 families with emergency relief support and 1,112 families with permanent housing.

In Sri Lanka, CAFOD has helped 1,607 people with livelihood support, 5,000 families with emergency relief and 1,470 families with permanent housing.

The approximate number of people already living in CAFOD-supported houses is in India 4,500, and in Sri Lanka 4,000, and in Aceh 9,500.

How many houses have CAFOD’s partners built with CAFOD funds?

Our partners have built:

In India: 1,112

In Aceh: so far 1,334 completed, 92 currently being constructed and a further 154 planned in 2007/08. (Overall total will be: 1,580).

In Sri Lanka: 1,470

How many community buildings has CAFOD helped re-build?

In India: 16 net and fish drying yards

In Aceh: 20 schools, 7 health facilities and 402 water and sanitation systems

In Sri Lanka: 3 schools, 3 pre-schools and one community centre

Why are people still living in temporary shelter after three years?

Half a million people were made homeless by the tsunami in Aceh. Getting them all back into shelter has been a huge task.

CAFOD has supported the construction of 1,580 houses in Aceh, 1,112 in India and 1,470 in Sri Lanka.

This represents good progress as numerous problems were experienced with clearing the land, establishing land ownership, land allocation, transportation difficulties due to destroyed roads and bridges, as well as the time needed for detailed planning, and a resumption of the conflict in Sri Lanka.

When will CAFOD’s shelter work be completed?

Construction work in India is finished and will be finished in Aceh during 2008. Another 285 houses will be completed in Sri Lanka by mid 2008.

Apart from shelter, what else has CAFOD been working on?

Getting economies restarted is crucial to our work. CAFOD partners are running livelihood projects in Aceh, Sri Lanka, and India.

In Sri Lanka, our partners provided opportunities for short-term employment through cash for work schemes.

Tasks included school clearing, beach cleaning and building repairs. This scheme provided income for those devastated by the tsunami, and helped inject cash back into the economy.

Then we focused on restoring assets to pre-tsunami levels. In Sri Lanka, CAFOD partners distributed assets such as fishing nets, equipment for drying fish, machines for making coir (coconut fibre) rope, textiles, bicycles, weights, scales, and fish boxes.

Local masons and carpenters were involved in construction of permanent houses and community buildings.

In Aceh, CAFOD’s partners are working with communities to assist them in rebuilding their livelihoods through the provision of fishing boats, small loans and training.

CAFOD’s partner in Aceh, the Legal Aid Foundation, is providing information in regard to land rights for communities affected by the tsunami and assisting them through the process of regaining their land.

We are also supporting partners who are monitoring how aid money is being spent and its impact on local communities.

Other partners are working on the development of more effective systems for consultation e.g. one partner working on agricultural livelihoods engages with civil society, beneficiary communities and local government in Aceh.

In Sri Lanka, CAFOD has provided 1,000 fishermen, trades and crafts people with replacement tools, enabled 450 farmers to restart planting, and provided 5,000 families with emergency relief.

In India, 685 young men and 191 young women received vocational training, 5.966 women and men were helped with livelihoods support, 34,500 helped with emergency relief, and 9,633 school children helped with uniforms and equipment to return to school.

How has the conflict in Sri Lanka affected your work?

CAFOD is working with EHED Caritas Batticaloa in eastern Sri Lanka. Tsunami affected communities EHED is working with, live in government controlled areas and so rehabilitation work has continued.

However, there has been an increase in the price of sand, brick and sawn timber and vehicles transporting materials sourced from LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) areas are blocked at checkpoints.

Masons and carpenters living in LTTE areas are unable to come for work and so progress on construction has slowed.

At the end of August 2007, there were over 42,000 people in Batticaloa displaced by the conflict living in welfare centres. Our partner EHED is providing assistance – which further strains their resources.

Were there problems with communicating with other aid agencies to make sure that you all worked together on the tsunami?

CAFOD partners continue to take part in inter-agency coordination meetings, for example leading on the Shelter Working Group in Meulaboh.

We also work closely with our Caritas sister agencies and with other British aid agencies through the DEC. Better communication is an important learning point, and one that the aid community has to improve on.

What is CAFOD doing in the future to make sure aid agencies work together on the tsunami?

Every emergency is a new experience that we learn from. Working on such a large scale has reinforced the need to communicate with the wider aid community and governments.

We are taking the criticisms on board and have plans that will counter some of the problems. An emergency of this scale was always going to throw up unseen issues. We are learning from them and moving on.

What if there is another tsunami in the area?

CAFOD’s partners’ permanent shelter projects are designed to be earthquake/tsunami resistant. This can mean building houses on a raised level or out of materials that are more stable.

CAFOD’s partners also promote community based disaster preparedness and support communities to be better prepared to cope with natural disasters in future.

What is CAFOD doing to mark the third anniversary?

Our partner, Caritas Sri Lanka, plans an inter-faith commemoration in Trincomalee on 12 December and will take local journalists to see the work they have supported.

CAFOD will provide reports to its supporters on how their donations have been used via its website.

What will happen when DEC money has run out?

CAFOD still has funds left from its Tsunami Appeal. Working together with the DEC and having a separate CAFOD Appeal has given us the flexibility and opportunity to help with all aspects of the rehabilitation work: the majority of the DEC funds have been spent on reconstruction of houses and community facilities and CAFOD Appeal money on a range of activities e.g. helping people restore their livelihoods and psychosocial support.

Over the next two years, CAFOD partners will focus on organising communities so they are capable of assessing their situations, proposing their own solutions and taking decisions about their priorities.

As part of working in partnership with local organisations we are trying to help them build their capacity so that in the future, if CAFOD no longer has the funds to be able to work with them, they will be stronger and able to work independently: “helping people to help themselves”.

Q. What will happen to those not housed yet?

Aceh: the vast majority of people have been re-housed by now (or will be within the next few months).

The national governmental body overseeing the reconstruction process, BRR, is tracking the number of people re-housed and identifying any gaps in the reconstruction plan.

CAFOD and other agencies liaise with BRR to see if there are people still waiting for houses and identify who will be able to carry out the required reconstruction work.

As an example, CAFOD has already carried out house reconstruction work in North Aceh in a village where there were still people waiting for houses.

In Tamil Nadu, where CAFOD DEC funds were focused, the Tamil Nadu State government has instigated a ‘Phase 2’ of housing development which is aimed to cover those people not yet re-housed.

It is unclear how many people will remain un-housed in Sri Lanka. Those tsunami affected people living in conflict areas of the northern region will clearly have to wait longer.

It is expected that a combination of assistance from NGOs and government compensation will eventually result in all affected being re-housed.

related resources

Tsunami stories (677.00 kB)	Disasters factsheet (157.66 kB)	Disaster Risk Reduction Advisor JD (153.00 kB)
Disaster Risk Reduction Advisor app (173.50 kB)	Development and Disasters in a time of HIV (834.80 kB)	Tsunami secondary school assembly (46.50 kB)