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RSSRelief, Rehabilitation, Reward
by The Rev. Barbara Cawthorne Crafton
6/23/2005
Whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple-- truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward. -- Matthew 10:42
In the first weeks after the Indian Ocean tsunami, the needs were clear and acute: water, shelter, food, medicine, now. Six months later, the situation in stricken areas is less acute but more complicated: now the need is for permanence and planning for life as it will be in future, for it will never again be as it was in the past. Some people won't ever be able to return to their homes, their businesses. Some islands are permanently uninhabitable, and whole villages will arise in a completely new location.
In both the acute and the ongoing stages of its response, Episcopal Relief and Development has seen the largest outpouring of financial support in its history: more than $11 million to date. ERD's stewardship of our generosity will unfold in three stages: the initial rescue phase, the recovery phase (where we are now) and the long-term rehabilitation phase, which will continue at least until 2008.
From a waterproof-and-wood shelter to a permanent home. From a rain barrel to a well. A new boat with which to explore changed fishing grounds and rebuild the fishing industry upon which so many in the region depend. A micro-loan to reestablish a family business; new livestock to reestablish a family farm. Schools reopened.
We are directly involved in this resurrection. Life is still difficult in ways we would be hard pressed even to imagine, but there are more smiles to be found in Sri Lanka, in Tamil Nadu, on the inhabited Andamar and Nicobar islands now, on the faces of some people who must have thought they'd never smile again. There is concrete hope for livable life, with a plan to make it happen and the resources to bring it about.
And we have the amazing privilege of helping it all happen. For these and all his mercies, God's holy name be praised.
