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The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, also known as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, was an undersea earthquake that struck on December 26, 2004. The tsunami generated by the earthquake killed approximately 275,000 people and left approximately 1.5 million homeless, making it one of the deadliest disasters in modern history. While the impacts and loss of the Asian Tsunami were unprecedented so too was the humanitarian response. From the United States alone, indivdiual, corporate and foundation gifts totaled over $1 billion of which ICF accounted for close to $1 million. In an effort to provide a good accounting of how your monies were invested, in October 2005 ICF Asia Advisor, Colleen McGinn, traveled to Aceh, Indonesia to see how the money donated by you and other supporters of ICF had been used. In Aceh, Colleen met people of incredible resilience and strength, who had survived unimaginable suffering a loss – a woman who had lost all four of her children and nine grandchildren, a UN security guard who said that the tsunami waves had claimed 25 members of his extended family. These are the stories she heard over and over again. The devastation is very present – rubble and ruins everywhere, a mammoth tanker boat lying oddly adrift three kilometers inland. All that was left of one mosque that she visited was its polished white stone steps. One year on, the work of rebuilding Aceh has only just begun. Nevertheless, enormous progress has been made and countless lives saved. Your contributions have been an essential part of that. Nevertheless, it will take years to rebuild Aceh, and ICF’s commitment to long-term support for the people of Aceh continues. For tsunami relief in Indonesia, the International Community Foundation directed your money to UN-Habitat and Unicef via the UN Disaster Relief Agency. Additionally, ICF donor, Sempra Energy made a $300,000 donation to the Indonesian Red Cross. During ICF’s recent visit to Banda Aceh, ICF visited all three organizations and was impressed with the care and dedication of the staff, and with the resolve of the Acehnese people to rebuild their lives. With the support of Sempra Energy, the Indonesian Red Cross was assisted in mobilizing countless volunteers across Aceh and all of Indonesia as soon as the tsunami waters hit and has been undertaking Herculean efforts ranging from collecting and burying the dead to helping survivors rebuild their livelihoods. As Pak Usman, a community leader in an Aceh Besar settlement for the homeless told Colleen, “the Red Cross are our brothers.” They delivered medical care, tents, clothes, food, safe water, health education, and a range of other support. Much of this was done cost-effectively through use of volunteers and partnerships with other Red Cross agencies from around the world. And, in the delicate political climate of Aceh – a 29-year armed separatist struggle ended in August 2005 – the Red Cross was and remains the only organization able to safely enter many areas of the troubled province of Aceh. The most urgent need in Aceh is still shelter with tens of thousands still living in tents or interim “barracks”. Some half a million people lost their homes to the deadly tsunami, and now, thanks to your support, UN-Habitat is enabling people to rebuild their own, permanent, homes on their own plots of land. Just as importantly they are using participatory and community approaches to empower people to make their own decisions about how to best meet their own housing needs, and to take responsibility for managing and following through on the projects themselves. Support from ICF has been directed to rehabilitate damaged housing in Pidie District, in the northeastern part of the province. Unicef was another recipient of ICF’s support in Aceh, and your support helped them vaccinate 1.1 million children from deadly childhood diseases. Many of these children previously had no access to health care because of the armed conflict. Despite horrific conditions in the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, because of the vaccination campaigns there have been no major outbreaks of measles or other deadly infectious diseases. Unicef has also worked extensively to revive the overall level of health care in Aceh, including supplies, clinics, and training for countless health workers. ICF visited with midwives, nurses, and children in one clinic that Unicef supported; they were enormously grateful for all the assistance although the children had not liked the needles! Unicef had also undertaken many other initiatives to support tsunami-affected children and their families; as one representative said to Colleen, “Children need everything so we must do everything.” ICF visited Unicef schools, playgrounds, and met with staff arranging for everything from textbooks to protection of children who have been orphaned, separated from their families, or rescued from exploitation. Putri and her best friend Hariati are two such youths. They live in overcrowded temporary shelters in Aceh Besar. Although the teenagers must now work to help support what remains of their families, with Unicef’s support they are able to stay in school, and attend recreational activities at a nearby youth center. Putri and Hariati asked us to pass on the message, “thank you for all the help from our friends in the United States that gave through ICF.” Through this letter and its accompanying web based photo travel journal I invite you to see first-hand how your assistance has contributed directly to the invaluable work of UN agencies and the Indonesian Red Cross to save lives and build a new future for Aceh, which was so cruelly swept by the December 2004 tsunami. For details on ICF tsunami related grantmaking, please click here. Nevertheless, it will take years and extraordinary effort to rebuild Aceh, and to ensure that what has been given can and will be sustained. As one survivor explained to ICF, “NGOs give us many things, but still I need help with everything. Clothes for example. I had no underwear at all for a long time. I have terrible pain from my wounds. I have a tiny stall where I sell drinks, but I need financial support to build my business.” While the resilience and determination of the Acehnese people is extraordinary, international support is still needed to help them and so while the world’s focus has now turned to other priorities and humanitarian crisis the need to help communities in tsunami affected regions will continue for many years to come. Thank you for your collective efforts and your on-going support of ICF. Sincerely, |
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