ABSTRACT
The world responded with unprecedented generosity when the Indian Ocean tsunami wreaked havoc on coastal communities in four different nations on 26 December 2004. However, within months of that fateful day, world media outlets began carrying reports saying that much of the aid money was being wasted, frequently spent on things that were of little or no use to the devastated communities. Having arrived in Sri Lanka to visit his wife’s family on the day the tsunami hit, the author decided to initiate a study of what the world could learn from efforts to rebuild tsunami-affected communities in Sri Lanka and southern India. The study—conducted over a period of four years—concluded that haste was of the greatest detriment to long-term social recovery. This chapter summarises the key research findings on the need for a patient, deliberative approach that depends on partnerships with local people and organisations.
