Reflection: Resilience of communities contributed to the quality of programming

Thursday, December 25, 2014

As we commemorate 10 years since the devastating tsunami disaster, we pay tribute to the resilient communities whom World Vision was humbled to partner with, for their determination to succeed and overcome challenges and adversities as they rebuilt their shattered lives.

Their resolute engagement and participation ensured that we ‘finished well’ after 4 years of an unprecedented response by World Vision in Sri Lanka to the most challenging complex humanitarian emergency, ever faced by the world!

We needed to ‘end well’, particularly when we ‘started’ in such a state of confusion & unpreparedness……of course who and how could any relief agency prepare for, let alone anticipate such un-expected and sudden calamity?

To sum it all, our accomplishments related to humanitarian accountability was second to none.

Motivated by the many challenges – geographical scope and working in areas unfamiliar to World Vision; roles & responsibilities in a parallel structure and operations involving teams across the World Vision Partnership, inadequacies in technical knowhow and capacity in key competencies such as emergency and permanent shelter & housing; coordination & partnering with state & non-state actors; opposition to World Vision’s identity, purpose & reputation – to name a few, we have overcome and succeeded in many ways.

As we officially phased out in 2008, and even after 10 years, World Visions’s contribution to relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts have stood the test of time.

Whether it was one of the over 6000 permanent shelters constructed, or one of many schools re-built, or for that matter any one family served and restored, I have not come across or heard of any reference associating World Vision with failure or for not having kept its promises.

To sum it all, our accomplishments related to humanitarian accountability was second to none.

This is the lasting testimony to what was achieved by over a 1000 dedicated staff and volunteers ably lead by some of the best people of our time. To name every single one of them is a near impossibility, but we remember and pay tribute & celebrate all of them for their contribution to the Lanka tsunami response.

World Vision has been enriched by many staff who have remained and continued their careers in many parts of the organization globally. I am sure we are better prepared & positioned, we have learned, un-learned and re-learned the many experiences of the tsunami response in many subsequent responses to global disasters.

To our leaders past and present; fellow World Vision Lanka staff & co-workers, our global World Vision colleagues; Government of Sri Lanka and other partners – thank you, for being part of the amazing journey towards restored lives and relationships. We thank God for His unfailing mercy and faithfulness.

~Yu Hwa Li, World Vision Sri Lanka National Director (1998 – 2008)