Tsunami Crisis: initial response
Delivering emergency aid
Oxfam responded quickly to reach communities affected by the devastating tsunami, in December 2004.
Aceh, Indonesia was closest to the epicentre of the undersea earthquake, and was hardest hit. Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and Somalia were also affected.
Just days after the tsunami, 13-year-old Fariz (pictured) returns to the remains of his home in Aceh. In his family, only he and his sister survived.
Photo: Jim Holmes
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Reaching devastated communities
For the first time ever, we leased helicopters, enabling us to deliver aid to otherwise unreachable communities.
By April 2005, along 900km of Aceh’s coastline, we had delivered 440 tonnes of aid by cargo helicopter to more than 20,000 people completely cut off by the tsunami.
Here supplies are being unloaded from a helicopter.
Photo: Jim Holmes
Getting facilities in place
The tsunami polluted and destroyed water sources. Supplying clean water was a top priority.
Short-term solutions included installing tanks and trucking water to temporary living centres. Here at Karunapally, India, water tanks are being filled from a tanker. We quickly built emergency toilet facilities.
We worked to meet international ‘Sphere standards’, which set out guidelines for agencies providing emergency relief.
Photo: Jim Holmes
Meeting needs
We distributed essential items including buckets, hygiene kits, shelter materials, and cooking utensils.
Here at Vattavan camp, Sri Lanka, volunteers prepare buckets for distribution by Oxfam partner, Sarvodaya. Each bucket contains a basic hygiene pack and candles.
In Sri Lanka we were able to start distributions within 24 hours, thanks to good existing relationships with partners, and an outstanding response from local staff.
Photo: Howard Davies
Getting the message across
Preventing the spread of disease was crucial. Radio was one way we passed on important health and hygiene messages.
Johanna (pictured), who lives in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, found out how to stay healthy through promotions on interactive talk shows, news programmes and public information bulletins.
Different situations call for different approaches. In Sri Lanka we gave children colouring sheets alongside mosquito nets.
Photo: Rajendra Shaw
Working sensitively
We painted murals on water tanks (pictured) in camps in Sri Lanka, to raise awareness of violence against women.
"When women realised it was not just them suffering, they began to talk, either at group meetings or between individuals.” Kumuthini Nagarajah, Oxfam gender protection assistant.
We provided bathing, sanitation, and shelter facilities that gave women privacy and security. We helped women get involved in camp decision-making.
Photo: Howard Davies
Supporting the clean up
We supported the search for dead bodies, and the clearance of debris, sand and mud from tsunami-affected areas.
In the Laksana district of Banda Aceh, Indonesia (pictured), Oxfam supplied rubber gloves, shovels, and wheelbarrows. We paid local people to clean the mud from the streets and houses so that families could return home.
Photo: Jim Holmes
Shifting focus
Paying people to be involved in recovery activities was just the start of our work helping people become self-sufficient again.
Here people work on a project to repair a damaged road in Somalia.
After the first few months, we moved from providing relief towards helping communities find longer-term solutions to their problems.
Photo: Andre Njoroge/Oxfam Novib
