Watch: Tsunami - Ten Years On (Video)

On December 26, 2004, an earthquake hit in the ocean off the coast of Sumatra. The result was a tsunami which killed over 230,000 people across 11 countries. The hardest hit countries were Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.

This video interviews the people who were affected by the tsunami: From the children who were orphaned by the disaster, to the SOS mothers who now care for them, to the women in the community who were left with nothing after the tsunami and now are gainfully employed, to the people who are once again fishing as they were a decade before.  This video documents how SOS Children’s Villages helped children and families become self-sufficient in the face of a staggering disaster.

SOS Children’s Villages has been able to provide immediate aid and long-term assistance to the countries affected by the 2004 Tsunami.  SOS Children’s Villages were already there in those countries. And in the decade since this disaster, SOS has helped children and families in the most need. SOS has helped reunite children with families they had lost, and provided loving homes in SOS villages for those who were alone. Our a href="/sos-family-strengthening-programs">Family Strengthening Programs helped people continue their livelihoods or receive training to find employment that will keep them self-sufficient – all of which keep families together.

SOS’ work included:

  • Building six new Villages for children who had lost their parents and whose extended families were not able to look after them.
  • Building 15 community centres and six SOS Social Centres
  • Providing thousands of families with career counselling, and health and psychological support
  • Offering more than 300 boats and fishing equipment to families who had lost their livelihood as a result of the Tsunami
  • Giving temporary shelter to families in the immediate aftermath and assisting in the construction of homes in the long term


Canadian's wishing to support SOS Children's Villages are encouraged to sponsor a child, sponsor a village or to make a direct donation. Your support ensures that SOS Children's Villages can continue to provide a safe and loving home to orphan and abandoned children worldwide.

Canadians wishing to help vulnerable children are encouraged to sponsor a child, sponsor a Village or make a one-time donation. Your support will change the lives of orphaned, abandoned and other vulnerable children. Please help today.