After the Wave

In Cuddalore, India, 26-year-old Vijayalakshmi employs ten of her peers in the making and selling of seashell crafts.

In Thailand’s Pang Nga Province, 29-year-old Wuttichai pursues his passion for motorcycles through operating his own repair shop.

And in Seenigama, a coastal village in Sri Lanka, 25-year-old Nishantha is realizing his dream of becoming an underwater archeologist.

Through vibrant photographs, After the Wave tells the story of how these and other youth rebuilt their lives and livelihoods in the aftermath of the 2004 Asian tsunami. In all, more than 12,400 young people benefited from the Tsunami Reconstruction Initiative, launched by Nokia and the International Youth Foundation to provide youth with access to training, jobs, and microcredit loans to start their own businesses.

Theirs is a story is hope and the triumph of the human spirit.

After the Wave

Banda Aceh, Indonesia, December 2005

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"I cannot overemphasize how critical youth employment is to the development

and reconstruction process."

—Nobel Laureate Martti Ahtisaari

at the International Centre for Aceh and Indian Ocean Studies23 February 2009

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Preface

An estimated 230,000 people perished and over five million were left homeless as a result of the tsunami that ravaged several South and Southeast Asian countries on 26 December 2004. The days and weeks following the disaster demanded an immediate response to meet victims’ urgent needs for water, food, shelter, medicine, and psychosocial support. While emergency relief efforts received widespread media coverage, another story – of efforts to rebuild lives and livelihoods over the long term – remains largely untold.

Captured here – in vivid photographs – is the story of the Tsunami Reconstruction Initiative (TRI). Launched by Nokia and the International Youth Foundation (IYF), the TRI provided critical livelihood support to affected youth through enabling them to access training, jobs, apprenticeships, and/or loans. Carried out in tsunami-affected areas of India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, the initiative also benefited from the support of the Sylvan/Laureate Foundation and Unocal.

The TRI exemplifies IYF’s work to improve young people’s employability prospects. From the Philippines to Pakistan, Colombia to Kenya, IYF collaborates with funding partners and local

nongovernmental organizations to equip youth with the life skills, technical know how, mentors, and placement services they need to secure quality jobs or to succeed as entrepreneurs.

IYF’s focus over the past 20 years has been – and remains – delivering long-term, sustainable solutions that help young people to learn, work, and lead. In contrast to the short-term relief that followed in the wake of the tsunami, the TRI sought to strengthen economic recovery over the long haul. From 2006-2009, local programs reached 12,400 youth, ages 16 to 29. With the training, loans, and technical assistance they received, young people created a range of micro- and small-enterprises – from processing cashews to bottling juices, from producing handicrafts to recycling plastic. The economic ripple effect is now being felt through the creation of jobs and business sector growth. Far more difficult to measure are changes in public perceptions of youth as valuable employees, business owners, and engines of economic growth in their own right.

The TRI demonstrates that, when given the chance, young people can not only be successful entrepreneurs, but can stimulate job growth through hiring their peers, family members, and others. The TRI also reflects the creativity and

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drive of youth when given the chance to pursue their entrepreneurial instincts and interests. This contradicts the prevailing notion in many countries that youth, lacking experience and collateral, represent a high loan risk and are therefore ‘unbankable.’ Increased public awareness and improved policies are needed that support the credit worthiness of youth when the proper supports (e.g., training, technical assistance, and mentoring) are in place. The experience of our implementing partners also underscores the importance of sensitizing local communities to the potential role of youth as successful entrepreneurs.

With climate-related natural disasters forecasted to increase in the coming years, IYF is looking at how lessons from the TRI could be applied to other natural disasters. A critical first step is assessing youth needs and identifying local NGOs with the experience and expertise needed to carry out youth livelihood programs, and in the absence of such, pursuing strategies to strengthen NGO capacity so that programs are locally-driven and sustainable. Another key factor is engaging the support of the local business community to absorb qualified youth as employees and to serve as mentors to young entrepreneurs. Lastly, a critical lesson to emerge

from the TRI is the importance of offering flexible, adaptable supports for young people. “One size fits all” approaches fail to address the diverse needs and circumstances of young people who require different types of support at different stages of developing their businesses.

In the final analysis, one of the TRI’s most valuable legacies is that it offers a portrait of how NGOs operating in diverse contexts customized their approaches to address local needs – often sharing and building on one another’s strategies. It is this ‘cross-fertilization’ of ideas that will continue to inform the work of IYF and its partners in addressing the needs of youth in future disaster situations.

While we hope that we will never see natural disasters of this magnitude again, may the lessons resulting from the TRI help strengthen any future long-term reconstruction effort for the benefit of young people and societies as a whole.

William S. Reese

President & CEOInternational Youth Foundation

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IndiaPashputi was 17 when the tsunami destroyed all the homes in his coastal village south of Cuddalore, India. For the next five nights, he and other survivors slept in a jail perched on higher ground. For years afterward, Pashputi lived in fear of a similar disaster. Now he’s rebuilt his life and drives a three-wheeled taxi purchased with a loan he received through the Community Collective Society for Integrated Development (CCFID), a local nongovernmental organization.

With support from the Tsunami Reconstruction Initiative, CCFID made over 7,600 loans to young people like Pashputi, enabling 1,500 micro and small enterprises to take root. Youth also benefited from life skills education, job training and placement services, and technical assistance. Today, those small businesses created with support from CCFID employ hundreds of additional youth.

For Pashputi and thousands of his peers, fear and uncertainty about the future has now been replaced with a sense of hope and possibility.

Page 6: Pashputi in his three-wheeler

Page 7/1: Secondary school girls learn English-speaking skills

Page 7/2: Former handloom operators scale up textile production with machine looms

Page 7/3: Crocheting bags out of banana !ber

Page 7/4: A young soda pop entrepreneur reclaims empty bottles

Page 8/1: A youth-run enterprise makes bottles out of recycled plastic

Page 8/2: A clay pot maker

Page 9/1: An artisan displays a wooden drum

Page 9/2: A young woman paints an intricate wall hanging

Page 10/1: Filling bottles with fruit juice

Page 10/2: A member of a cashew cooperative grades nuts and monitors quality

Page 10/3: A cable TV distributor showcases his equipment

Page 11: Members of a women's Self-Help Group

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IndonesiaTwenty four-year-old Misriani was living in Pantai Raja, a coastal area in western Indonesia when the tsunami hit, destroying her family’s home and all their belongings. While her family of nine survived the incident unharmed, they were forced to live in a refugee camp until their home was rebuilt.

In search of greater opportunity, Misriani now lives with her aunt in Banda Aceh. She makes a modest income selling biji nanka cakes, made from the seeds of jackfruit, from her aunt’s home. Her dream is to one day have her own shop – selling cakes and offering bridal services.

Today, Misriani is one step closer to achieving her dream through a youth employment training program offered by the Center for Community Development and Education (CCDE) and supported through the Tsunami Reconstruction Initiative. With a special focus on women’s empower-ment, CCDE equipped more than 350 young people like Misriani with life and computer skills and small enterprise development training.

Page 12: Umbrella makers shield themselves from the hot sun

Page 13/1: Women meet regularly to share business ideas and support one another

Page 13/2: A young woman packages small quantities of peanuts to sell

Page 13/3: A café and snack shop in a small coastal community

Page 14/1: A young woman sells fresh vegetables at a local market

Page 14/2: An entrepreneur prepares sweets to sell during Ramadan

Page 15/1: The maker of traditional bed linens

Page 15/2: A member of a Self-Help Group

Page 16/1: Filling plastic sleeves with nuts

Page 16/2: A micro-entrepreneur cooks traditional sweets

Page 17: A woman-owned produce and dry goods shop

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Sri LankaBefore the tsunami, Priyanka sewed clothes at a garment factory. After the disaster, she needed to make more money to support her parents and decided to start her own clothing business. After being rejected for a bank loan, Priyanka approached the Hambantota District Chamber of Commerce (HDCC), which helped her to develop a business plan, secure a loan, and access a professional mentor. Now, her business is poised to expand. Priyanka is one of more than 70 young entrepreneurs supported by HDCC through the Tsunami Reconstruction Initiative. In addition to receiving help with enterprise development, youth benefited from job training and placement assistance.

Based in the scenic coastal community of Seenigama, the Foundation of Goodness (FoG), also provided much-needed support to affected youth. With young people no longer able to pursue traditional livelihoods in coral mining, FoG pursued alternatives such as training youth as professional divers. Young women, too, learned the skills needed to create a range of small businesses – from selling handmade lace and patchwork handicrafts to launching beauty shops and cake-making enterprises.

SeenigamaPage 18: Students learn beauty techniques

Page 19/1-2: A beauty-shop owner welcomes a customer for a facial

Page 19/3-4: Students learn tailoring techniques

Page 20/1: Local handicrafts on display

Page 20/2: A loan recipient proudly shows off her beauty salon

Page 20/3: Dive trainees prepare for a welding exercise

Page 21: Diving classes reinforce proper equipment care

Page 22/1: Diving Center trainees learn new skills

Page 22/2: Cooking classes equip students with culinary skills

HambantotaPage 23/1: Youth learn how to make furniture

Page 23/2: A loan recipient makes and sells clothing

Page 23/3: A fruit juice-producing business

Page 23/4: A small office supply shop

Page 24/1: A young furniture-maker applies his craft

Page 24/2: A young entrepreneur paints ornamental trees

Page 25/1: A spice making and grinding enterprise

Page 25/2: With the training he received, this carpenter visits clients

Page 25/3: A coconut oil-producing business

Page 26/1: A small business owner sells mobile phone accessories

Page 26/2-3: The owner of a tailoring business

Page 26/4: Students attend an English language course

Page 27: A youth-run seashell craft business

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ThailandStanding behind the counter of his motorcycle repair shop, 29-year-old Wuttichai beams with pride. Carefully displayed on shelves behind him is an assortment of motorcycle accessories and spare parts. Wuttichai’s shop occupies a storefront on the busy main street of Meuang District in the Pang Nga Province of southern Thailand. Five years ago, the province was devastated by the tsunami, with waves up to seven meters high battering the coast and inundating areas more than 300 meters inland.

Wuttichai is one of more than 400 youth to receive life skills and technical training through the Tsunami Reconstruction Initiative in Thailand. Carried out by the National Council for Child and Youth Development (NCYD), a national nongovernmental organization, TRI efforts provided youth, ages 16 to 29, with training to pursue diverse income-generating projects. Through the program, young people learned skills in boat construction, engine repair, electronics, computer usage, and the tourism trade. Still others developed the leadership skills needed to become catalysts for community change.

Page 28: Wuttichai in his motorcycle repair shop

Page 29/1-2: Youth learn to repair and maintain motorcycles

Page 29/3: A class in !berglass boat construction

Page 30/1: Participants learn to repair diesel engines

Page 30/2: A young girl welcomes tourists to her island community

Page 31: When not working, Wuttichai enjoys racing motorbikes

Page 32/1-2: Trainees acquire computer skills

Page 32/3: An electrical wiring class

Page 32/4: Repairing heavy engines at a government-run training institute

Page 33: Youth perform traditional dances for tourists

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Acknowledgements

The International Youth Foundation (IYF) extends

its gratitude to Nokia for its far-reaching vision

and support in launching the Tsunami

Reconstruction Initiative (TRI). By emphasizing

the development of youth livelihoods as the central

focus for long-term reconstruction efforts, the TRI

distinguished itself, paving the way for the needs of

youth to be accorded priority in future post-disaster

reconstruction efforts. We also thank the Sylvan/

Laureate Foundation and Unocal for their

generous financial contributions to the initiative’s

success. We recognize that building effective

partnerships – and leveraging the diverse expertise

of partners – was essential to achieving the TRI’s

ambitious goals.

None of the accomplishments referenced in this

book would be possible without the hard work and

perseverance of the initiative’s implementing

partners in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and

Thailand. We recognize that the 2004 Asian

tsunami presented unique challenges – as well as

opportunities – to contribute to current knowledge

and practice around how to best support youth

livelihood development in the aftermath of such a

disaster. Our partners in the region excelled in

their service to youth and commitment to

capturing these valuable lessons.

Our appreciation also extends to those

organizations that supported the initiative with

their technical knowledge, including Youthreach

(India) and Indonesia Business Links. Their

expertise was invaluable in strengthening the

capacity of local implementing organizations, who

are now better equipped to address youth needs

and fulfill new roles in their respective regions.

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The Partners

IndiaCommunity Collective Society for Integrated Development

Since 2004, the Community Collective Society for Integrated Development (CCFID) has facilitated the development of marginalized and poor families through livelihood programs. CCFID recognizes that a substantial proportion of India’s youth are excluded from the nation’s economic growth and recent developments in science and technology. It addresses this disparity by providing opportunities for the poor, especially young people and women, to improve their lives. To learn more, visit: www.ccfid.org.in

IndonesiaCenter for Community Development and EducationEstablished in 1993, the Center for Community Development and Education (CCDE) is a local nongovernmental organization in Aceh, Indonesia that empowers women and children. CCDE provides social and educational programs and provides financial services through microcredit activities.

Sri LankaFoundation of Goodness

The Foundation of Goodness is a Sri Lankan nongovernmental organization that has been active in the rural community of Seenigama and surrounding villages since 1999. Its holistic

approach is unique to the region, focusing on the integrated needs of villagers for housing, infrastructure, livelihoods, medical care, welfare, education, skills development, sports, and cultural preservation. More at: www.unconditionalcompassion.org

Hambantota District Chamber of CommerceThe Hambantota District Chamber of Commerce (HDCC) serves the needs of its members by making available a wide range of development services and helping accelerate economic growth and enhanced prosperity throughout the Hambantota District. HDCC offers business development support to both members and nonmembers and operates a job placement service to link job seekers with employment opportunities. To learn more, visit: www.hdcc.lk

ThailandNational Council for Child and Youth Development

Founded in 1985, the National Council for Child and Youth Development (NCYD) promotes coordinated efforts between the Thai government and NGOs in support of the nation's children and youth. Composed of 65 children and youth organizations from throughout the country, NCYD is recognized by both the government and private sectors as the official national coordinating body for child and youth development efforts.

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© 2010 International Youth Foundation

About the International Youth Foundation

The International Youth Foundation (IYF) invests in the

extraordinary potential of young people. Founded in 1990, IYF

builds and maintains a worldwide community of businesses,

governments, and civil society organizations committed to

empowering youth to be healthy, productive, and engaged

citizens. IYF programs are catalysts of change that help young

people obtain a quality education, gain employability skills,

make healthy choices, and improve their communities. To learn

more, visit www.iyfnet.org.

Photographs: Jean-Pierre Isbendjian

Text: Sheila Kinkade