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Three years on from the Asian Tsunami, World Vision has improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people through a more than US$300 million response that has included the building of more than 11,000 homes, health promotion interventions for 440,000 people and a massive school building programme.
Following the December 26, 2004 quake, World Vision mounted a simultaneous response in five countries - Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, India and Myanmar. World Vision's relief teams dispatched emergency aid before mounting a massive multi-year response that included the building of high-quality homes and livelihood recovery.
David Taylor, Indonesia Tsunami Response Programme Director, said of the response in Aceh, Indonesia: "This was by far our biggest response ever and, after three years' working in Aceh we can look at the achievements and feel a sense of accomplishment at the scale of the work done. The peace agreement between the government and Acehnese separatists and the work done by international NGOs means Aceh can face the future with a sense of pride in what has been achieved."
Similar successes, despite different contexts, have been achieved in the other countries where World Vision is working.
The flow of donations and grant and corporate funding following the tsunami was so great that World Vision created a special Asia Tsunami Response Team based in Singapore to oversee the response.
By October 2007, US$285 million had been expended on the response. By the end of September 2008, World Vision will have spent US$309.1 million on relief and rehabilitation work, with an additional US$37.4 million to be spent by country offices on long-term community development work in tsunami areas – together totaling US$346.5 million. In total US$380 million was donated in cash and gifts in kind.
The Singapore Tsunami Response Team is now phasing out leadership of the overall programme, passing it on to the individual country offices.
During the three years, programme highlights included:
- The construction of 84 schools, 33 pre-schools and 27 health clinics
- The provision of employment opportunities, support and vocational training to more than 40,000 people
- Distribution of assets including, fishing boats and equipment, water pumps, computers, diving kits, sewing machines, food processors and carpentry equipment.
- Support for 200 child friendly spaces, 119 children's societies, 60 playgrounds, camps, counseling and recreation activities
- Child rights awareness for 27,000 parents, community leaders, teachers & government officials
- Educational support for more than 2,000 teachers and 137,000 children (school supplies, tuition etc)
- In Aceh, Indonesia, fishermen in Lhoong have enjoyed a 500% increase in income because motorised boats have increased the size of potential fishing grounds.
- In Sri Lanka, children's societies have helped youth learn more about advocating for their rights.
- In India, joint ownership of land has increased, giving women property ownership rights.
- In Thailand, thousands of mangroves trees have been planted to better protect the coastline from future possible tsunamis.
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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
