LCIF mobilized US$15 million to enable Lions in South Asia to rebuild their communities. Lions in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand are building homes, schools and orphanages.

The rebuilding has been supported by LCIF's tsunami relief fund (made possibly by donation from Lions worldwide), direct donations to South Asian Lions from Lions outside South Asia and South Asian Lions' own funds.

• In Indonesia, LCIF partnered with Lions from Indonesia (District 307-A), Australia, Malaysia, Netherlands and Sweden to establish three Lions' villages by building 570 homes for tsunami survivors in Aceh Province. The homes are modest in size (11 feet by 23 feet) but a marked improvement over what the villagers had before. "As simple as these homes are, they bring back the self-esteem of the people," said a Indonesian Lion involved in the rebuilding effort. Upcoming projects in Indonesia include economic revival activities in those villages and housing for tsunami victims in Banda Aceh, the capital.

  LCIF Chairperson Clement Kusiak, along with Past International Director Barry Palmer and an LCIF staff person, traveled to one of the Lions' villages. "I can tell you that the Lions did a great job of building these homes and that the occupants are extremely grateful to the Lions. Families have a roof over their heads and are enjoying a sense of normalcy again," said Chairperson Kusiak. "The smiles on their faces when meeting Lions tell all you need to know about how effective Lions and LCIF have been in South Asia.

• In Sri Lanka, Lions are building 522 homes with more to follow.

• In Thailand, Lions are building 195 homes at two Lions villages on two separate islands.

• In India, Lions in Multiple District 324 are moving forward on a US$1.25 million plan to build 50 homes, community rehabilitation centers, potable water facilities, primary health centers, schools and an orphanage. The majority of resources will be directed toward the Lions districts on the East coast from Chennai to Nagapatinam that were most affected by the tsunami.
  

In addition to donating funds to LCIF for tsunami relief, Lions in many nations directly helped Lions in South Asia aid tsunami victims. Lions in Australia assisted an orphanage. Besides independently funding homes and partnering with LCIF on other homes in Indonesia, Lions in the Netherlands may build a hospital in Nias.

Eight Lions clubs in District 105SE in England partnered with a Lions club in Sri Lanka to purchase six 18-foot fishing boats, and Retford Lions in 105E raised about US$40,000 to build a six-classroom school for a village in Indonesia. Discovering that the tsunami destroyed homes built in the 1980s in Sri Lanka by Norwegian Lions, Lions from District 104 in Norway are rebuilding 50 homes in Singha Deeweregama.

In the first few months after the disaster, Lions in South Asia spent more than US$1 million on relief, including the US$470,00,000 in grants sent to them by LCIF. The grants were sent shortly after the disaster for Lions to secure and deliver food, water and blankets.

Several thousand Lions in South Asia in hundreds of places volunteered in affected communities, helping to organize relief and ensuring that people get vital supplies. The service of Lions enabled communities to take care of their children, elderly, those with disabilities and other especially vulnerable people.

The relief efforts of local Lions in the months after the disaster included:

• In Sri Lanka, Lions worked 16 hours a day organizing relief and were a key partner of the government's relief agency and president. District 306-C, for example, sent 60 truckloads of food and supplies to relocation camps and organized the installation of tents at a new relocation camp in western Sri Lanka.
• In Indonesia, Lions contributed greatly to relief efforts in some of the hardest hit areas. Thirty clubs near Medan provided logistical support for aid shipments to Banda Aceh and sent out four trucks of materials daily. They also provided shelter, food, and clothing to refugees who entered Medan. Lion-doctors from Jakarta and Medan provided medical treatment. Lions also made preliminary plans to support the educational needs of orphans.
• In India, 20 Lions' ambulances and a team of 80 Lions volunteer medical doctors provided first aid near Chennai. Nearly 70 clubs fanned out in the region from Parassalla to Haripad to distribute food and clothes at the relief camps. Lion-doctors conducted free treatment at relief centers.
• In Thailand, Lions in Bangkok sent water tanks and trucks loaded with supplies to Phuket. Lions worked with government officials and relief agencies to provide for basic needs at relocation camps.

Lions from nearby nations and other nations also sent volunteer workers. The Taiwan Lions, for example, sent a medical team to Sri Lanka. Many clubs and districts, particularly those with prior relationships with Lions in South Asia, collected relief supplies and organized shipments. The Lions Club of Port Louis, Mauritius, which has been receiving corneas from a Lions' group in Sri Lanka, gathered US$300,000 worth of food from the public and arranged for free shipping to Sri Lanka. "Lionism is service and love, so let's not only dream of love let share it," Eric Quenette of the Port Louis Lions Club wrote in an e-mail to LCIF.

Hundreds of clubs and individuals sent funds to LCIF. The Lions Club of Bankstown in Australia, despite having only 14 members, were so moved by the tragedy that they donated nearly US$39,000 for tsunami relief.

An LCIF-funded eyeglass mission to South Asia showed the kind of results Lions can quickly achieve. Many South Asians lost their eyeglasses when the tsunami destroyed their homes, and few can afford a new pair. Past International Director Bill Iannaccone led a 12-member eyeglass team to Sri Lanka in February 2005. They dispensed 1,800 pairs of glasses. More importantly, they brought along 60,000 pairs of eyeglasses and taught 125 Sri Lankan Lions how to use two donated lensometers and run an eyeglass recycling operation.