Challenges to Providing Tsunami Disaster Relief

Leslie H. Wind
Clinical Associate Professor
University of Southern California

Karen Kayser
Professor
Boston College

Richard Shankar
Associate Professor
Stonehill College

 Abstract

In 2004, a tsunami ravaged communities along the southern coast of India and left nearly a million people struggling for survival. Using Social Ecology and the Conservation of Resources theories as a foundation, a qualitative study with ten emergency responders who provided assistance in Tamil Nadu identified four key challenges in the provision of disaster relief. The challenges, which highlight both universal and culture-specific aspects, include: (1) distrust of non-Hindu groups, (2) coordination of relief among NGOs, (3) lack of resources for sustainability, and (4) caste and gender discrimination. Implications for practice, policy, and future research are discussed.

 About the Authors

Leslie H. Wind, Ph.D, is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Southern California School of Social Work. Dr. Wind has worked with trauma survivors for over twenty years and established and directed the Massachusetts Coalition for Child and Family Disaster Mental Health Education and Research. She is affiliated with the Terrorism and Disaster Center of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

Karen Kayser, Ph.D., is a Professor at Boston College Graduate School of Social Work. Her book publications include Helping Couples Cope with Women's Cancers: An Evidence-based Approach for Practitioners (with Dr. Jennifer Scott), Couples Coping with Stress: Emerging Perspectives on Dyadic Coping (edited with Dr. Tracey Revenson and Dr. Guy Bodenmann), and When Love Dies: The Process of Marital Disaffection. She teaches a course, Human Services in Developing Countries, which includes leading the students on a trip to India to study trauma, disaster relief, and human rights.

Richard Shankar, Ph.D, is Professor Emeritus at Stonehill College. Dr. Shankar is co-author (with Dr. June Gary Hopps and Prof. Elaine Pinderhughes) of The Power to Care: Clinical Practice Effectiveness with Overwhelmed Clients.

This work was supported by a Research Expense Grant from Boston College. We thank the students from the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work who interviewed participants and transcribed the interviews: Jen Connor, Laura Dunne, Ann Gillette, Christy Hensley, Kathleen Lovell, Justin Moeling, Ashley Napier, Allison Sandella, Sajjan Sharma, and Gloria Tower. We are also grateful to Fr. Paul Mike Raj from the South Asian People's Initiative who recruited the emergency responders for this study.