Transitional Shelter by Helen Davies

Transitional Shelter A critical analysis of transitional shelter programs implemented following the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami Helen Davies c3298365 AC3.1

Transitional Shelter A critical analysis of transitional shelter programs implemented following the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

Contents

Introduction

The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

Introduction to Transitional Shelter Case Studies

Research and Community Participation

Materials and Reconstruction

Considerations for the Future

Conclusion

Illustrations and References Contents

Introduction Introduction Investment in shelter has long been acknowledged and recognised as an important necessity to support the livelihoods, health and security of displaced and effected people following such situations where disaster relief is needed. With such factors as shortage of land, complex and delicate economic aspects and also increasing population densities to be considered, the recovery phase following natural disasters in poorer countries can be extremely difficult. The Sukkur Shelter Cluster for Pakistan defines temporary shelter as ‘emergency shelter’ that may be ‘a tent or plastic sheeting with poles and rope’ 1. Transitional housing programs can be used in many situations and in all types of societies all over the world. Aid agencies offer this type of support in many cases, for example to domestic violence sufferers resulting in homeless men, women and children. Two of the main characteristics of transitional housing are that it is temporary and that its beneficiaries would otherwise be considered homeless. The common purpose of these programs is to aid families or individuals by not only giving them short-term shelter but also aiding them in their struggle to obtain permanent habitation within a specific 1 TSSU Report, November 2012 Image: Fig 1. Build Change: Disaster Relief Program, December 2011

amount of time. This critical study will focus on the sort of transitional shelter that Non-Government Organizations (NGO’s) and humanitarian aid agencies such as Save the Children and Red Cross supplied in poverty stricken areas following the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. This document will focus upon three themes that lend themselves to each case study in order to critically analyse and recognise the procedures that were most successful and to construct an appropriate argument for methods that should be championed in the provision of post disaster transitional shelters in the future. ‘Transitional shelters provide a habitable space and a secure, healthy living environment, with privacy and dignity, to those within it, during the period between a conflict or natural disaster and the achievement of a durable shelter solution ’.2 Transitional shelter can be simply defined as a wide range of shelter options that aid a person, family or population displaced by conflict or natural disaster until they are able to return to more permanent housing. However, it has been argued that transitional shelters aren’t a plausible solution. 2 Oxfam, Corsellis and Vitalte, November 2005

Introduction

4 Rivard, David. Haiti’s Homeless, 2010

Article twenty-five of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that: ‘Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control’ 4 The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Department for International Development have collaborated to derive a document that states the ten principles that should be targeted and met while devising and providing transitional housing programs. These reconstruction principles include such aims as; support to the affected community, coordination in strategizing a response and ensuring that vulnerability to disasters in the future is reduced.5 These guidelines are to assist Government organizations, NGO’s and Humanitarian Aid Agencies in their response to distributing aid following disasters. The guidance covers initial rapid response in the form of emergency shelter and what follows so that more durable solutions in housing can be provided for the displaced population.

Image: Fig 2. Shelter of rope, poles and plastic sheeting, Thailand 04

4 See ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’, Paris, 1948 5 Transitional Settlement and Reconstruction After Natural Disaster, OCHA, February 2011

Fig. 3: Diagram showing realistic time scales and types of shelter provided.

Levels of Activity

David Rivard, head of the Humanitarian Logistics for Airline Ambassadors International blieves that transitional housing schemes have the capacity to wind up being ‘essentially slums’. 41

(0 - 30 days) Initial Emergency Disaster Relief

Reconstruction and Permanent Development

Transition 5 - 7 days

Emergency Tents in Relief Camps

Lightweight, immediate, easy construction and disribution Lack of privacy and stability without heating, insulation, electricity or ventilation

3 months

Transitional Shelter

More durable and private shelter to resume a normal life while permanent shelter is sourced. Possible to use as permanent housing with alterations as structure and materials are already good.

2 - 4 years

Permanent Housing

Couple of years to build and not flexible in size or for diferent site conditions. Structurally durable providing better living conditions with heating, insulation and ventilation.

2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

On the twenty sixth of December 2004, 230,000 people were killed and 14 countries affected by a horrific tsunami that caused waves that reached heights of over thirty meters. Countries such as Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand were left devastated by the after effects. In terms of the estimated death toll, the Indian Ocean tsunami ranks among some of the worlds worst natural disasters. Due to the popularity of countries like Thailand for tourism and the thousands of tourists that could not be accounted for, the tsunami was given a higher profile than previous disasters. Over $14 billion was donated worldwide towards the relief. It can be considered that this natural disaster brought to light the opportunity to prove whether decades of experience and knowledge in post-disaster shelter relief, in the hope of eventually accomplishing permanent communities, could be applied. Relief operations are considered carefully by experts and broken into several phases: search and rescue; treatment and survival; relocation and rehabilitation and long-term reconstruction.6 6 Questions and Answers: South Asia Earthquake and Tsunami,â&#x20AC;? World Health Organization, January 14, 2005. 06

TANZANIA. KENYA. SOMALIA. INDIA. BANGLADESH. SRI LANKA. BURMA. THAILAND. MALAYSIA. INDONESIA. The 2004 Tsunami 07

Fig. 4 - Destruction and devastation - Aftermath of the Tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia. (2005)

The 2004 Tsunami 09

Introduction to Case Studies

Organization: Save the Children Location: Ampara, Sri Lanka Size: 55,000 shelters

Organization : Red Cross Location : Indonesia Size : 20,000 Shelters

Organization: UN Aid Agency Location : Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka Size : 455 shelters

Ampara, on the east coast of Sri Lanka was one of the worst hit with more than 77,000 families losing their homes and over a third of the population affected by the tsunami in some way. The infrastructure and community in this district was already in ruins due to civil war and reportedly over 60 percent were already living in poverty. This disaster and what would follow gave the population the opportunity to gain from the disaster relief massively and the organization Save the Children saw the potential to create the project ‘Bridging the Gap’ to try and provide more sustainable futures for those effected.

The earthquake and the tsunami that followed, also seriously affected the northern and western coastal areas of Sumatra, Indonesia and its smaller surrounding islands. Figures released by the country’s National Relief Coordination Agency revealed that the death toll exceeded 225,000 and 37,063 people could not be accounted for. With this, and the fact that the UN estimated that over 650,000 people could be deemed homeless the Red Cross were focused on concentrating on the province of Aceh in particular as almost all of the casualties and damage took place here.

The effects of the 2004 tsunami also devastated the district of Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka. Similarly to Ampara, evidence reveals that the poverty rate in this area was already significantly higher than average due to decades of conflict. The tsunami killed 30 people and destroyed 1,250 homes in Kilinochichi as well as shattering the most important source of livelihood for the population – fishing. In early November 2012 the IRIN held a survey and investigated the current state in which the shelters that were provided as kits by a UN Aid Agency, then stood.

Introduction to Case Studies 11

Research and Community Participation

Fig 5. Thangeswary Karuppaiyah stands outside her self made transitional shelter. Kit provided by a UN relief agency November 2012

One of the main aims outlined by the organization Save the Children in their efforts to provide transitional shelters was to gain information from the communities themselves. Divisional Secretaries were placed in different areas to gain the opinions of residents, developers and those affected in order to ensure that their needs would be targeted most effectively. The involvement of local contractors also gave and opportunity for those affected to shed the feeling of hopelessness and to appreciate and understand the building processes of the shelters. The procedure adopted by the Red Cross organization was very different in comparison to the steps taken by other humanitarian aid agencies. The Red Cross believed that, by the collection of data from the worst hit villages, it would be much more efficient in enabling them to determine who would be eligible, before in fact building the shelters. Upon research, this seemed to have been a slow process but for good reason. The Red Cross, again like Save the Children, wanted to incorporate the community into the reconstruction of their own dwellings. The organization arranged training master classes for the locals so that participants would not only feel as though they had contributed to their own relief but also to ensure that they would be confident in knowing how to dismantle the

shelters and, more importantly, to keep building should there be a need. In the case of the shelter kits provided by the UN Agency it is fairly obvious that a long-term design has not been addressed and has therefore resulted in an unsuccessful example of transitional shelter. Poor estimations in the amount of time in which permanent dwellings could be built led to bad choices of materials and this could stem directly from the fact that an insufficient amount of research was done before the project went ahead.

Thus, reinforcing the argument that although the process of decision making and research took longer and delayed the construction of shelters asthose built in Ampara, Sri Lanka, it was vital work that devised such an effective way to ensure that these shelters could stand for a long time or be adapted by the residents, should they want to expand or change use. Fig 6. Red Cross Kit Instructions available to all participants, Aceh, March 2008

Research and Community Participation

Materials and Construction

Fig 7. Bridging the Gap: (2007) Proposed Floor Plans of Transitional Shelters

The ‘Bridging the Gap’ project can be considered as one of the most successful, cost effective and sustainable projects in its consideration and approach to materials. The careful selection of the shelters DNA was well informed and practical, for example, each structure had strong but removable foundations and breezeblock walls that could easily be broken down and recycled in the future. Woven palm roofs were both traditional and cheap and would keep the main living space cool while a tin roof on the small side kitchen would diminish fire risks. Even though this shelter was only sixteen square feet larger than the government standard, its occupants rate it highly for comfort. The partition wall provides not only better privacy, but also the idea that there are more rooms and therefore more space.

The main triumphs of this scheme seem to have derived from the lessons learned from previous attempts at providing transitional shelters ‘Bridging the Gap’ - Save the Children

The army provided the transitional shelters that followed and although they were larger, many residents proceeded to use these shelters only for storage and compared them to caves. The main triumphs of this scheme seem to have derived from the lessons learned from previous attempts at providing transitional shelters. The notion of learning from mistakes made in earlier projects also seems to have influenced the choice of materials considered by the Red Cross in their attempt to provide transitional shelters in Indonesia. Their not so successful example, following another disaster, was a structure made up from bricks, bamboo and cement, which understandably posed the problem that it was too difficult to dismantle and therefore materials could not be reused or recycled. Therefore in Indonesia, as with the approach taken by the organization Save the Children, materials had been carefully selected. With bracing support in each corner of the galvanized steel structure, these shelters were not only rust proof, but also earthquake proof. The added advantage of anti termite pine timber walls was not only sustainable but also light and easy to deconstruct. In comparison with these successful examples, the shelters provided by

Fig. 8 : A three-year-old transitional shelter by UN Agency. Its coconut leaf matting used for the walls needs replacing

a UN Aid Agency consisted of tin sheeting, coconut leaves and tarpaulins. These shelters were built by the families in Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka rather than the aid agencies themselves and were designed to last only two years â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the amount of time that aid workers told the families that it would take them to rebuild a permanent dwelling. Unfortunately, it now seems that this could not have been a bigger under estimation for as, seen in fig.8, a photograph of one of the shelters taken in early 2012 indicates that it is no longer suitable and will probably not withstand another wet season.

Materials and Construction 16

Considerations for the future

Careful consideration of materials and the training of locals to help in the reconstruction of their communities are two procedures that have proved to be most successful in the provision of transitional shelters. With this in mind, one of the main characteristics of this type of post disaster aid is that it should provide shelter while habitants seek permanent habitation. This theme focuses on whether or not any of the case studies have indicated design with the future in mind. ‘ Save The Children’s’ ‘Bridging the Gap’ was considered transitional as it was quite literally an attempt to ‘bridge the gap’ between the provision of immediate emergency shelter and permanent housing. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) declared this project to be the best among 30 examples of transitional shelters in Ampara following the disaster7 and this statement heavily owes itself to the use of materials and basic layout. Similarly the Red Cross professed that their aim was to devise and build shelters that were were designed with a future and, more

importantly with future disasters in mind. As previously mentioned, these shelters were not only simple to deconstruct but also, especially in the case of the ‘Bridging the Gap’ scheme, allowed the possibility of extension and improvements to be made to the existing structure, so that it could become a more permanent means of housing. Unfortunately, in the case of the shelters provided by the UN Aid Agency, the structures that were provided were considered a vast improvement in comparison to the flimsy, makeshift tents that some of the displaced population was still living in and therefore these standards were all that most people could hope to achieve as yet another wet season was set to begin. Fontini Rantsiou, head of the northern sub-office of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in October 2011 that;

This is a worrying fact, for international funding for humanitarian aid and development activities in Sri Lanka is now drying up and reports state that donors and aid agencies are reluctant to fund further transitional shelter projects whilst there is still a high expectation of a commitment by donors to construct a project of approximately 75,000 permanent houses to be built in the Northern parts of Sri Lanka. It is clear that underestimation and lack of information gathered by this agency have once again been factors in the reason for this project being so unsuccessful.

Had more care been taken in research prior to choosing materials that would effectively decide the life span of these shelters, then perhaps this kind of commitment could have already largely been fulfilled. If similar approaches such as those adopted by the Red Cross and Save the Children had been undertaken then the communities themselves could be building more permanent dwellings with resources and professional knowledge that had already been provided. Fig 9: Save the Children Shelter, Sri Lanka, Kirpitis, 2011

“People have been in transitional shelter for a long time, in many cases three years... With the rainy season starting, things are going to become tough for those people” 8.1 7 Bartlett, Sheridan. Bridging the Gap, Colombo, 2007 8 Rantsiou, Fontini. IRNI Report, Kilnochchi, October 2011

Considerations for the Future

Conclusion

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Shelter must be considered as a process, not as an objectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;9. 1 Disaster relief goes much further than architecture alone. Good, sustainable development of communities and settlements is vital in the recovery of an affected area but strong design is a good place to start. The built environment can always be adapted to strive for a less disastrous outcome if such a disaster should ever happen again. Architecture, and poor examples of design are partly responsible for the loss of tens of thousands of lives due to the fact that they have not been built to withstand such natural disasters in the first place. 9 Davies, I (1978. pg33) Image: Fig 10 : Transitional Shelters being adapted, Aceh, Sri Lanka. 2009

Conclusion

This critical study has highlighted the clear advantages of approaching rehabilitation for displaced sufferers after natural disasters with influence and involvement from those people themselves. The successful shelters built by organizations such as Save the Children and the Red Cross are true examples of how these influences can really impact the design and decisions made in the reconstruction. In these cases the shelters are treated as homes rather than structures that the aid agencies will leave behind and merely wish the habitants well. However, the UN Aid Agency case study and many similar to these poor examples are testimony to the fact that, thirty years after Ian Davis originally expressed his notion and wrote that shelters must be considered as a process , this approach can sometimes be forgotten in practice. The concept of transitional shelter can be undermined in some way, as if it is just another non-food item that is distributed to the affected population. ‘Bridging the Gap’ project shows a true initiative by learning from mistakes and successes previously experienced, from the materials used to the basic floor plan that was received so well by the habitants. It could be considered a naive approach to humanitarian aid and architecture to assume that a transitional settlement that

worked well in Sri Lanka would be well received in Indonesia and that the benefits would easily be mirrored. There are no simple right and wrong approaches or standard shelters that can just be placed anywhere without true research into exactly what is needed and as to what would be suitable to achieve a more sustainable future. In the case study, by the Red Cross, it is obvious that when improvements to traditional building methods are necessary, for example the use of beneficiary labour in Aceh benefitted the process. However, it is highly important and integral to remember that community and local participation should not lead to community control of the whole process. For example, reports from community consultations in Aceh reveal that the local community and local contractors were calling for ‘Western-style’ concrete structures that would simply and realistically not suit the climate of their areas and therefore, with the input and advice given by trained contractors and designers from the humanitarian aid agencies, a good balance could be found. The signs of development and progress that the population craved in their new settlements could be achieved in a much more realistic and sustainable way.

Transitional housing programs in disaster stricken countries have the capacity to not only make an impact on those directly being housed, but on the wider social and economic status. With strong homes established so soon after disaster, it is possible for residents to focus on their own livelihoods and the rehabilitation of their family lives far sooner than if they were to wait for the completion perhaps of a permanent dwelling the build of which wasn’t so carefully considered.

An example of transitional shelters directly helping families is to be found in the large number of recipients receiving Red Cross transitional shelters in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake who are now either adapting their shelters to serve as a permanent dwellings, using the shelters as additional space or even utilizing the structures as business premises. The shelters are considered a valuable asset rather than parts of another ‘throw away’ post disaster scheme.

Fig 11: Red Cross Shelter, Aceh, Indonesia (2010)

Conclusion 22

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Shelter must be considered as a process, not as an objectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Davies, I (1978)

Illustrations and References References and Bibliography

Illustrations Fig. 1: Build change disaster relief program (2011) Available online at http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/design-architecture/build-change-a-smarter-disaster-relief-program/2813 [Accessed 25 November 2012] Fig. 2: Temporary Shelters like tents in Thailand, (December 2004 )[Online Image] Available at: http://riah28-thailandtsunami.blogspot.co.uk/. [Accessed 07 November 2012] Fig. 3: Diagram showing realistic time scales and types of shelter provided. Fig. 4: Destruction and Devastation, Friend (2005) [Online Image] Available at : http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/tsunami-exercises-indian-ocean-region [Accessed 23 October 2012] Fig. 5: Thanksgeswary Karuppaiyah stands outside her transitional shelter by UNHCR. [Online Image] Available at : http://www.irinnews.org/report/96697/sri-lanka-former-IDPs-wants-more-than-leaking-shacks. [Accessed 26 November 2012]

Fig. 6: Red Cross Kit Instructions, March 2008 [Online Image] Available at http://www.ifrc.org/en/news-and-media/ news-stories/asia-pacific/indonesia/indonesia-transitionalshelter-programme-comes-to-an-end-in-aceh/ [Accessed 18 November 2012] Fig. 7: Bridging the Gap: (2007) Bridging the Gap, Save the Children, Colombo (pg.14) Fig. 8: IRIN (2012) [Online Image] Available at: http://www. irinnews.org/report/96697/sri-lanka-former-IDPs-wants-morethan-leaking-shacks. [Accessed 21 November 2012] Fig. 9: Save the Children Shelter, Sri Lanka, Kirpitis, 2011 [Online Image] Available at http://srilankaprojekt.sr.funpic.de/ www.srilankaproject.com/glen2005/?Photos:Thirukkovil_in_ photos [Accessed 28 October 2012] Fig. 10 : Transitional Shelters being adapted, Aceh, Sri Lanka. 2009 [Online Image] Available at: http://www.directrelief.org/ emergency/2004-indian-ocean-earthquake-tsunami/2004-indian-ocean-tsunami/ [Accessed 29 November2012] Fig. 11: Red Cross Shelter, Indonesia (2010) [Online Image] Available at: http://www.ifrc.org/ar/noticias/noticias/asia-pacific/indonesia/houses-spring-up-in-aceh/ [Accessed 18 October 2012]

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Illustrations and References

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