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Restoring livelihoods after the tsunami

The British Red Cross helped thousands of families restore their lives through cash grants in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

These grants were used to invest in small businesses including growing cash crops such as cashew nuts, chillies and cucumbers. Other investments included setting up shops, fish farming and buying goats and chickens.

We distributed grants to:

  • More than 11,300 people in Indonesia 
  • More than 22,900 people in Sri Lanka
  • More than 3,000 people in the Maldives

Read about the impact your support has helped us make on people's lives.

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Indonesia

Woman weaving a rattan basket

Norliza's story: an expanding handicraft business

Norliza lost her sewing machine and therefore her livelihood in the tsunami. With a cash grant she is rebuilding her business.

Man smiling in clothes shop

Robby's story: fashion dreams in Indonesia

Robby Darwis, a tsunami survivor, is on his way to building a mini fashion empire in the Indonesian, thanks to help from the British Red Cross.

Syrif Siddick

Syrif's story: educating orphans

The tsunami totally transformed the life of teenager Syrif Siddick. Within minutes the powerful force of nature left him an orphan.

Irwandi smiles from behind his counter

Irvandi's story: the Bill Gates of Panton village

Irvandi has used a cash grant from the British Red Cross to start his own computing and printing business.

Mawardi smiles

Mawardi and Jaflinar's story: fuelling recovery after the tsunami

Mawardi and Jaflinar have slowly rebuilt their lives after the tsunami, moving into a house built by the British Red Cross and starting a petrol business.

Widow Zainabah Ibrahim

Zainabah's story: buying goats and chickens

Widow Zainabah Ibrahim was dragged through the water when the tsunami struck. She praises the Red Cross for helping her buy livestock.

Ben Khari explains how he built the pond

Group grant for eco-fishermen

A group of tsunami survivors in Indonesia has used a cash grant from the British Red Cross to create a large fishpond from a field that was ruined by the tsunami.

Ahlimah peeping from her doorway

Ahlimah's story: raising chickens after the tsunami

No grandmother expects to lose one grandchild, let alone eight, but this is the tragedy that befell 75-year-old Ahlimah when the tsunami struck Indonesia.

Pak Yunus with one of his new kids

Pak Yunus' story: help for small farmer

Pak Yunus has used a Red Cross cash grant to keep his goats from straying off his farm.

Fourteen-year-old Wulan reuniting with her mother

Wulan's story: family reunited after the tsunami

Fourteen-year-old Wulan was reunited with her family by the Red Cross, one month after the tsunami struck.

Man holding chicken

Hadi's story: investing in poultry after the tsunami

Hadi Marhento used a British Red Cross cash grant to buy chicks, his business has developed and he now offers a butchery service.

Teenager Desi Yustina orphaned by tsunami

Desi and Randy's story: support for orphans

Brother and sister Desi and Randy Yustina were just 15 and 16-years-old when the tsunami killed their parents.

Pak Alimuddin with his child outside his coffee shop

Alimuddin's story: coffee-fuelled dreams

Find out how cash grants helped tsunami survivors like Alimuddin in Indonesia build a business.

The Maldives

Mohamed Saeed stands on a boat

Mohamed's story: back to fishing after the tsunami

Mohamed lost all his fishing equipment in the tsunami, but a cash grant from the Red Cross means he now makes more money than he did before the tsunami.

Smiley face of Mumthaz Ibrahim

Mumtaz's story: empowering the community after the tsunami

Community participation is an essential part of the British Red Cross' work in the Maldives. As a committee leader, Mumthaz is getting everyone involved.

Nahida Mohammed picking papaya in the Maldives

Nahida's story: picking papaya again after the tsunami

Mother-of-five Nahida Mohammed (39) has been helped to farm again thanks to a cash grant from the British Red Cross.

Saudiyya Kuda Manik tending her crops

Saudiyya's story: from bad land to healthy crops

Saudiyya Kuda Manik's family has been farming for generations. When the tsunami hit the wave washed away the crops leaving little behind but salinated land.

Sri Lanka

Fishermen pull nets from sea

One boat, many lives

Sri Lanka's fishing industry was ripped apart by the tsunami which destroyed thousands of boats and with them people's livelihoods.

Sunil Shantha with his wife in temporary shelter

Sunil's story: cleaning up after the tsunami

Sunil's one of a number of people in southern Sri Lanka who were paid to clear land after the tsunami, and he's used his wages to start fishing again.

Joha with her daughter Delicia

Joha's story: building confidence after the tsunami

A Red Cross initiative has strengthened the livelihoods of Sri Lankan elderly and widowed villagers devastated by the tsunami and years of conflict.

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