UCSB Students Take Initiative in Reassessing Post Tsunami Development
Article by Johann Sabbath
UCSB Global Studies Student
and Reclaim Initiative Co-Director
Visit The Reclaim Initiative website: www.reclaiminitiative.org
In the weeks and months since the December 26 tsunami, the people of Sri Lanka and South India have begun the long journey of reconstruction. Most of those effected by the disaster are putting their lives, their families, and their communities back together. But the work is difficult and the process slow—by most accounts, painstakingly slow.
With the help of international relief agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private charities, there has been a widespread effort to help the tsunami victims recover from the disaster. Already millions of dollars of international aid has poured into India and Sri Lanka.
Paul Lynch at an Internally Displaced Persons Camp
in Sri Lanka
But whether the relief effort is proving effective remains an open question. Early reports suggest that the process of reconstruction has been ill-managed and slow going. International agencies, relief organizations, community groups, and even private individuals moved by the plight of the tsunami too often work at cross purpose while those in need of help wait at the sidelines.
The Reclaim Initiative is a student initiated and led research effort aimed at assessing this process of reconstruction—whether the aid effort is working as intended, whether the people are receiving the aid they have been promised, whether they have a voice in the process of reconstruction, and what can be done on the part of western aid organizations and charities to better assist those in need during the transition.
UCSB Global Studies alum and Reclaim Initiative Co-Director of Research and Documentarian Paul Lynch is one of three student field researchers currently on the ground in Sri Lanka. Photographs and journal entries by Paul can be found on the project’s interactive website, www.reclaiminitiative.org. John Morse, also a UCSB alum, will be joining the Sri Lanka field team in June. More UCSB students are expected to join the field team in Sri Lanka and South India this summer.
In a village between Pereliya and Hikkaduwa, Sri
Lanka, tent shelters sit on top
of wave washed foundations more than four months after the tsunami
Currently, here at UCSB, Global Studies Student Ryan Bushek is coordinating a component research team of nine UCSB undergraduate students in support of the Sri Lanka field team. Students communicate via email and conference call with the Sri Lanka field team and assist them in a rigorous process of data collection and analysis. The project is expected to run through the next school year, and participation is open to students of all areas and levels of study. Interested students are encouraged to email johann@worldwaterway.org to find out how to get involved. Input and advice from numerous UCSB and UCLA community members has been, and continues to be, a valuable asset to the overall project and research design. The Reclaim initiative benefits directly from the close advisement of global community leaders Anita Roddick—Founder of the Body Shop, Vandana Shiva—author and founder of the Research Foundation for Science Technology and Ecology, Mary Evelyn Tucker—professor of religion at Bucknell University, Satish Kumar—editor of Resurgence Magazine, and Mark Juergensmeyer—UCSB professor.
The Reclaim Initiative is a global project of the California Student Sustainability Coalition, based at the UCLA and UCSB campuses. Initially funded by a generous grant from the Wallis Foundation, along with other private donors, the project is administered by the World Waterway Institute.