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Directors Note

The exceptional nature of the tsunami that hit India and other South Asian countries in December 2004 and the extraordinary scale of disaster that followed made us realize the stark reality that no nation was prepared for a catastrophe of such a scope. The disaster shed light on the shortcomings of existing preparedness systems, underscoring the need for their significant enhancement. In spite of such inherent shortcomings two years of interventions have left indelible imprints on the psyche of the communities that disasters can open up avenues for greater development, which hitherto was inconceivable given the complexities of social construct.

Caritas India, the social arm of the Catholic Church in India has always been in the forefront providing lasting solutions to those affected by disasters. Past disaster interventions helped in fine-tuning strategies and approaches towards designing tailor made programs that are essentially community driven. Our collective response triggered visible changes in the life of affected people not only to develop coping and adapting strategies but also to support their livelihoods. The community mobilization process thus initiated strives to link development support with capacity building and empowerment. Such a process can be sustained only through proper collaboration and active participation and ownership of various stakeholders particularly the community.

Our current approach as well as the future thrust is to effectively link up knowledge, technology, skills, resources, expertise offered by specialists, local partners, with the community's own knowledge and experience to evolve a community based initiative for disaster reduction, mitigation and preparedness. Our effort is to be innovative, rooted to the ground, and participatory in approach facilitating good practices at the community level and replicating best practices for larger impact.

This book is an attempt to highlight two years of interventions kick starting lasting developmental changes in the communities affected by the Tsunami in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The book highlights disaster response strategies that involve careful efforts to combine knowledge, technology, expertise, institutional capacities, management skills, and practical experience for optimum results. Case studies bring to the fore efforts taken to ensure organizational flexibility, and close engagement with grassroots communities enable delivery of services to people at lower costs. It is also throws spotlight on strategies to supplement government initiatives by acting as a conduit between development programmes and beneficiaries, informing and sensitizing people about their rights and entitlements as well as on mobilizing people and understand people's concerns to enable them to better articulate problems encountered.

I take this opportunity to thank all our partners both national and international particularly the Caritas International network, the local communities and those toiled to make this book a reality. May this book open up avenues for discussion and sharing of lessons between practitioners to encourage multidisciplinary support and draw all stakeholders towards a progression of safety, resilience, and community centered development.