How Christian Aid responded

Christian Aid, through its partners in the region, was able to react immediately to the Tsunami disaster. As part of ACT International and the Disasters Emergency Committee, Christian Aid will continue to work in the affected countries where the need is greatest.

Sri Lanka: Local organisations funded by Christian Aid were initially involved in emergency evacuations, setting up camps for displaced people and delivering aid. Immediate relief supplies included food rations, temporary shelters, kitchen utensils, lamps, fuel, bedding and medical supplies. Counsellors were called upon to help children traumatised by the disaster. More than 16,000 families received immediate assistance. Christian Aid sent an emergency response team.

India: Partner organisations reported that the worst-affected states were Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. The immediate response involved providing food, clean water and sanitation, and a missing persons' helpline in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Clothing, bedding, cooking utensils and storage for drinking water were also supplied, and counselling for children was made available. Churches Auxiliary Social Action (CASA), a Christian Aid partner, deployed disaster response teams to distribute food, clothing, plastic sheeting and cooking equipment, blankets and medical assistance to 50,000 families in coastal states.

Indonesia: Christian Aid partner organisation Church World Service (CWS) distributed food and medicines to thousands of families, sending out mobile medical teams, 15,000 health and hygiene kits, and tents, tarpaulins, mattresses and school kits. On Sumatra, a feeding programme was set up, and on the Nias Islands, partners transported food, kerosene, clothing and sanitary products to remote areas.

The response to the disaster by Christian Aid supporters and the general public was immensely generous. The crisis will take much of Christian Aid's attention in 2005, but it will not forget the emergency response work continuing in Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Caribbean and southern Africa.