Close to one million people, most of them schoolchildren have benefited from money raised in the Archdiocese of Dublin in the wake of the Tsunami disaster.

Four million euro was raised in the Diocese in response to the disaster in December 2004. Trocaire informed the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Diarmuid Martin this week that the entire fund has now been spent.

Archbishop Martin said he was happy to learn the money donated by the people of the Dublin Diocese had a direct impact on improving the lives of those worst affected, particularly young people.

Eight countries were affected; a quarter of a million people lost their lives and millions left homeless. Announcing the appeal following the disaster, Archbishop Martin appealed to parishioners in Dublin to remember in particular, children affected by the disaster. Their generous response exceeded all expectations.

The Diocesan funds were distributed by Trocaire in two ways. The first and biggest was through Caritas Internationalis – a network of 162 catholic humanitarian organizations. This included providing emergency supplies, food, and water shelter across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.

The second course of response saw Trocaire dealing with local parishes and communities in setting up more long term projects. In Indonesia the money raised has helped fund the reconstruction of 65 schools. The schools have been fully furnished, equipped with furniture and educational materials.

In Aceh, one of the worst affected areas, one million euro raised in Dublin went towards building 648 homes for two communities. Families were trained in home gardens, in which mostly women were involved and young people received training in sewing and furniture making.

In Sri Lanka, €990,000 of the Dublin fund helped rebuild 9 orphanages and 6,000 new homes.

In other areas scholarship schemes for poor students have been set up, science labs put into schools, training provided for skilled labourers with the capacity to support families, water supply systems set up as well as funding for trauma support groups for some of the most vulnerable people affected by the disaster, including the elderly, disabled and children.

96% of the four million euro has been spent, with the remainder already allocated to specific projects.

For full details of the report and how the money was spent click link below :
Second Report on Archdiocese of Dublin funding for Tsunami projects