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The Indonesian province of Aceh suffered the heaviest loss of life and destruction from the tsunami. The province was already reeling from three decades of civil war. Neighbouring Nias bore a powerful aftershock three months later. With 169,000 lives lost and 600,000 people left homeless, the scale of damage in Aceh and Nias makes this one of the largest rehabilitation programs in the world.
Our tsunami program in Aceh and Nias was implemented by Oxfam Great Britain. Over the past four years, Oxfam has helped more than 8390,000 tsunami-affected people. In some locations, Oxfam has fulfilled its commitments and handed projects over to communities or other organisations.
Saifullah takes down the family's emergency tent they have lived in for the past ten months. In the background is their new home built by Oxfam in the village of Deah Baro, Aceh Indonesia.
Photo: Jim Holmes/Oxfam
Shelter
Rehousing the thousands of people left homeless was a massive undertaking. Communities have been central to this achievement through their involvement in selecting housing recipients and contributing labour.
The scale of reconstruction was compounded by complex land rights and ownership issues. The tsunami swept away many land boundary markers and ownership documents. In other cases, land permanently sunk into the sea. Oxfam has lobbied for joint land titles for women as well as calling for greater rights for squatters and tenants.
Oxfam water engineers check the quality of the local drinking water in Aceh, Indonesia.
Mark Prasopa-Plaizier /OxfamAUS
Health, water and sanitation
Supporting communities to access long-term water sources and sanitation was a major part of our work in Aceh and Nias. We built and repaired wells and urban water supply systems and provided training so that communities could continue operating and maintaining water systems. Our health education and promotion work complements this to reduce the spread of diseases like malaria.
Mr Dahlani and his family outside his business in Aceh, Indonesia. Mr Dahlani received received a cash grant from Oxfam which has helped him build a thriving business.
Photo: Jim Holmes/Oxfam
Livelihoods
Tsunami recovery and poverty alleviation will depend largely on people’s opportunities to earn ongoing incomes. Our livelihoods projects involve grants, loans, training, and the creation of self-help groups. Some of the livelihoods activities pursued were fishing, fish pond farming, tailoring, carpentry and house painting.
Social services
We worked with 37 civil society groups through training and support in advocacy, governance, strategic planning, accountability and disaster preparedness. Through these, Oxfam and our partners concentrated on ways to enable women to have a greater voice in decision-making processes.