Building Partnerships, Rebuilding Lives: A One-Year Retrospective

Wound up like battery-operated toys, dozens of children buzzing around a colorful new swing set dash for a state-of-the-art slide and then swarm to the monkey bars. "Up, up!" they squeal. Their excited screeches echo throughout Ban Khao Thong, one of 20 communities to benefit from new playground equipment being provided by JDC in partnership with the renowned local Thai organization, Population and Community Development Association (PDA). The sound of laughter has replaced the chaos of one year ago, when deadly tsunamis washed ashore and forever changed the lives of millions.

Since that time, JDC has been working to provide devastated communities in Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Indonesia with the resources to rebuild their lives and livelihoods. We have implemented a diverse emergency relief and longer-term development program that honors JDC’s organizational philosophy of rescue, relief and rehabilitation, in the process creating unique local partnerships that have broken cultural — as well as physical — ground. In partnership with Rotary/Sri Lanka and on land donated by a Buddhist monastery, for example, JDC is rebuilding and equipping a primary school (grades 1-5) in Galle that was completely destroyed. The new school, whose groundbreaking ceremony was attended by JDC Board members in August, will help to restore a degree of normalcy to the 800 students who currently receive their lessons in makeshift huts on the temple grounds.

Reflecting on the monumental connections that have been established with local organizations in Asia, Will Recant, JDC Assistant Executive Vice President, points out that "while we are operating in a part of the world where there are virtually no Jewish communities, in doing the work, we share similar assistance philosophies."

This synergy has become particularly evident in Sri Lanka, where JDC’s partnership with Sarvodaya is re-establishing livelihoods for thousands of families primarily by training women in handicrafts production to replace or supplement their former fishing income. "Both of our organizations stress self-reliance and community building," observes Recant. JDC is also collaborating with Sarvodaya to refurbish homes of lower-middle class civil servants so that they may help to revive village life; providing psychosocial support training to local residents and professionals; and building five multi-purpose community centers that will each house programs such as preschools, community banks, arts and cultural centers, day centers for the elderly, libraries, welfare society offices, and vocational training sites.

A special dedication commemorating the One Year Anniversary of the tsunamis is anticipated for the first of 80 playgrounds projected to be built by JDC in partnership with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and Sarvodaya, with support from the Bush-Clinton Tsunami Fund.

In Thailand, JDC is partnering with PDA to rehabilitate two fishing villages in Phang Nga Province — restoring income-generating activities and providing school scholarships and other comprehensive activities — in complete collaboration with the local community. The partnership is also restoring the water system in three Thai villages and building playgrounds in 20 hard-hit areas.

Eli Eliezri, JDC Tsunami Program Director for Thailand, emphasizes the likeness of PDA’s philosophy to that of JDC. "PDA's programs are based on the belief that local people are best suited to shape and sustain their own development," he says. "PDA has pioneered grassroots growth marked by extensive villager involvement not only as beneficiaries but also as planners, managers and leaders." JDC and PDA are collaborating on ten week-long "healing camps" for 500 victims, many of whom are Muslim youth traumatized by the deadly waves. The fourth such camp will take place at the end of November.

In India, JDC partnered with Disaster Mitigation Institute (DMI) immediately following the tsunamis to provide emergency supplies and build multiple-family dwellings, and continues to work with DMI in many capacities, including fortifying the economic security of 1,200 families by training women in skills such as basket weaving, tailoring, and candle-making. Mihir Bhatt, Director of DMI, observes that "In our [tsunami] efforts, without a moment's hesitation, JDC joined us on the ground…offered its immediate support. This support ignited DMI team's vision and accelerated actions."

Further cross-cultural cooperation has ensued in India through JDC’s work with Caritas/Catholic Relief, which provided thousands of families with food and furnished children with school bags and supplies so that they could resume their studies. JDC funding to Caritas and the Pondicherry Multipurpose Service Society (PMSS) has also established computer centers in three fishing villages, where hundreds of young adults are receiving training in skills that will help them to pursue new employment.

In every country where we work, JDC aims not only to provide immediate relief to people in distress, but to empower individuals and communities to meet their own local needs and achieve self-sufficiency. Whether we are providing food and medical relief; training local professionals in post-trauma support; building schools, playgrounds and computer labs; or reviving a local market through micro-enterprise grants, JDC, in collaboration with our partners, is laying the groundwork that will foster independence.

Reflecting on the progress that has been made by JDC and its partners in the Tsunami-affected regions, Steve Schwager, JDC Executive Vice President notes that "JDC's mission of rescue, relief, and rehabilitation has proven to be valuable not just in our work with Jewish communities overseas, but in our humanitarian work that enables millions of the world's most vulnerable to experience a better quality of life. The fact that we share the expertise learned through our Jewish programs to produce positive change in the larger society adds a dimension that we do not often highlight, but one of which we are truly proud."

December 2005