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Many people do want to help, but don’t know how. When a disaster happens, people donate money and volunteer to provide aid. In post disaster situations, many people have ideas to help these communities, but how many of these ideas have actual measurable social impact or are actually sustainable?
In Nepal, 1 year after the earthquake, US$4.1 Billion was donated to rebuild the damage. The people who were displaced by the disaster who can’t afford to rebuild their homes are still living in tents. Today, many of the buildings collapsed in Kathmandu that housed soldiers were still unbuilt and soldier were still living in tents. Although government initiatives probably have the best intentions for the people, taking 10 months to set up the Nepal Reconstruction Agency and more months to implement rebuilding may be taking a little too long.
In Singapore, student groups who participate in community involvement projects build schools in various countries may seem like a good idea. They raise funds and do actual hands on construction of schools in other countries out of good intentions. Unfortunately, construction work is as simple as many may think, and it takes much experience to even build a sturdy wall, and in some cases, buildings built actually collapsed months after rebuilding.
I have been to many post disaster communities, and one of the most neglected element for recovery is — the economy. With continuous aid pouring in; housing, food and medicine is free. Even for a few years after the disaster, the aid may…
