From Tsunami Relief to Rehabilitation: How We Can Help Over the Next Ten Years

It's been more than a month now since the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami took over 280,000 people, leaving thousands of orphans and causing unbelievable destruction. The rebuilding will take a long time.

Our donations to relief organizations can help people rebuild their lives. Lately, I've been linking to stories about tsunami relief from the four reputable organizations I've been recommending almost since the disaster struck. Please consider donating to tsunami relief efforts by one of these agencies or other reputable organizations. The four agenices are:

Lutheran World Relief
American Red Cross
Catholic Relief Services
World Vision

Yesterday, Lutheran World Relief published a report on where relief efforts are one month after the disaster. It included a projection of what would need to happen over the next ten years. The report is here.

What I admire about LWR and all these agencies is the way they team up with local organizations and with other relief agencies. Here's an interesting quote from the report:

“It’s an instance like this when LWR’s approach to partnership truly pays off,” says Kelly Bauer, one of the LWR team that visited India. “We’ve worked with these partners for years, strengthening their capacities and building trusting relationships. When disasters hit, our partners are strong, capable organizations ready to provide the immediate relief and long-term rehabilitation services affected communities so desperately need.”

Bauer continues, “For example, we’ve worked for years with CASA, an LWR partner in India, and now they’re one of the most effective relief and development organizations in Asia. They are so capable that they’re influencing the way relief is conducted in India. They initiated the ID card system that many NGOs and government agencies are increasingly using during relief distribution. They are also helping coordinate the work of NGOs and advocating to the government for sound, respectful disaster response policies and practices.”

So with a ten-year picture guiding its work, Lutheran World Relief is being deliberate. “The relief phase is drawing to a close and we are already moving into rehabilitation,” adds Barbara Wetsig, LWR Associate Director for Asia, discussing the life cycle of a disaster and the phases that follow. “We will continue to work with existing partners and expand our outreach to new local organizations, with whom we will follow the same deliberate process of both helping them deliver much needed services to affected communities while at the same time ensuring they have strong organizational systems in place.”