A ripple in development? - Channel Research

4.2 Effect of integrated development on social relations
Four years after the tsunami, as will be seen below, evidence suggests
that most relations are on the mend as regards events linked to the tsunami,
if not entirely repaired. National and international aid efforts
have mostly been instrumental in helping the process.
Social reintegration was assessed positively by respondents in the
LRRD2 survey in Indonesia. They overwhelmingly state that their life
is better today in comparison to before the tsunami, as regards their
own relationships within the community, people’s engagement in mutual
help, the functioning of the government, infrastructure in the village,
their own houses, future opportunities for youth, the status of women in
society and the overall quality of life.
In Sri Lanka the picture is much more mixed: whereas people find
that the functioning of the government, village infrastructure, the future
opportunities for youth, and the status of women in society, are better
today than prior to the tsunami, they consider that their own relationships
with the community, engagement in mutual help, their houses,
and overall quality of life were better before the tsunami than today.
Beyond contextual factors, however, certain aid practices are
revealed to be more decisive when one compares results across interventions
and communities. There is a direct correlation between the faster
rebuilding of community relationships, and the adoption of an integrated
approach to programming. By integrated we mean those cases
where a housing project is complemented by a livelihoods or community
support activity.
The issues which communities deal with are multidimensional and
acute, including the meaning of events that are beyond human understanding.
Where housing and other recovery components have been
implemented in isolation of each other, community development
remains fragile. This can be understood not only in terms of how interventions
relate to the experiences of the population (are they dealing
with a partial aspect of life only?), but also of the underlying social roles,
such as gender (are they recognised and used for growth opportunities?).
At the individual level, feelings of trauma and fear continue to be
important issues for many: the LRRD1study reported that 86% of
respondents in Sri Lanka suffered trauma, mental health or fear to
some, or great extent, immediately after the tsunami, 53% one year
later and 60% in 2008; in Indonesia, a similar relapse has occurred with
67% suffering these effects immediately after the tsunami, 54% one
year later and 67% today. Although the survey did not cover the Maldives,
several individuals interviewed there attested to continuing psycho-social
disorders such as recurring panic attacks and nightmares.
Some NGOs, such as Terre des Hommes, have addressed such issues,
some integrating it into the actual delivery of a broader programme, for
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