Back to most recent news releases • Browse archive: 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • Email this story

Tsunami Anniversary: In Global Agency's Largest Natural Disaster Response, Aid Workers See Signs of Recovery at People Level

December 14, 2005

Editors: Interviews available with Church World Service executive management in U.S., or with staff on the ground in Indonesia.

NEW YORK - Nearing the first anniversary of the South Asian tsunami that claimed some 275,000 lives, humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS) says the tsunami disaster generated the single largest organizational mobilization in response to a natural disaster in the agency's 60-year history.

A year later, hundreds of thousands of people are still homeless and living in tents, improvised emergency shelters and transitional living centers in the worst affected countries. Church World Service reports, however, that despite the continuing challenges facing the world’s responders, progress is visibly spreading.

In the village of Meue, in the Pidie district, of Aceh Province, Indonesia -- where the tsunami had destroyed the village’s fishing fleet, most of its houses, and nearly all livestock -- the sounds of hammers, renewed enterprise, and life are filling the air again. In partnership with the villagers, CWS teams have drawn from nearby communities and local contractors to help rebuild the village.

Church World Service began a livelihoods recovery project in Pidie district's Meue village soon after the tsunami, but further assessments also revealed a continued and urgent need for shelter. Survivors were still living in tents or makeshift shelters made from debris salvaged after the tsunami. CWS Indonesia Director Maurice Bloem says the agency has since provided shelter assistance to the village.

In Meue, Syaraini, a mother of three small children, says her own new house and home construction elsewhere in the village is making "everyone feel more secure so they can focus on earning an income."

Yet, CWS cites a persisting need for building materials, educational resources for children, and health and medical resources throughout affected areas.

With offices throughout Indonesia, Church World Service teams in Indonesia immediately responded in most of the major areas affected in Aceh Province that were initially reachable. In recent months, this assistance has expanded to other areas in need of assistance that the agency has identified as "priority intervention areas" still under-served since the tsunami.

While many tsunami survivors are still living in temporary shelters or tents and CWS aid workers continue to deliver immediate aid, the agency's efforts over the past year have nonetheless focused on the region's rehabilitation.

To date, CWS has raised $11,436,822 in cash and $6,612,010 in material goods. Most of that aid has been directed to Indonesia but was also distributed in Sri Lanka, India, Somalia and Thailand.

CWS Emergency Response Program Director Donna J. Derr says the agency's cash expenditures and material donations have included food aid; emergency shelter; medical assistance; clean water and sanitation facilities reconstruction; psychosocial programs for children; health and nutritional support; reconstruction of homes; and livelihoods recovery programs.

Rev. John L. McCullough, Executive Director and CEO of Church World Service says the overview of Indonesia's recovery does show progress. "In terms of where affected areas of Indonesia were on the day after the tsunami and where they are now, progress has been such that survivors now have access to basic health, nutrition, education, water services, sanitation facilities and temporary shelter, as well as increasing access to permanent housing and recovery of livelihoods.

"The availability of such services has been an important first step on the long road to recovery," McCullough said.

"Church World Service and our partners in Aceh have been focusing on people first, and on community needs. We've made great strides in either restoring or building new water and sanitation facilities throughout the region," says Maurice Bloem, CWS Indonesia Director.

In Indonesia, to date Church World Service has provided:
- food and non-food items to around 150,000 beneficiaries;
- health and nutrition support (health services, supplementary feeding, micro-nutrient fortificants and fortified foods, health and nutrition education, and wet feeding) to over 4,300 beneficiaries;
- Early Childhood Development and psychosocial supports to over 4,000 affected children;
- water and sanitation support (clean water, reconstructed or rehabilitated latrines, wells and boreholes) to over 18,000 beneficiaries;
- shelter (tents and houses) to over 1,200 displaced households;
- and livelihoods support (tools, capital and capacity building) to over 600 affected laborers

Because of poor infrastructure, supply bottlenecks, reconstruction will take years

"The Church World Service water program in Meulaboh is now providing enough clean water for over 11,000 people per day as well as sanitation facilities for over 3,000 people," Bloem said.

"Our greatest challenges, however, are still to provide permanent shelters and better living conditions for people made homeless by the tsunami, and to assist affected communities in recovering their livelihoods." The reconstruction process will take years, Bloem said, "because of poor infrastructure, even pre-tsunami, and supply bottlenecks for everything from building materials (such as lumber and cement) to skilled labor.

"Fishing boats cannot be replaced overnight and re-building livelihoods takes long-term commitment," says Bloem. "Capacity of local partners needs to be strengthened, people need to be trained, and community groups established. Similarly, psychosocial assistance is necessary, as the psychological scars will take a long time to heal," he said.

"Especially in Nias, all this is happening against a backdrop of extreme poverty and decades of government neglect," Bloem said, "while in Aceh, a civil war has just ended after three decades. It is not a done deal that this war will not flare up again, and, in any case, deep psychological and other scars remain as well.

"This is why Church World Service is continuing to raise funds. Long-term recovery means just that," said Bloem, "and proper financial and programmatic support will be the 'make or break' of this region's future."

The agency plans to continue its public fundraising appeal for another 14 months and anticipates continuing recovery programs in Indonesia for some years to come.

Many of the agency's beneficiaries are children. In Aceh Province, nine-year-old Kursiah lost her father in the tsunami and nearly lost her mother, who was swept away by the water but survived. Now living in Cot Kilat Barracks, maintained by the Indonesian government, Kursiah participates in CWS-run Fun and Educational Activities in Tents (FEAT) activities for children.

Kursiah says the games and activities keep her busy so that she doesn't become sad thinking about her father all the time.

Aceh's future: 'How able and how stable'

Bloem also said that the recent peace agreement between the government of Indonesia and the rebels of the Free Aceh Movement greatly depends on how "able and stable" the communities of Aceh can become through economic rebuilding, good governance, and reconciliation efforts.

A key to achieving this is to empower local stakeholders in the process of peace building and, for its part, CWS's programs emphasize local ownership through a participatory approach and partnerships.

Bloem says livelihood projects include income generating activities such as fishing, pedicabs, bicycle workshops, and tailoring, and are conducted through partnerships with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations.

CWS has provided fishing boats and relevant tools and equipment, as well as capital and tools for small entrepreneurs such as a furniture business group and a women’s group enterprise.

In Sri Lanka:

In Sri Lanka, Church World Service's Pakistan-Afghanistan regional staff provided food and water, tents, mats, sheets, mosquito nets, health supplies, kitchen utensils, clothing and medicine to some 56,100 families. CWS's local partner is now focusing on assisting almost 23,000 families, providing basic living supplies, educational support for children, psychosocial care, housing repair, clean drinking water, income generation support for fisherman, and capacity-building activities.

In Thailand:

Primarily in Phang Nga and Krabi provinces, Church World Service has supplied food, water, cooking supplies, baby food, hygiene items and other necessary assistance. The agency's local partner has assisted beneficiaries who lacked identity documents and were unable to access government assistance. Additionally, CWS donated 100 Interchurch Medical Assistance (IMA) medicine boxes, sufficient medicines and supplies for 100,000 people for two to three months.

In Somalia:

Church World Service response in Somalia targets 28,000 people in three districts with water and sanitation programs, to create sanitation systems and water systems that provide drinking water for people and livestock.

In India:

The international NGO is providing assistance in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, helping to support the response efforts of local Indian partners. To date, 50,000 people have been provided with disaster assistance, including cooked food and drinking water, dry food rations, clothing, bedding and kitchen utensils, tarpaulins, basic medical aid, and temporary shelter. In addition to current relief assistance to those in need, longer-term rehabilitation is planned for 70 villages.

"It's been a year of unrelenting, massive disasters," said CWS's Derr. We started off the year with the tsunami, and had to face the Gulf Coast hurricanes in the U.S., the Pakistan earthquake now, and a host of dire and ongoing conflict crises and famines elsewhere.

"The tsunami alone," Derr said, "has required unprecedented commitment on the part of the world's disaster responders, and on the generosity of compassionate people worldwide.

"And," she said, "we'll just keep on responding."

Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676;
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526;

Back to most recent news releases • Browse archive: 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • Email this story