wfn.org | TSUNAMI ANNIVERSARY: IN GLOBAL AGENCY*S LARGEST NATURAL

["Lesley Crosson" <lcrosson@churchworldservice.org>]

Media Contacts: Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, (212) 870-2676, lcrosson@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin - 24/7- (781) 925 1526; jdragin@gis.net

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Editors: Interviews available with Church World Service executive
management in U.S.,  or with staff on the ground in Aceh Province,
Indonesia

TSUNAMI ANNIVERSARY: IN GLOBAL AGENCY'S LARGEST NATURAL DISASTER RESPONSE,
AID WORKERS SEE SIGNS OF RECOVERY AT PEOPLE LEVEL

But Hundreds of Thousands Still Homeless, Living in Temporary Shelters,
Says Church World Service

NEW YORK *- (Wed Dec 13) - Nearing the first anniversary of the south
Asian tsunami that claimed some 275,000 lives, humanitarian agency Church
World Service (CWS) says the tsunami disaster generated the single largest
organizational mobilization in response to a natural disaster in the
agency's 60-year history.

A year later, hundreds of thousands of people are still homeless and
living in tents, improvised emergency shelters and transitional living
centers in the worst affected countries. Church World Service reports,
however, that despite the continuing challenges facing the world's
responders, progress is visibly spreading.

In the village of Meue, in the Pidie district, of Aceh Province, Indonesia
-- where the tsunami had destroyed the village's fishing fleet, most of
its houses and nearly all livestock -- the sounds of hammers, renewed
enterprise and life are filling the air again. In partnership with the
villagers, CWS teams have drawn from nearby communities and local
contractors to help rebuild the village.

Church World Service began a livelihoods recovery project in Pidie
district's Meue village soon after the tsunami, but further assessments
also revealed a continued and urgent need for shelter. Survivors were
still living in tents or makeshift shelters made from debris salvaged
after the tsunami. CWS Indonesia Director Maurice Bloem says the agency
has since provided shelter assistance to the village.

In Meue, Saraini, a mother of three small children, says her own new house
and home construction elsewhere in the village is making "everyone feel
more secure so they can focus on earning an income."

Yet, CWS cites a persisting need for building materials, educational
resources for children, and health and medical resources throughout
affected areas.

With offices throughout Indonesia, including Aceh, Church World Service
teams in Indonesia immediately responded in most of the major areas
affected in Aceh Province that were initially reachable. In recent months,
this assistance has expanded to other areas in need of assistance that the
agency has identified as "priority intervention areas" still under-served
since the tsunami.

While many tsunami survivors are still living in temporary shelters or
tents and CWS aid workers continue to deliver immediate aid, the agency's
efforts over the past year have nonetheless focused on the region's
rehabilitation.

To date, CWS has raised $11,436,822 in cash and $6,612,010 in material
goods. Most of that aid has been directed to Indonesia but was also
distributed in Sri Lanka, India, Somalia and Thailand.

CWS Emergency Response Program Director Donna J. Derr says the agency's
cash expenditures and material donations have included food aid; emergency
shelter; medical assistance; clean water and sanitation facilities
reconstruction; psycho-social programs for children; health and nutritional support; reconstruction of homes; and livelihoods recovery programs.

Rev. John L. McCullough, Executive Director and CEO of Church World
Service says the overview of Indonesia's recovery does show progress. "In
terms of where affected areas of Indonesia were on the day after the
tsunami and where they are now, progress has been such that survivors now
have access to basic health, nutrition, education, water services,
sanitation facilities and temporary shelter, as well as increasing access
to permanent housing and recovery of livelihoods.

"The availability of such services has been an important first step on the
long road to recovery,"
McCullough said.

"Church World Service and our partners in Aceh have been focusing on
people first, and on community needs. We've made great strides in either
restoring or building new water and sanitation facilities throughout the
region," says Maurice Bloem, CWS Indonesia Director.

In Indonesia, to date Church World Service has provided:
-	food and non-food items to around 150,000 beneficiaries;
-	health and nutrition support (health services, supplementary
feeding, micro-nutrient fortificants and fortified foods, health and
nutrition education, and wet feeding) to over 4,300 beneficiaries;
-	Early Childhood Development and psychosocial supports to over
4,000 affected children;
-	water and sanitation support (clean water, reconstructed or
rehabilitated latrines, wells and boreholes) to over 18,000 beneficiaries;
-	shelter (tents and houses) to over 1,200 displaced households;
-	and livelihoods support (tools, capital and capacity building) to
over 600 affected laborers

'Because of poor infrastructure, supply bottlenecks, reconstruction will
take years'

"The Church World Service water program in Meulaboh is now providing
enough clean water for over 11,000 people per day as well as sanitation
facilities for over 3,000 people," Bloem said.

"Our greatest challenges, however, are still to provide permanent shelters
and better living conditions for people made homeless by the tsunami, and
to assist affected communities in recovering their livelihoods." The
reconstruction process will take years, Bloem said, "because of poor
infrastructure, even pre-tsunami, and supply bottlenecks for everything
from building materials (such as lumber and cement) to skilled labor.

"Fishing boats cannot be replaced overnight and re-building livelihoods
takes long-term commitment," says Bloem.  "Capacity of local partners
needs to be strengthened, people need to be trained, and community groups
established. Similarly, psychosocial assistance is necessary, as the
psychological scars will take a long time to heal," he said.

"Especially in Nias, all this is happening against a backdrop of extreme
poverty and decades of government neglect," Bloem said,  "while in Aceh, a
civil war has just ended after three decades. It is not a done deal that
this war will not flare up again, and, in any case, deep psychological and
other scars remain as well.

"This is why Church World Service is continuing to raise funds. Long term
recovery means just that," said Bloem, "and proper financial and programmatic support will be the 'make or break' of this region's future."

The agency plans to continue its public fundraising appeal for another 14
months and anticipates continuing recovery programs tin Indonesia for some
years to come.

Many of the agency's beneficiaries are children. In Aceh Province,
nine-year-old Kursiah lost her father in the tsunami and nearly lost her
mother, who was swept away by the water but survived. Now living in Cot
Kilat Barracks, maintained by the Indonesian government, Kursiah participates in CWS-run Fun and Educational Activities in Tents (FEAT) activities
for children.

Kursiah says the games and activities keep her busy so that she doesn't
become sad thinking about her father all the time.

Aceh's future: 'How able and how stable'

Bloem also said that the recent peace agreement between the government of
Indonesia and the rebels of the Free Aceh Movement greatly depends on how
"able and stable" the communities of Aceh can become through economic
rebuilding, good governance and reconciliation efforts.

A key to achieving this is to empower local stakeholders in the process of
peace building and, for its part, CWS's programs emphasize local ownership
through a participatory approach and partnerships.

Bloem says livelihood projects include income generating activities such
as fishing, Pedi-cabs, bicycle workshops and tailoring and are conducted
through partnerships with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and
community-based organizations.

CWS has provided fishing boats and relevant tools and equipment as well as
capital and tools for small entrepreneurs such as a furniture business
group and a women's group enterprise.

In Sri Lanka:

In Sri Lanka, Church World Service's Pakistan-Afghanistan regional staff
provided food and water, tents, mats, sheets, mosquito nets, health
supplies, kitchen utensils, clothing and medicine to some 56,100 families.
 CWS's local partner is now focusing on assisting almost 23,000 families,
providing basic living supplies, educational support for children,
psycho-social care, housing repair, clean drinking water, income generation support for fisherman, and capacity-building activities.

In Thailand:

Primarily in Phang Nga and Krabi provinces, Church World Service has
supplied food, water, cooking supplies, baby food, hygiene items and other
necessary assistance. The agency's local partner has assisted beneficiaries who lacked identity documents and were unable to access government
assistance. Additionally, CWS donated 100 Interchurch Medical Assistance
(IMA) medicine boxes, sufficient medicines and supplies for 100,000 people
for 2 -3 months.

In Somalia:

Church World Service response in Somalia targets 28,000 people in three
districts with water and sanitation programs, to create sanitation systems
and water systems that provide drinking water for people and livestock.

In India:

The international NGO is providing assistance in Tamil Nadu, Kerala,
Andhra Pradesh, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands through local Indian
partners. To date, 50,000 people have been provided with disaster
assistance, including cooked food and drinking water, dry food rations,
clothing, bedding and kitchen utensils, tarpaulins, basic medical aid, and
temporary shelter.  In addition to current relief assistance to those in
need, longer-term rehabilitation is planned for 70 villages.

"It's been a year of unrelenting, massive disasters," said CWS's Derr. We
started off the year with the tsunami, and had to face the Gulf Coast
hurricanes in the U.S., the Pakistan earthquake now, and a host of dire
and ongoing conflict crises and famines elsewhere.

"The tsunami alone," Derr said, "has required unprecedented commitment on
the part of the world's disaster responders, and on the generosity of
compassionate people worldwide.

"And," she said, "we'll just keep on responding."

*	Source: UNICEF "Building Back Better," 12-month tsunami update
report, http://www.unicef.org/emerg/disasterinasia/files/TSUNAMI_E_BOOK_spreads.pdf