The devastation and destruction caused by last December's tsunami in Sri Lanka were unprecedented. But equally unprecedented and historical was the humanitarian aid provided by various segments of the population both national and international. The Jesuits also understood the nature and extent of the tsunami wreckage. Hence, they provided emergency relief and initial support to the affected families to the best of their ability.

Right from the beginning, the Jesuits kept in mind the fact that we cannot address comprehensively the Tsunami created problems island-wide. Hence, we decided to concentrate our efforts on three main affected areas where, at present, Jesuits live and work, viz., Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Galle. It was also decided that some specific relief and rehabilitation needs of other areas will also be undertaken whenever appropriate and necessary. In all the 3 zones, zonal offices with zonal Coordination Teams that have been setup are functioning. To coordinate all these efforts a Central Coordination Office has been setup in Nirmala, Colombo. All the work will be monitored and guided by the Jesuit Tsunami Relief and Rehabilitation Board (JTRRB) consisting of 8 members, Jesuits and lay people, from various walks of life. Fr. Maria Antony is the legal holder of the entire project and Fr. Anton Pieris is the coordinator of all the programs, but since he has a full time job we will have to look for somebody else to become full time coordinator. Both administrative and financial mechanisms have been worked out to carry on relief and rehabilitation for a long period of time.

The JTRRB is planning to phase out emergency relief work. This does not mean that if people do not find provisions at this disastrous time, no relief would be provided. Meanwhile mid-term and long-term rehabilitation interventions are being planned. While this is being done, one needs to also respond sensitively to day-to-day needs of people to a possible extent and plan and execute long-term rehabilitation works.

All of us are aware of the fact that if we had our educational institutions, it would have been easier for us to carry out many more activities. But as history goes, the Sri Lankan Government nationalized all the schools in the year 1960. We handed over our schools in 1970. This has totally done away with Jesuit presence in schools. Due to this we cannot have easy access to schools. But this cannot discharge us from our duties as citizens of this country and as people that have made an option for the poor or in the post-tsunami phase with the most excluded and marginalized victims.

The next option is to carry out relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction to affected people through parishes, associations, village councils, technical and educational institutions. Since parishes, associations of fishermen and village committees are broadly based and address the needs of all the local people in that village and region, they are better than the support provided to any work by other centers/associations. Many places have such organizations or are establishing them. In some places pre-schools can be run under the parish or with the community supervision. If not we need to form such associations.

Areas of concerns
1.	Keeping in mind the massive impact of the tsunami in focus and our own lack of personnel and finances, it is necessary that we decide upon some areas of interventions, both in terms of location as well as the needs of people.
2.	Since there seems to be inaction or not enough action from the government and the local administration, it is necessary that we decide about our intervention, both for day-to-day needs and long-term needs. In the words of Jayatilleke De Silva, "These politics of tsunami has made the victims of tsunami more helpless. While the natural tsunami took away 40,000 lives, the tsunami of politics threatens to wipe out the future of even those who were fortunate enough to escape death." We need to criticize the policies of the government and the politicians. But that is not enough. We have to creatively engage in providing relief and long-term rehabilitation to the affected people.