DanChurchAid
India
Immediate tsunami response
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ACT International: |
In Denmark, hundreds of persons volunteered to help collect money for the victims of the tsunami. The sympathy and spirit of sacrifice surpassed all records, and in a few weeks DanChurchAid had raised one of the largest collections in DanChurchAid’s history for relief and reconstruction in South Asia.
DanChurchAid received DKK 8 million (approx. USD 1.3 million) in donation from Danida and DKK 11.6 million (approx. USD 1.9 million) from the EU.
- Nearly a year on from the Boxing Day tsunami, DanChurchAid has spent DKK 68 million (approx. USD 10.8 million) on relief aid and rebuilding projects.
Rebuilding homes and livelihoods is a long-term project; it takes time. Thus, DanChurchAid has intended DKK 17 million (approx. USD 2.7 million) for rebuilding projects in India and Sri Lanka and DKK 8.5 million (approx. USD 1.4 million) for long-term development in the tsunami hit area.
During the first few weeks after the tsunami, a lot of the tsunami donation was spent on much-needed relief items. DanChurchAid helped 500,000 people with immediate relief aid such as food, tarpaulins, clean water and household items, medicine and clothes.
The actual relief aid phase lasted two months. Since then, DanChurchAid and our local partners have been involved in rebuilding projects and long-term development.
Plans and challenges
The reconstruction work has been a mixed, varied process. In both India and Sri Lanka, the building of permanent shelters has been prolonged since local authorities – understandably – have prohibited the building of houses too close to the sea.
On the other hand, the fishermen culture is inextricably bound up with boats on the foreshore, where fishing nets and yarn are dried and fixed while socialising with other fishermen.
Some parts along the coast – both in India and Sri Lanka – the problem is in particular complicated. The fishermen used to live on narrow isthmuses, which separate the sea from bigger lagoons. If the fishermen are going to do as proposed, they will have to move at least 200 meters (656 feet) away from the coast, and thus move into the other side of the lagoons – adding several kilometers of distance to the sea.
Due to many unsolved conditions and state of affairs regarding construction law, many people live in temporary shelters while waiting for the local authorities to come up with a solution.
This has let to great discontentedness. However, as indicated by DanChurchAid’s Regional Representative in Sri Lanka Cecilie Winther, there is a difference regarding how people are rehoused - whether they are rehoused in camps along the shore or on the actual foundation of their washed-away house. In the last-mentioned case, the social structures of the local community are far more intact.
Division of labour
Many private relief organisations flocked to India as well as Sri Lanka and a certain division of labour arose:
In Sri Lanka, DanChurchAid has primarily helped people rebuilding temporary homes as well as getting their businesses back up and running or setting up new income possibilities.
Apart from rebuilding houses in India, DanChurchAid has focussed on providing boats, engines and fishing nets to local fishermen. Some families have shared one boat, which ensured stabile income for more than just one family.
Based on an article by journalist Peter Høvring, published on www.noedhjaelp.dk , 21 December 2005. Translated and edited by Marianne Lemvig.
