Building Trust in the Wake of a Disaster(<Special Issue>Safe and Resilient Society against Natural Disaster)

Abstract

After natural disasters, various actors provide victims with aid in order to support the restoration of their lives. However aid can cause mistrust among community members, and between community and external actors when aid coordination is not enough. This article considers the relationship between support for victims and community reconstruction in terms of trust among actors. A similar situation was observed in resettlement support for people affected by the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 in Sri Lanka. Many resettlement areas are abandoned because the victims are mainly small fishing households who cannot continue their jobs in the resettlement areas remote to the sea. Moreover, conflicts can arise when residents came from different communities. On the other hand, in resettlement areas where residents maintain a high quality of life, microfinance (small loan system for poor people) is key factor which facilitates trust among community members and it support livelihoods restoration and resilient community reconstruction.