"We met Manikkam Alagavasa outside the transitional shelter Oxfam had supplied for him and his family in Thetativu on Sri Lanka's east coast. Along with hundreds of thousand of others both his home and business had been destroyed in the Tsunami. 'We lost everything in the Tsunami except our lives,' Manikkam said quietly.

Oxfam has supplied 176 transitional shelters for this one community alone and through NESTRA a local NGO Manikkam had received a grant of 11,500 rupees to enable him to rebuild his bicycle repair business.

I was very impressed everywhere we went with the thumbs up families gave for Oxfam's transitional shelters. They clearly were a huge success largely due to the extensive consultation which Oxfam designers had undertaken with local communities before the final design was settled upon. People had been able to give their input and made many suggestions which were used to make improvements. The construction and positioning of these shelters had also taken into account religious and cultural considerations.

Oxfam's strong partnerships with local NGO's were also the foundation for much of the success I found in reconstruction and rehabilitation for Tsunami survivors. Oxfam already had an established presence in this region prior to the Tsunami and had already built up networks through these partners to deliver relief during the civil war. This was invaluable in the days immediately following the Tsunami when I watched Oxfam's local staff negotiate flooded roads as well as Government and Tamil Tiger roadblocks to deliver the first aid to Tsunami survivors in remote regions affected by both the conflict and Tsunami.

Manikkam was just one of hundreds of Tsunami survivors in this district who Oxfam had been able to assist in restarting their lives. I was moved by his dignity and quiet optimism, 'Now I can earn income for food. It's better than before because I have new equipment. I fix three bikes a day. And I'm making 200Rs a day, which is enough for my family requirements - I have a wife and three children, and I'm very happy to be doing this again because it's my family job. It's what gives me satisfaction as well as income.'"