This report summarizes the rehabilitation work done by Oxfam Trust in the areas affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Tamil Nadu and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Oxfam Trust raised funds and mobilized volunteers for relief efforts. They partnered with local NGOs to implement livelihood, education, employment generation, and telemedicine projects. However, Oxfam Trust had relatively little experience with disaster response. They faced funding issues and lacked confidence from their parent organization, Oxfam International. As a result, their tsunami rehabilitation efforts were smaller in scale than anticipated. The report recommends that Oxfam Trust alter staffing, improve standards, and gain more experience to better implement developmental relief programs

1. Assessment of Rehabilitation work in
Tsunami
Prepared By
Maj K C Monnappa
For
Oxfam Trust – New Delhi
This report has been prepared by Maj KC Monnappa, mailto:monaps1@gmail.com, for
Oxfam Trust, New Delhi purely for policy and strategy development use. This report
in no way claims to be authoritative and exhaustive.

2. INTRODUCTION
The Tsunamis that hit coast of India on 26 December 2004 were caused by a
massive earthquake in the Indian Ocean near Sumatra in Indonesia. Tamilnadu and the
Islands of Andaman and Nicobar were one of the worst affected due to the Tsunami.
The devastating tidal waves that lashed several coastal districts of Tamilnadu and the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands have left thousands dead and rendered many people
homeless. Immediately after the tsunami tragedy, Oxfam Trust did a spurt of media and
communications work, which yielded quite good results. They were able to raise some
amount of funds through appeals and applications that they made.
Based on the field visits made they also had a strategy for intervention in the
tsunami-affected areas of Tamil Nadu and Andaman and islands. They were able to
establish contacts with some organizations who were actively involved in the relief and
rehabilitation work that was under way and they had been able to identify the issues on
ground. They were in regular touch with national, local and international NGO and
people’s movement processes around sharing experiences and plans.
Oxfam was also a part of a Tsunami Relief Coordination Cell based in Chennai.
This was a group of eight to nine NGOs. They were the facilitating point of the Cell in
Delhi with respect to corporate donations from the state and national industry
associations, national and international media coordination, contact building, central
government liaison and coordinating individual donations and volunteers at the national
level. The NGO Coordination Cell at Chennai was headed by Dr. Jacob D. Raj with a
national Contact Point at Delhi facilitated by Gurinder Kaur, Executive Officer (EO) of
Oxfam Trust.
MEDIA, COMMUNICATION AND FUND RAISING
During the period, the Agency was actively involved with the media (national and
international) and trying to feed stories on the condition of the area and the work that
they were doing. The EO was interviewed by NDTV (Hindi) and by NDTV (English). OT
got constant attention of national and international media on its work. As a result of two
appeals in leading Indian dailies both in Hindi and English they were able to raise Rs. 10
lakhs in cash and medicines, blankets and other resources in kind.
HUMAN RESOURCES
The following people were involved in the execution of the tsunami project:-
 Executive officer
 Program Manager
 Media Officer
 Program Officer
 Project Officer
 Volunteers
 Consultants
 Evaluators

3. TOTAL FUNDS MOBILIZED IN CASH AND KIND
S.
No.
Grant Total Amount Rs.
1 Canada Fund Rehabilitation Programme (FCRA) 17,28,600.00
2 Novib (Coordination Grant) (FCRA) 11,15,000.00
3 Oxfam International (FCRA) 19,49,657.00
4 Individual Donors (FCRA) 2,31,125.99
5 Individual Donors (Indian) 11,19,197.00
TOTAL 61,43,579.99
 Rice
 Utensils
 Blankets
 Bleaching Powder
 Water Purifier Tablets
 Garments
 Misc
All the above items were valued at Rs 6,64,333.00/ approx. A volunteer K C
MONNAPPA helped the Agency in transporting some of the items to Chennai through
Jet Airways free of cost.
FIELD VISITS
Tamil Nadu
The Chairperson, Executive Officer, Program Manager, two volunteers and
consultants to the affected areas of the state, made Field visits. Contacts were
established with government, with NGO networks, NGO Co-ordination Cell
Nagapattinam, and international NGOs.
Ellen Waters, Communications Advisor with Oxfam Trust and Kalpana Deswal,
Fundraising Consultant visited the tsunami-affected areas of Tamil Nadu. The objective
of the visit was to obtain good quality, high resolution photos of Oxfam Trust’s partner
programs that can be used in program reports, donor communications and on Oxfam
Trust’s website. They also met the beneficiaries of Oxfam Trust’s funded programs and
gathered case studies for use in program reports, donor communications and on Oxfam
Trust’s website and got an overview of the work carried out by the partners.
Oxfam Trust’s staff and board members - Minar Pimple, Chairperson, Gurinder
Kaur, Executive officer and Madhusree Banerjee, Program Manager - visited the
tsunami affected areas of Tamil Nadu to assess the program work carried out by Oxfam
Trust’s field partners and other agencies working in the area. She also visited the field
areas of various agencies to identify potential partners for Oxfam Trust program strategy
and proposed activities. She also visited the proposed sites for implementing the
telemedicine project of Oxfam Trust. One of the volunteers, Adwitya Mal visited nine
villages in the Nagapattinam district to assess the relief and rehabilitation needs of the
tsunami affected people.

4. Andamans & Car Nicobar
A consultant, KC Monnappa hired by OT toured Andaman and Car Nicobar. He
carried out an assessment of needs in the area. He was able to get a tribal pass and
went into Car Nicobar, which was out of bounds for non-Indians. He also visited
Camorta, Tressa, Katchal. He also visited the nearby islands in the high security zone.
The consultant met up with the Tribal Council there through which all development
initiatives normally happen. He also established contact with formal institutions at all
levels.
PROJECT AREA AND TARGET GROUP
The project area was restricted to the Tsunami devastated regions of Tamilnadu
with the target group being women, children and men, all victims of the Tsunami. The
following areas were identified for the implementation of the projects:
 Chennai
 Thenniyrayampattinam
 Karaikal
 Nagapattinam
 Vedaranyam
 Poompuhar
 Pondicherry
GOALS, OBJECTIVES AND COMPONENTS
The following were the objectives of the rehabilitation program:-
General Objectives.
The general objective of the project was to implement rehabilitation and
reconstruction program encompassing livelihoods, basic health care and shelter,
to address the mid-term needs of the people affected by the Tsunami tidal wave
disaster in Tamilnadu.
Specific Objectives.
The specific objectives of the project were:
(a) to provide assistance to women from the weaker sections to re-establish
lost livelihoods;
(b) to replace school text books for resumption of basic education for school
children;
(c) to assist in the development and delivery of an employment generation
program at the village level for affected farmers and fisher families;
(d) to provide immediate and preventive health care, including psycho-social
counseling primarily to women and children, through a telemedicine
program.
The project plan envisaged the following program components:-

5. (a) Livelihoods for women.
(b) Basic Education.
(c) Employment generation program.
(d) Telemedicine and community health care.
(a) Initial and medium term rehabilitation related programs (ISED)
(b) Toys distribution
(c) Doll making project (SADHU)
IMPLEMENTATION PARTNERS AND ARRANGEMENTS
Execution of the project commenced with the appointment of a project officer for
the CIDA project. After short-listing about ten organizations, the project officer was
joined by a consultant who assisted in further short-listing the potential partners for final
selection. A field trip was conducted from 09/June/05 to 17/June/05 in order to do the
same. The following NGOs were finally short-listed by Oxfam Trust:-
(a) Un-organized Workers Federation. Purasiwalkam
(b) Kaingkarya Ashok Nagar
(c) ISED Alwarpet
(d) PEDA Karaikal
(e) Boat Carpenters Federation Kasimedu
(f) RECO Vedaranyam
(g) Kalvi Kendra Villupuram
(h) SADHU Doming Kuppam
The total CIDA budget for was Rs. 17,28,600.00.The budgetary outlay for the
program was as follows:-
(a) Livelihoods for women. Rs. 3,34,300/-
(b) Basic Education. Rs. 99,950/-
(c) Employment generation program. Rs. 1, 22,134/-
(d) Telemedicine Rs. 4,24,004/-
Total Rs. 9,80,388/-
The budget for utilized for the Oxfam Trust Related program was under:-
(a) Initial and medium term
rehabilitation related programs (ISED) Rs. 2,62,513/-
(b) Toys distribution Rs. 96,000/-
(c) Doll making project (SADHU) Rs. 1,67,000/-
TOTAL Rs. 5,25,513/-
IMPACT AND EFFICIENCY OF THE PROGRAMS (REFER EVALUATION REPORT)
ANALYSIS
The response to the tsunami of Dec 26 in Tamilnadu and Andamans by Oxfam
Trust was initially at a very professional as well as on expected lines. The Organisation

6. teamed with the tsunami Coordination cell at Chennai and was able to help it in terms of
volunteers as well in portraying the tasks being undertaken by the Cell.
Oxfam Trust by its proactive involvement in the media was able to highlight the
actual ground position of the various activities being undertaken in the tsunami-affected
areas. This was possible due to the active involvement of the agency in the Tsunami
coordinating cell. It was able to act as a conduit for foreign news agencies to help them
focus on specific issues of interest, which helped in aid being channelized into the right
areas at the right time.
Active involvement with the media also ensured that the Agency was able to
collect a large sum of money within a short frame. It also helped the agency in garnering
support from some real good quality volunteers, who later were instrumental in helping
the organization in needs assessment, program identification, execution and evaluation.
The assessment team from Oxfam Trust tried to understand the situation and the
advocacy needs. Based on these assessment reports, data and case studies from other
organizations and with the help of the primary and secondary data, the program team at
the Delhi office identified prominently the following issues, which needed immediate and
consistent attention:
 Lack of information about govt. policies, entitlements etc.
 Land of a width of 500 meters along the coast was proposed to be vacated
from inhabitation and other use by the fisher folk. It was feared that alternate
use might be made of it for commercial purposes.
 Land title of the resettlement land was one of the major issues. NGOs
demanded joint title between men and women.
 Location of proposed new settlements. People’s need to be involved in
selection of location of village land and house sites.
 A need for people centered approach towards Rehabilitation policies.
 Need for monitoring of programs at four levels, viz., central level, state level,
district level and for community involvement at Panchayat level.
 Proposed "modernization" of fishing industry which will not be able to focus
on the rights of traditional fisher folk using less intensive fishing technologies
in a three or four kilometers strip of the sea.
 Housing: Design and materials of the temporary shelters.
 Rehabilitation houses (permanent): Involvement of community needed in
procuring materials locally and in involving the people themselves as workers
in the construction activities.
 Negligence of the affected agricultural laborers in the rehabilitation program.

7. The above identified advocacy issues were to be strategized and addressed
through a formal strategy paper. Three main strategic objectives identified by OT
included:
 To initiate and support pro-active advocacy at different levels on the
emerging issues relating to the government, bilateral and multi-lateral
organizations long term policies and programs.
 Strengthening current relief work and moving towards sustainable long-term
rehabilitation.
 Undertake innovations with a scope to scale up.
But the above could not be concretized in the form of implementable
programs due to various reasons. Interviews conducted by the author of key
stakeholders involved in the entire process of the tsunami rehabilitation identified four
key issues:-
 Relative inexperience of the Agency in handling disasters
 Paucity of funds
 No confidence of OI in the Agency
 Lack of Alternative strategies
 Miscellaneous
Relative inexperience of the Agency in handling disasters
As per the respondents answers, the author could deduce that the reason Oxfam
Trust could not involve itself in strategic interventions which included all the above
components was due to the fact that it was relatively inexperienced in handling
disasters. Moreover the Agency lacked the requisite staff to be able to handle the
various technical aspects that are crucial to the successful intervention of a program.
Paucity of funds
Relative inexperience led to the next phase wherein the parent organization .e.
OI did not disburse the fund that it had promised the Agency. It may be relevant to
mention here that OI had promised the Agency that a central pool was being created
wherein funds would be pooled in centrally and Agencies (Oxfam Affiliates) could bid for
their share by submitting proposals. The Agency did submit various proposals but was
not able to attract any funds from OI. The Agency could not garner funds from
independent sources as it was instructed not to seek funds from external sources by OI.
No confidence of OI in the Agency
The above analysis leads to the obvious conclusion that the parent body. OI had
no confidence in the Agency’s ability to independently handle emergency related
programs. The reason for OI’s deductions is not clear at this stage. It could be due to the
presence of other bigger, more experienced Oxfam Affiliates. But in denying Oxfam
Trust its share of the rehabilitation experience, valuable and crucial lessons as well as
experiences that could have been learnt have been permanently lost. This situation
needs serious consideration for the reason that if Oxfam Trust has to mature bloom as
Oxfam India, the invaluable experiences that it gains through involvement in the various

8. humanitarian programs will stand it in good stead in future disaster interventions, for
India is a land characterized by innumerable disasters, and Oxfam willingly or un-
willingly will have a crucial role to play.
Lack of Alternative strategies
Over reliance on OI to give the Agency direction led to the non-
formulation of alternative strategies for the involvement in the tsunami. All the above
factors identified led to the involvement of the Agency in very small projects that had a
very minimal impact on a very small cross section of the population. This is generally
unacceptable to an Agency carrying the Oxfam Brand name.
Miscellaneous
The factors for the relatively lightweight involvement were further exacerbated by
a general lack of involvement of the Agency in crucial meetings of OI and its affiliates.
This trend of non-inclusion in OI meetings later changed and the Agency was invited to
he meetings albeit as an observer with little participation in these meetings. Nothing of
importance was contributed by the Agency in these meetings.
The aspect of management of the project from New Delhi needs to be analyzed
in detail. While the initial involvement of the staff was commendable, there seems to be
overwhelming evidence that the aspects of attributing importance to the projects at
Chennai were somehow diluted at the later stage. Lack of documentation, periodic
reports, internal evaluation, case studies, visits to the project location by the staff
involved etc, were either minimal or were non-existent.
Another aspect of concern was the relatively low importance that was accorded
in hiring a capable person as a project Officer. When questioned as to the reason, the
respondents replied that due to paucity of funds, they could not recruit a person as per
Oxfam standards. The project officer though qualified in interacting at the grassroots
level, was however deficient in areas that were crucial in the development sector. Since
the projects itself was very small in nature this therefore did not prove to be a real
hindrance, but did play up especially with UWF.
RECOMMENDATION
Overcoming the constraints of existing systems is an absolute necessity. In
relief operations, all agree that ways of doing relief in a more developmental way is
crucial, but when the crisis hits and decisions have to be made quickly with minimal
information, managers shy away from taking the risk of using other than the tried and
tested responses. Emergency management is a complex system, which contains
many actors, all of whom need to participate in a change process if the end product of
the system, relief delivery, is to change. Keeping the above in mind the following
recommendations are made:-
As an implementing agency
 Altering staffing structures and attitudes
In composing teams, it should be assured that sufficient expertise is

9. included and responsibility assigned for focusing the activities on
developmental implementation and maximizing utilization of community
capacity. Staff training programmes needs to include the concepts of
programming relief for development.
 Programming standards
In order to practice developmental relief, agencies must set themselves
high and defensible humanitarian standards. OT should subscribe to the
standards laid down in the Code of Conduct for The International Red
Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief. It is also
essential that staff are conversant with the same.
 Specialized competence and co-ordination
Large relief programmes attract large numbers of external relief agencies.
In order to improve the effectiveness and quality of the services delivered,
it is therefore recommended that OT critically examine its own strengths
and seek to develop greater competence, in limited fields if necessary,
rather than a breadth of mediocrity in service delivery.
 Altering budget structures
It is recommended that OT build into its plans of action and associated
budgets the flexibility necessary to address longer-term perspectives,
building on local capacities as well as addressing vulnerabilities. This
requires a change to current budgeting practices.
 Supporting local people and structures
OT should seek to further strengthen local capacities by employing local
staff, purchasing local materials and trading with local companies.
Wherever possible, agencies should work through local humanitarian
organisations as partners in planning and implementation, and cooperate
with local government structures.
 Programming for sustainability, disaster prevention and
preparedness
OT should seek to sustain livelihoods as well as lives. Relief programmes
must not undermine the long-term sustainability of the assisted population.
All relief programming should address the issue of sustainability and
disaster preparedness.
 Consistency of action, policy and messages
OT must examine its present policies for disaster response and adapt
them to reflect a developmental approach to relief. In addition it should
ensure that its publicity and advocacy material is consistent with this
approach and that it advocates rigorously for its partner organizations in
government and the international community to also address relief in a
developmental fashion.
 Programme reviews
Many relief programmes go on year after year in the same way. OT should

10. review programmes periodically/annually to identify changes that
progressively make more use of local leadership, skills and capacities.
 Sharing experience with donors and the media
OT needs to get better at sharing field experience of success and failure
with donors and engage in a dialogue about needed policy change. This is
possible only through a holistic process of internal as well as monitoring as
well as evaluation.
As a donor Agency
 Linking relief and development programming
The present organizational structure and funding mechanisms of many
donor institutions reflects the view of relief and development as two
divorced activities. OT therefore should seek ways of promoting dialogue
between relief and development and seek ways of allowing a degree of
development funding into relief programmes.
 Accountability, measuring the quality of relief programmes
Measuring the quality of developmental relief programmes requires a
different set of parameters and associated skills from evaluating simple
relief delivery. OT should therefore explore new ways of evaluating and
reporting in relation to relief programmes, which reflect the attributes of a
developmental approach.
 Support for local structures in relief and disaster preparedness
Working through, enhancing and supporting local structures is central to
the developmental approach to relief. OT therefore should recognize and
support the legitimacy of funding local structure strengthening as part of
disaster preparedness and relief programmes.
 Supporting review activities
Promoting new ways of working require an enhanced learning process. OT
should support both national and international relief programme reviews
with a view towards promoting developmental relief.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the relief effort of OT while starting with a promising note
petered out towards the middle as well as the ending phase. Various reasons
contributed towards this dilution of its momentum, some beyond its control while
some well within its control. OT as of date is relatively new in comparison to the other
organizations involved in relief. Moreover being an affiliate of a greater as well as an
older organization such as OI, there was bound to be certain glitches both that could
have been anticipated as well as a few unanticipated obstacles. But herein lies the
imagination, innovativeness as well as the experience of the leader, who should have
used the experience of management as well as tact to have overcome the various
obstacles and ensured that the Agency play a more proactive role in the tsunami
relief process.

11. This led to the implementation of a few mediocre programs that had a small
and negligible impact on a small cross section of people. Wonderful opportunities
were lost in the Andamans despite obtaining information of the actual needs of the
affected population. While the Agency cannot be blamed here for lack of its
participation, still a logical argument could have made the powers to be at OI to see
the Agency’s point if it was conveyed in a manner that was acceptable.
This is not to take away credit of an otherwise satisfactory job done by the
Agency with its limited experience, budget, manpower as well as mandate for
operation in the area. The future is bound to provide more opportunities for the
agency to be able to implement its various programs in a more proactive way as
expected from an organization of the stature of Oxfam, hence the author would like to
bring to notice the following for future planning of programs in emergencies. In
February 1995, the International Federation, in collaboration with the Danish Red
Cross, the European Community humanitarian office (ECHO) and DANIDA undertook
an examination of a number of recent relief operations to identify those factors which
should typify a relief programme that uses a developmental approach to
implementation. In the author’s opinion, the same would be relevant for most of the
agencies involved in disaster relief. Future programs of OT could be framed on the
following lines:-
 Building on capacities as well as addressing vulnerabilities: The need to
access vulnerabilities is recognized as being important, but relief programmes
that deliberately seek out and work with capacities, skills, resources and
organizational structures within the disaster survivors, will be more effective
than those that assume the survivors are a passive, helpless, recipient
community.
 Identifying the needs and capacities of the diverse groupings of disaster
survivors: Developmental relief programmes recognize that the survivor
population is made up of many groups with different capacities, vulnerabilities
and needs. The relief programme is shaped to address these diverse groups
and their capacities as well as their different needs.
 Participation: Developmental relief programmes deliberately involve disaster
survivors in the decision making process which empower them to re-take
charge of their lives. Even in particularly difficult situations, such as relief to
large-scale displaced populations a beginning may be made by engaging
diverse community leaders in the assessment of the situation, and identifying
the resources that they have available to cope.
 Accountability: In relief programmes, agencies traditionally see themselves
as being accountable upwards, towards their headquarters and donors, but
they should also practice accountability towards the disaster survivors. At a
minimum, information on the planning, execution and expected duration of the
relief programme should be openly shared with the programme beneficiaries.
 Strategies based on the reality of the disaster faced: Relief programmes
address many different types of disasters, those triggered by natural events,
those which develop slowly over vast areas of a country, those caused by war

12. and economic collapse. Developmental relief programmes adapt their
strategies to suit the environment of the disaster rather than relying solely on
pre-packaged delivery derived from a model of only one type of disaster.
 Decentralized control: A developmental relief programme allows
management decisions to be taken as close to the beneficiary population as
possible.
 Demonstrating a concern for sustaining livelihoods: Developmental relief
programmes are concerned with what comes after relief as well as how the
relief programme is carried out. They provide assistance that complements
rather than competes with the normal means of livelihood of the disaster
survivors.
 Building on local institutions: Imposed relief programmes can undermine
local structures, often use them without strengthening them and often
abandon them after the relief operation. Developmental relief programmes
look to work with local institutions and build their capacities to carry on
humanitarian work after the need for relief has passed.
 Setting sustainable standards services: Relief programmes often set in motion
the development of service and welfare systems, in health, education and water
provision which will need to carry on after the relief ends. These should be of a
standard and provided in a manner which has a realistic chance of being
sustained after the relief operation ends.