The large-scale earthquake occurred off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra Island on December 26, 2004 caused devastating
damages around the epicenter but the resulted tsunami also struck hard the countries
surrounding the Indian Ocean.
In order to determine how we can contribute we should see the real situation at the site, Japan Water Forum sent a team to Sri
Lanka in January, 2005.
And we believed that the investigation team was able to identify some of the areas where Japan or Japan Water Forum could contribute in assisting reconstruction and future disaster prevention in Sri Lanka.
Though construction of houses and infrastructure is important, supporting the people by means of mental care.
Therefore we came to conclude that the following missions should be accomplished in the next visit.
One is to share the experiences of reconstruction and reestablishment of
livelihood by those who have undergone past disasters in Japan.
Second mission was the assistance through exchanges by youth. While various activities have been implemented by
churches, temples, and NGOs, we also met students' organization. Assistance activities by youth such as this case is effective in disseminating lessons learnt from disaster experiences to the next generation.
From March 12 to 19, Japan Water Forum sent the mission including 4 persons from Okushiri Island.
NetWwater(Network of Women Water Professionals) and JFW together worked for this project