wfn.org | [UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 703-A year later,

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

A year later, tsunami relief efforts are just beginning

Dec. 19, 2005	 News media contact:   Linda  Bloom * (646) 3693759*
New York {703}

NOTE: Photographs and related stories are available at
http://umns.umc.org <http://umns.umc.org/> .

By Linda Bloom

It began with an undersea earthquake near the island of Sumatra in
Indonesia.

As news began filtering out Dec. 26, 2004, of the impossibly huge wave
that swept shore after shore in that section of the ocean, as video
pictures emerged and surviving residents and tourists shakily told their
stories, as international news crews rushed to document incredible
scenes of devastation, many hearts were touched.

In the end, what is estimated to be 232,000 people from a dozen nations
were dead or missing - most of them, 169,000, from the Aceh province of
northern Sumatra.

The Rev. R. Randy Day, chief executive of the United Methodist Board of
Global Ministries, believes the live coverage of the tsunami's aftermath
and the timing of its fury - the day after Christmas - lent a "very
personal" aspect to this disaster.

"I think it had a major emotional and spiritual impact on people, and
they responded through giving," he said.

That giving, to the United Methodist Committee on Relief, would
eventually amount to $41.5 million, the bulk of which was donated in the
first eight months after the tsunami hit.

The total is by far the denomination's largest giving for a single
disaster, according to Roland Fernandes, the board's treasurer.

By comparison, "Love in the Midst of Tragedy," used to assist those
affected by 9/11, raised $21 million. Contributions to "Hurricanes
2005," which includes response to Katrina and Rita, have exceeded $24
million but are unlikely to equal the tsunami giving, he said.

In retrospect, raising the money has been the easy part of the
international response to the tsunami. Relief officials say the response
to the tsunami is still in the early stages, as organizations and
communities work to overcome a host of obstacles.

The Rev. Paul Dirdak, UMCOR's chief executive, compares the disaster to
the aftermath of a war rather than a natural phenomenon.

"When a storm is over, the local decision-making capability is still
there," he noted. But in the case of the tsunami, some communities were
not capable of making decisions, he said.

"It's just not obvious to me that the ordinary disaster response
assumptions account as easily for the loss of civil society and for
community infrastructure," Dirdak said.

Other complicating factors of tsunami recovery for some of the South
Asian nations are ethnicity, religion, history and politics.

For years, the separatist Free Aceh Movement had clashed with the
Indonesian government in the Aceh Province. In August, the two sides
signed a peace agreement that was sparked, at least in part, by the
tsunami. The agreement includes a gradual withdrawal of some military
and police forces, as well as disarmament of the rebels.

Day, who had followed the regional war in Aceh, said he was pleased "the
peace talks took place in the midst of all this recovery/reconstruction
phase" and considers the settlement good for both Indonesia and Aceh.

He sees "promising possibilities" for more partnerships between
Methodists and Muslims in Indonesia and believes such efforts can serve
as examples for other parts of the world. "I embrace authentic
partnerships that can be celebrated," he said.

Tension in Sri Lanka

The current conflict in Sri Lanka between the predominantly Buddhist
Sinhalese population and rebels who want ethnic autonomy for Tamil areas
in the north and east dates back to riots in 1983.

Despite a cease-fire, the conflict has had an effect on tsunami
recovery, and the November election of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse
as the new president of Sri Lanka raised new questions regarding
prospects for a long-term peace.

Rajapakse had vowed to scrap the 2002 peace accord with the Tamil
Tigers, has resisted the idea of local autonomy for the Tamils and has
rejected an accord to share tsunami reconstruction money with the
rebels, according to the New York Times.

The November report from UMCOR's office in Sri Lanka noted that even
though there was calm immediately after the election, tensions had
increased, especially during the 10-day period ending Dec. 6.

"In UMCOR operational areas, several inter-ethnic clashes resulted in a
number of casualties," the report said. "People have been evacuated to
safe areas and the presence of security forces has increased." One man,
the report added, was shot near the UMCOR office in Batticaloa.

"We need to keep in mind the urgent need to work for a peaceful
resolution of the conflict that has divided the various ethnic
communities," the Methodist Church of Sri Lanka noted, in voter
guidelines published just before the election.

Do it 'right'

For Day, the goal in spending the money that United Methodists raised
for tsunami relief is to do so wisely - which does not necessarily mean
rapidly.

"Doing it right," he noted, means consulting with leaders in those
countries and deciding how the funds can make the greatest impact,
particularly in the areas of housing, health care, education and
conflict resolution.

He also is grateful to church members for their generosity. "It really
allows us to do some extraordinary things in the vast area where the
tsunami hit."

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org

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