Relief efforts underway, and insights from humanitarian aid teams on the ground. FCF Project Partner FEDES has received 3 cargo airplanes, plus several shipping containers, of humanitarian aid in all forms, which has been offloaded, organized and systematically transported to the most heavily-damaged areas of the country. And our relief efforts continue to this day.

A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake near the Pakistan-India border on October 8th reduced villages to rubble, triggered landslides and flattened apartment buildings. The immediate death rate topped more than 80,000 people in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, with Pakistan bearing the brunt.

Within hours of the tsunami tragedy that struck Asia in the last days of 2004, Family Care Foundation (FCF) responded with immediate assistance for victims in India, Thailand and Indonesia, later concentrating on the most urgent reconstruction needs, and assessing livelihood needs.

Initial Tsunami relief efforts in Indonesia - January 3 through September 1, 2005

Secondary stage of Tsunami relief efforts (2006) -- Banda Aceh, and Aceh Besar

Five hundred miles (800 kilometers) of coastline was wiped out when the wave struck, and essentially everything within two miles of the shore was destroyed, in some areas even further inland depending on the lay of the land and in relationship to the mountains.

Completed programs, and insights from humanitarian aid teams in Aceh. Courtesy of a grant, Family Care Indonesia built a simple health clinic in Leupung, Aceh Besar district. The clinic operates 24/7, provides free medical services, and is staffed by 2 doctors, midwives and 4 nurses. And a donated beachfront property provided a great location for a livelihood restaurant, which could financially benefit the villagers in the immediate area.

Two years after the foundations of Aceh were shaken to the core by an undersea earthquake, then pummeled by an unforgiving wave, the province is confronting dual demands: to rebuild homes and roads while delivering on the promise of a peace accord signed after three decades of separatist fighting.

Two years after the devastation of Aceh province by the tsunami, only 30% of those left homeless have gained access to permanent housing. The clean up alone -- for the most part getting rid of all of the debris left when the tsunami flooded half the city of Banda Aceh and drastically altered a 500-mile shoreline of villages -- has been a massive and successful undertaking.

The Asian tsunami, the largest humanitarian undertaking in history, replete with challenges and lessons.

When the many hundreds of thousands were first left homeless after the tsunami, the Red Cross /Crescent provided tents for the tsunami refugees. Soon thereafter, the local government built barracks, wooden structures which can house 20-30 joint families. (See example of a barracks in photo below.)

Genuine concern and giving from the heart while also using your head.

Chronological account, Tsunami relief efforts in India--December 27, 2004 through September 1, 2005

Completed programs, and insights from humanitarian aid teams in South India

Chronological account, Tsunami relief efforts in Thailand

On January 24, 2000, some of the Healing Colombia team members were preparing to travel to another city when suddenly the earth began to move. It continued for what seemed to be an eternity! The ground roared, the house shook and creaked, various things broke in the house, and roof tiles started shattering. We’ll never forget the experience.