The Indian Ocean Tsunami devastated coastal communities in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and India in 2004, killing over 170,000 people in Aceh, Indonesia alone. CAFOD and its partners provided emergency relief and long-term support to help communities recover and rebuild. This included distributing emergency shelter and supplies, rebuilding homes and infrastructure like schools, and establishing livelihood programs to help people earn incomes again through loans, job training, and small business startups. Six months after the tsunami, families were still being provided temporary shelter until permanent housing could be rebuilt, and communities worked to prevent future disasters through emergency planning.

1. The Indian Ocean Tsunami:
CAFOD’s response

2. Sisters Razi and Riska Damizi survey the wreckage of their home in
Banda Aceh, Sumatra. 170,000 people were killed in Aceh alone.

3. In Sri Lanka, The Queen of the Sea,
crammed full of passengers, was hit by
the first wave of the tsunami. Hundreds of
villagers sought refuge behind the train,
but the second wave picked up the train
and smashed it down, killing at least
1,700 people.

4. Relatives look for the names of family
members lost in the tsunami on lists
provided by People’s Crisis Centre
(PCC) in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. We
helped PCC to re-unite families.

5. Reconstruction
Six months after the tsunami, Aruldevi
Ganapathipillai and her 14-year-old
son Senduran put up their shelter in
Sri Lanka, using a kit provided by our
partner Caritas EHED.

6. Vaduvamma was a bonded labourer
living in very basic conditions. Our
partner Caritas India began building
houses in her village, and she was
taken on as a construction worker.
Now she and her four children live in
one of the houses, and she continues
to work in the building trade, earning
a good wage.

7. By distributing sets of simple tools
soon after the tsunami struck, our
partners enabled thousands of
people who’d lost everything in Sri
Lanka to earn a living once again.

8. We worked with Islamic Relief to
rebuild Suak Ribee school in Aceh
Province, Indonesia. It was one of
26 schools we helped to rebuild
across the region.

9. Working for
humanity
Vithya, 12, and her father outside their
temporary shelter in Navalady, Sri Lanka.
Our partner Caritas EHED provided this
temporary home for Vithya and her father
until new permanent housing was
completed.

10. Making a living
Our partner Caritas Sri Lanka
encouraged tsunami survivors to
form groups so they could pool
savings and access loans in order
to rebuild their livelihoods. Here a
group member creates a broom
from coconut fibres.

11. In India we supported local
organisation Social Change and
Development in building five
children’s centres. Mrs Valiammal,
who works at one of the centres,
said: “It has brought great peace of
mind to the parents. They know
their children are being cared for.”

12. Mr Musliadi in a community
trade centre that was set up
by our partner YPK in Aceh,
Indonesia. YPK has helped
people to start businesses
by providing loans to buy
tools, equipment and
merchandise.

13. Mrs Chandrabartha set up a small
shop in Sri Lanka, thanks to a
savings group and training from
our partner Caritas EHED. She
said: “The solutions to our
problems are with us.”

14. Mr Suman, a fisherman and
shopkeeper in India, is renting a
small shop with the help of our
partner Caritas India.

15. With our partner Caritas EHED, we
supported the Lourdu Andare Group
in Sri Lanka to carry out coconut
wine production, poultry farming
and production of coconut oil
through a microfinance scheme.

16. Through our partners, we helped
fish workers in Aceh, Indonesia to
earn a living again quickly, by
providing new boats, drying huts for
fish or loans to replace equipment.

17. Asokan and Praveen, from Tamil
Nadu in India, are two of four
brothers who received their own
boat after the tsunami, thanks to
our partner Caritas India. Before
the tsunami they worked as
labourers on fishing boats and
earned less money.

18. Pupils Widia and Romi at the re-
opened Suak Pandan Public School
in Aceh, one of 26 schools we
helped to rebuild across the region.

19. Helping communities
to plan ahead for
future disasters was a
vital part of our
response to the
tsunami. Here,
villagers in Indonesia
plan how to respond
to future floods.

20. Our partner AJMI helps a community in Indonesia
demand compensation for their houses, which were
burned down during conflict after the tsunami.
Across the region, our partners have promoted
peace and human rights.

21. The Saree School, a local
organisation in Indonesia,
trains women in to produce
and market cassava chips.
The women have a savings
scheme, where they use the
savings to support members
facing difficulties.

22. Please support our
Emergency Response Team
cafod.org.uk/ert