Tsunami Aid: Support Fisherfolk and Peasant Communities’ Grassroots Relief Efforts

Indonesia’s National Federation of Peasant Organizations (FSPI) and Sri Lanka’s National Organization of Fisherfolk (NAFSO) have organized rescue and relief teams in Aceh and North Sumatra Indonesia and in isolated communities in Sri Lanka. Other local organizations of fisherpeople, farmers, and indigenous people around the rim of the Indian Ocean are launching similar efforts in their own home towns.

With decades of community work, they have built strong, representative membership organizations in their communities. These organizations can make sure aid is used not to deepen poverty and dependency, but to build viable rural livelihoods. Their on-the-ground networks make them good candidates to relieve logistical bottlenecks; they have an agility and a knowledge of the local scene that no international aid organization can match.

To support these village-level relief and reconstruction efforts with an online donation to Grassroots International, click here [campaign closed]. Make sure to include the word Tsunami in the memo line.

FSPI and NAFSO are members of the Via Campesina, the global alliance of peasant, family farmer, farm worker, indigenous and landless peoples organizations, and other rural movements. The Via Campesina has asked Grassroots International to help provide emergency support to their member organizations.

Click here to find out how you can help grassroots support other projects like this.

As the relief and reconstruction work continues, we will bring you updates from the field.