Introduction

March 26, 2005. Today is the 3 month anniversary of the horrific Tsunami that destroyed coastal south-east Asia. While the destruction occurred in minutes, rebuilding will take years.

Soon after the Tsunami struck, grass-roots volunteers provided keen insights into the overall relief and rehabilitation operations. These insights led to the formation of a three-part approach to fill in the gaps left behind by the government and the NGOs. Over the past three months, interaction with the community, various NGOs and government officials have re-affirmed these insights and refined them into a concrete strategy for the long-term rehabilitation of Tsunami victims.

The details of this strategy, the current status and upcoming actions are listed on this website. The pervasive key points of this strategy from the initial insights as well as the subsequent refinements are as follows:

• Livelihood options, especially for women are critical.
• Counselling and education for children needs to be provided in a professional and loving manner while leaving a long-lasting positive imprint on local norms, especially the use of innovative learning methods.
• Collaboration with the Govt. and like-minded NGOs is critical. Asha can provide value by "connecting the dots" as well as "filling in the blanks". We also need to leverage existing relationships with NGOs and individuals to make it happen.
• Local ownership and empowerment is the only way to do it.
• Almost everyone will leave in 3-6 months. The community needs partners for the long haul.