Boxing day 2004. 07:58:53 local time. Under the sea off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia, the earth shakes with a magnitude of up to 9.3 on the Richter scale. A series of tsunami waves up to 30 meters high hits the shore, taking the lives of almost 230.000 people in 14 countries and leaving behind total devastation. Within 36 hours, UN Volunteers serving in South Asia were redeployed to Banda Aceh, Indonesia, and to Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Thailand to coordinate information, response and relief at local and national levels. Oliver Wittershagen shares his experience as a UNV Programme Officer coordinating the Tsunami response.
Most people remember where they were when the disaster struck. I was serving as UNV Programme Officer in Timor-Leste at the time, where hundreds of international UN Volunteers supported the nation-building efforts of the then-newest member of the United Nations family. On home leave celebrating Christmas with my family in Germany on that very day, I felt the urge to support the people in the affected areas.