Asia Tsunami

Children on simelue island celebrate their newly-built school [Caritas]

CAFOD has spent more than £30 million of tsunami funds, helping people in Sri Lanka, India and Aceh, Indonesia piece their lives and livelihoods back together

The devastation left by the 2004 tsunami required a reconstruction effort comparable with rebuilding Birmingham twice.

But thanks to unprecedented public generosity and the response of aid agencies on the ground, the scale of rebuilding work has been staggering.

country by country

India: Our partners have built more than 1,000 houses along with 16 net and fish drying yards where fishing communities can prepare their catch for transportation and sale.

Sri Lanka: Six schools, a community centre and almost 1,500 houses have been completed – and many more are under construction.

Indonesia: Our partners have built 20 schools, seven health facilities, more than 400 water and sanitation systems and 1,300 houses. A further 246 will be finished by the end of 2008.

Lives and livelihoods

CAFOD and the organisations we support have taken a leading role. We have spent more than £30 million – £10 million of which was donated directly by our supporters – helping people in Sri Lanka, India and Aceh, Indonesia.

By March 2009 we expect to have spent a total of £34 million responding to the tsunami – £24 million of which came from the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC).

Around 4,000 houses have been built across the region with CAFOD funds, creating new homes and communities for more than 16,000 people.

Equally important is addressing the unseen cost – the trauma and the grief of those who lost everything. Some of our partners are providing counselling for children, helping them to come to terms with their loss.

We are also teaching communities how to better prepare for future disasters, providing tools and training to help people rebuild their livelihoods and setting-up community projects so people feel they are regaining control of their lives.

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CAFOD mourns Sri Lankan bomb victim

CAFOD joins with its partner Caritas Sri Lanka in condemning the death of Rev. Fr Karunaratnam, who was killed in a bomb blast on April 20 in the north of the country