After the deadly tsunami swept across South Asia, CRWRC was one of the first relief agencies on the scene. Now, one year later, CRWRC workers are still there, helping people put their lives back together.
To help people, you have to listen to them. That’s why CRWRC consults with local partners and residents to ensure that each community gets what it needs. This attention to individual needs is one reason why the Indonesian rehabilitation and reconstruction agency picked CRWRC ahead of several larger relief agencies to help rebuild.
And that’s exactly what’s happening. On the large Indonesian island of Sumatra, permanent houses are rising from the rubble. Five hundred brick and cement homes are going up in the Lhoong province. When fishermen said they needed homes that could accommodate their equipment, CRWRC adapted building designs to include lean-tos. While skilled labor such as bricklaying is contracted, homeowners are doing much of the work themselves. As they participate in the task of restoration, the work contributes to their healing.
As homes in Sumatra are rebuilt, lives are also being restored in other ways. Working through local partner agencies, CRWRC is helping fishermen get back on the water thanks to nets and boats provided in part by the more than $7.2 million (U.S.) donated to CRWRC for tsunami relief. Those traumatized by the disaster receive ongoing counseling so they can return to their work.
CRWRC will be here until the tsunami survivors of SumatraIsland are back on a solid foundation once again.
—CRWRC staff
