Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness . . .

Transforming Disaster Relief into Community Building Dr. Ashesh Ambasta

Live images of the unfolding disasters in New York City and Washington, DC last month seared our eyes and hearts. It gave further proof (as if we needed it) that disasters – natural and manmade – are increasingly a part of our crowded, troubled world.

This month, Changemakers spotlights creative responses to disasters by three social entrepreneurs who help re-construct a better society from the ashes and ruin of catastrophe. First, they address the immediate crisis, then they push further to snatch a pattern-changing victory from the jaws of defeat.

Violent conflicts throughout the world create disasters for those who get in the way. The stream of human miseries borne of poverty and ignorance constitute another disaster that is a "constant catastrophe," notes social entrepreneur Juan Carr of the Solidarity Network in Argentina. "Every day there are deaths that no one sees . . . All the organizations that truly want to change this reality necessarily must make contact with this permanent state of catastrophe."

This is especially evident for those who live in developing countries where calamities unfold almost daily, consuming individuals, communities and localities. Yet, even for those who live in the most abject poverty, the sheer enormity of destruction and suffering caused by, and following, natural disasters, is stunning – whether it is from floods, earthquakes, cyclones, droughts or volcanic eruptions.

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Go to the Changemakers Library for selected Internet resources about Disaster Management & Community Development

From Relief Work to Sustainable Community Development

The Gujarat earthquake killed 80,000: Setu responded by creating a better future for some of India's most marginalized peoples
By Arundhati Ray

When floods hit Argentina, Solidarity Network delivered food and clothing to 200,000 people in just one week

Lessons from Fire Mountain: Managing Danger and Strengthening Community


Learning to prepare, persevere and rebuild in the shadow of one of the world's most lethal volcanos