Bridging the gap. Save the Children’s transitional housing project after the tsunami in Ampara district, Sri Lanka

The publication documents the shelter construction process in Ampara district, Sri Lanka, following the 2004 tsunami. Under this project, the first 100 houses were declared by UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) to be the best among the thirty kinds of transitional shelter constructed in Ampara district. Save the Children’s shelters met international criteria for disaster relief housing; they were clearly favoured by displaced families and they cost less than comparable solutions. This success was due to the simple strategy of consulting with the people they were housing and including them in the building process. The documentation pays particular attention to the community consultations that were part of this reconstruction process and the impact it had on the children and their families.