A remarkable thing has happened in the tiny Thai fishing village of Ban Koh Muk since the giant wave claimed thousands of lives, homes and fishing boats in December 2004 -– women in the communities have been transformed.
Over the past four years, the women from Ban Koh Muk and other island communities along the Andaman coast have expanded their traditional role as managers of households and keepers of the family to become community decision makers, advisers and business managers.
“Before the tsunami happened, we worked at home and provided support to the men who went out fishing. We were not included in discussions related to community activities of any kind, said
Jeasitee Harnthalay, a woman from Ban Koh Muk whose family’s livelihood was destroyed when their fishing boat and gear were lost in the tsunami.
 “Now we are involved in all kinds of discussions that affect our community, including community development and conservation issues.”
Ms. Jeasitee is just one of the many women who have found new strength and empowerment since that terrible day in 2004. Small fishing communities everywhere along the Andaman coast had to rebuild from scratch, starting with their homes and livelihoods. Vulnerable groups in particular -- women, children, the elderly and sick -- were all in need of crucial assistance.
The International and domestic support following the tsunami was unprecedented, but it was the determination and tenacity of the local people which ultimately lifted the affected communities from the clutches of despair, and today they are successfully managing their own resources and building thriving small businesses.
It is impossible to exaggerate women’s contribution towards tsunami recovery at the community level. Challenging the usual patriarchal mindset in fishing communities where they are perceived as playing a secondary role, it was women who held together families during the recovery phase as they searched for missing loved ones was under way. It was also women who initiated fresh ways of generating income while waiting for new fishing boats and gear to become available.
“Adopting new attitudes towards the role of women can go a long way in managing disasters given the natural resilience of most women,”, said Ravadee Prasertcharoensuk, director of the Sustainable Development Foundation. “The tsunami experience revealed a need to consciously enlist women in preparing communities for disasters.”
The Sustainable Development Foundation worked with the Save Andaman Network, a coalition of non-governmental organizations to help people on the Andaman coast to recover from the tsunami and strengthen their community.
In recognizing the extraordinary ability of women to respond to disasters, communities like Ban Koh Muk and  Ban Nam Rab have encouraged women to build on their customary duties as household managers. A learning centre was established on Koh Muk as part of a project titled ‘Women Empowerment in Community-Based Disaster Risk Management through Tsunami Experiences’.
The project, which received financial support from the United Nations Development Programme and the Coca-Cola Company, helped women to initiate new activities and showed them how effective they could be when they worked as a well organized group.
The women improved their accounting and management skills and learned how to set up saving schemes, use limited resources more effectively, and better target their support for tsunami victims – through these actions, the communities now recognize women as leaders and key providers.
“We now find that working is not just about having a job –- it’s about exercising a profession” says Wilairat Hadden, a woman from Ban Koh Muk who attended the learning centre.
“We also understand that it is not engough to work only in our own community, since all communities in this area fish in the same waters and share the same coastal resources.
By working with other communities, we can sustain our resources and improve our livelihoods. For example, we can discuss how to prevent the use of inappropriate fishing gear that depletes the fishing stock and destroys the environment.
“Men and women are now working together, and different communities are working together too.”
Women involved in these activities found that their confidence began to soar as people sought their support and advice and they developed a reputation as contributors to the welfare and prosperity of their community. Furthermore, through their various contacts with national and international support networks and non-governmental organisations, women became exposed to the outside world, often for the first time.
Their new management skills were applied to many activities in addition to helping vulnerable groups and generating additional income. These included improving the management of public services and addressing important environmental concerns for their communities and beyond.
“We understand each other better now, husbands and wives, neighbours and communities. We have learned to work together to resolve problems. We have learned to work together to resolve problems,” said Ms.Wilairat.
“The tsunami destroyed so much, but we have been able to get up, pick up the pieces and learn new skills. We now know how to prepare for disasters, as well as how to react and respond to them.”
“As mothers, we always think about our children’s future. We can now prepare them for all that life can bring. If another big wave comes, they should be ready. We are happy because we can teach our sons and daughters how to respond to disasters, and equip them with skills to lead better and more productive lives”.
Four years after the tsumani struck, women in Andaman fishing villages like Ban Koh Muk and Ban Nam Rab have their pride restored. Equipped with knowledge of the outside world and the collective assurance of community networks, they have the confidence to navigate their families and communities through hard times, while also building for them a brighter future.
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For more information, contact: Dominique Larsimont, dominique.larsimont@undp.org, tel: 02 2881814
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