Tsunami of 2004
The Tsunami that occurred in December of 2004 devastated the countries that were affected directly and the entire world. There has been a huge outpour of support for the victims of the tsunami. The question now is how this support will be used to rebuild the countries that were so devastated by this natural disaster. For the purpose of this discussion, we will focus on the country of Sri Lanka and the challenges that the country faces as it attempts to rebuild in the wake of the Tsunami. These challenges include providing safe and sanitary shelter, rebuilding the country's infrastructure, the existing conflict between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, protecting women and children from predators and rebuilding the country's economy, which was most effected by the disaster out of all the economies in the region. Impact of Tsunami on Sri Lanka and Rebuilding Sri Lanka According to an OXFAM Briefing note entitled "Sri Lanka after the tsunami: the challenges ahead" The December 2004 is the largest natural disaster that has ever occurred in Sri Lanka in recorded history. The article explains that the Tsunami destroyed 75% of Sri Lanka's coastal strip. Reports of seismic activity also as
The article also asserts that the successful rebuilding of Sri Lanka will depend on consulting the tsunami survivors. This is particularly true for the female survivors, because of the social customs in Sri Lanka. Women in this situation must feel comfortable enough to express the concerns that they feel concerning their safety Sri Lanka after the tsunami...). The article explains that in the wake of the Tsunami there have been reports of rape and other abuses against women and children including trafficking Sri Lanka after the tsunami...). In addition, it is estimated that 1,000 children have been orphaned by the tsunami ("Tsunami orphaned nearly 1,000 children..."). These issues are a challenge because such abuses existed prior to the Tsunami and now that the Tsunami has devastated the nation's infrastructure it is more difficult for women to report rape and difficult for law protection agencies to find and prosecute criminals. The OXFAM briefing explains that in Sri Lanka approximately 31,000 people were killed and nearly 15,000 incurred injuries because of the tsunami (Sri Lanka after the tsunami...). Additionally, nearly 500,000 people were displaced, half of which are now being housed in relief camps. Many homes and schools were destroyed and over 400,000 lost jobs in the fishing industry and the hotel and tourism sectors because of the tsunami (Sri Lanka after the tsunami...). The tsunami increased employment from 9.2% to 20% (Sri Lanka after the tsunami...). In addition, the country's economy has been adversely affected by the tsunami and requires a substantial amount of aid to rebuild. The country is also presented with the challenge of rebuilding the infrastructure, which may take 3 to 4 years. The rebuilding of the infrastructure is a challenge because it will be costly and because a great deal of the infrastructure had already been destroyed from decades of war. Our research asserts that the nation of Sri Lanka will also face great challenges because of the conflict between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. This territorial conflict has raged for twenty years and may hamper long-term efforts to rebuild the country. Overall, many of the challenges associated with building Sri Lanka existed prior to the Tsunami but were magnified by the event and may prove to be a hindrance on the efforts to rebuild the country. The authors assert that another concern that is unique to Sri Lanka is the conflict between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) (Sri Lanka after the tsunami...). Initially after the tsunami, many feared that humanitarian efforts would be hampered because of the ongoing battles between these two entities (Sri Lanka after the tsunami...). There has been a long battle concerning territorial issues in Sri Lanka, an article written by Sir Arthur C. Clarke, a native Sri Lankan asserts that in the week following the tsunami the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam stopped that bickering and joined together to mourn the dead and committed themselves to rebuilding the country (Clarke). Clarke asserts the hope that this unity is ongoing so that the country can be rebuilt as quickly as possible (Clarke). However, there have been reports that the government ignored many of the Tsunami victims that lived in Tiger controlled territory ("Tsunami Disaster: Sri Lanka Tamil Tigers Accuse..."). Others believe that the rebuilding
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Approximate Word count = 2325
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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