Tsunami Disaster
Four years after the tsunami ActionAid continues to support the most vulnerable survivors
On 26 December 2004, an earthquake in the Indian Ocean triggered a series of massive tsunami and one of the most devastating natural disasters of modern times.
ActionAid was among the first anti-poverty groups to respond to the tragedy, launching the biggest emergency response in our history.
Over the last three years we have build award-winning housing in
India, helped safeguard islands in
Thailand against the threat of any future disasters, supported women to get work in
Sri Lanka.
In the
Maldives we have enabled some of the poorest families to start new ways of making a living, while in
Somalia we have made it easier for more children to go to school.
Better than before
While helping people put their lives back together – with psychosocial care as well as bricks and mortar – ActionAid has helped tsunami survivors stand up for their rights to a home, an education, a livelihood and a life free from discrimination and violence.
As a result, some of the most marginalised groups – stateless boat people, women displaced by war as well as the tsunami, landless tribal communities, Dalit’s facing decades of discrimination, women fish workers and children out of school – now have a stronger voice and more secure future than they did before the disaster. They are better equipped to deal with challenges ahead.
In the run up to December 26, the third anniversary of the tsunami disaster, we share some of their stories.
Every month, fish-seller Chaminda Jayasundera visits the village officer to get a title deed that would give him ownership of the land he occupies. Each time he returns home empty-handed.
As workmen put finishing touches to SM Nonaummah’s two-roomed house in Kinniya, outside Trincomalee in Sri Lanka, scores of other families still have to endure the harsh monsoon season in temporary shelters.
Read more>>>
Women affected by the 2004 tsunami and the ongoing conflict in Sri Lanka have been left drained of their confidence and optimism, but that is starting to change with ActionAid supported projects to bring their dignity back.
Read more>>>
Life for 22-year-old Ayesha and her husband, Premadasa is set to change for the better once they move into their new house in Kirinda Godana, in southern Hambantota district of Sri Lanka, where 60 people died in the 2004 tsunami.
Read more>>>
© ActionAid