Six months on from last December’s fatal tsunami, which killed over 200,000, efforts to rebuild broken lives continues.
The international response from churches and religious organisations has been swift and extensive with numerous Christian charities and organisations playing a crucial role in the aid and clean-up operation.
The relief effort by Action by Churches Together (ACT), a global alliance of churches and their associated agencies, was assembled within hours of the disaster. Not only did they provide food, but also emergency shelter materials, medicines, and non-food items like blankets, clothing and cooking utensils, but most vitally water.
Destruction on this unprecedented scale challenged church groups, well experienced in giving aid and emergency relief, to achieve far beyond their experience.
Sushant Agrawal, director of Churches Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA), one of the three ACT members in India, commented: "In the past, the maximum number of people we were able to assist in an emergency was 38,000 families. But during the crisis phase of the tsunami, we covered 50,000 families – 300,000 people. We covered them within four weeks’ time, which was unprecedented. This shows we had potential and capacity that was underutilised in the past."
A shortage of financial assistance was not the concern of the church organisations, the Salvation Army alone having received US$42,279,097 in public donations.
More important than financial assistance to Agrawal in the immediate aftermath of the disaster was unity and support from other the churches and religious organisations. He said, "We were not looking for financial assistance, but we were looking for support from the ecumenical family – that we were not alone in working there. That was a big morale boost to us. The phone calls – all the support we got – that boosted our morale and confidence. That is what it means to be part of one family, that we show we care and care."
Certainly the aid effort was helped greatly by the indigenous staff of many church organisations, already working in the region before the disaster struck.
