In the wake of disaster, there is also a wave of opportunity: a local voice

In light of Hurricane Katrina and its recent devastation, it is easy to forget that just eight months ago, on Dec. 26, the world awoke to news of a massive tsunami that hit South Asia leaving behind more than 230,000 dead, and forever changing the lives of millions of others. The death toll in the affected regions was the equivalent of having 700,000 U.S. citizens perish from a natural disaster.

I recently returned from a visit to Thailand, Sri Lanka and India, where I witnessed firsthand the tsunami relief efforts of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), on whose board I serve. In the weeks following Dec. 26, Jews from the United States and Canada sent $18.5 million to the JDC earmarked for nonsectarian aid in the region.

Following the historic Jewish tradition of tikkun olam, repairing the world, the JDC set out to use these funds to improve the lives of those affected.

The coastal communities hit by the tsunami were largely fishing villages or tourist areas. While the governments moved quickly to restore the tourist areas, the fishing villages were largely left to their own devices, aside from receiving food and other emergency supplies. Imagine being a fisherman and trying to start over after losing your boat, nets, home and members of your family.

In many of these villages, there is not only a newfound fear of the ocean, and tragic memories, but also governmental bureaucracy that makes it difficult for survivors to receive benefits. Unless you can provide written proof of your loss, be it of a boat or a family member who remains missing, getting assistance — even for newly orphaned children — is almost impossible.

The first steps to bringing relief to the area involved placing JDC staff in the field to understand the greatest needs and determine who would be the best in-country non-governmental organizations to partner with. These partners needed to share JDC's mission of rebuilding the lives and livelihood of the survivors and a commitment to total financial transparency.

Once the best partners were chosen, an agreed-upon list of projects were funded. The purpose of our recent trip was to meet these partners, see some of the projects and spend time with the people we were serving. The smiles on the faces of the beneficiaries show the value of getting villagers, young and old, refocused on a normal life. Helping return dignity to people, be they Jewish or not, has always been important to the JDC.

A "wave of opportunity" is how one of our local aid partners in Sri Lanka described their efforts to rebuild villages. Along with these partners, JDC is trying to rebuild and improve the lives of the invisible victims, by getting fishermen new boats, or teaching them new trades away from water; and by empowering the women of these towns to play a role in planning its rebirth, as well as learning new skills so that they can earn a livelihood. This empowerment is changing the dynamics in many of the villages, giving women their first opportunity to take nontraditional leadership roles.

And for the children, in whose eyes you can often still see the trauma of that awful day, JDC is trying to give some order back to their lives by rebuilding schools and playgrounds, providing computer labs for both young and old and building community centers, where villagers can come together to plan, learn or just socialize while they live in temporary housing and dream of returning to a more normal existence.

While we were traveling, I attended boat blessing ceremonies; school dedications; the laying of new water pipes to a town whose water supply was polluted by the flooding; and many other interactions, all of which had smiling villagers of all ages celebrating small positive things that were finally happening in their lives.

It made me feel very proud to be representing an American Jewish organization whose aid to Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians in a time of need was both so Jewish and so American a concept of shared responsibility.




Alan Rothenberg is former president of the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Federation.







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