Background
On Dec. 26, 2004, the second largest earthquake ever recorded shook the sea floor beneath the Indian Ocean near the Indonesian Island of Sumatra. The quake measured 9.3 on the Richter scale and abruptly pushed the sea floor up over 30 feet along a 600-mile-long fault line. The resulting tsunami created a humanitarian emergency of monumental proportions.
The day the tsunami surged over the coasts of the Indian Ocean, Oxfam mounted the largest relief effort in our history. We rushed clean water, equipment, shelter materials, and other essential supplies to the region in an all-out effort to protect the lives of the survivors.
Over time, the emergency relief effort gave way to rehabilitation, the process of helping restore a measure of normalcy to people's lives by rebuilding homes and reviving livelihoods. But the wave had struck communities that were already struggling with the everyday disaster of poverty, and building back to the old standard—as gigantic a job as that would be—was not enough. While carrying out programs to protect public health, restore small businesses, and provide dignified housing to displaced people, Oxfam found opportunities to help people create sustainable improvements in their lives and livelihoods.
