While post-tsunami aid pledges totalled $2 billion for Sri Lanka, “Politics and bureaucracy though have kept that money from those most in need,” reports APM’s Marketplace.

The report goes on to describe the importance of micro capital loans for rebuilding the economic marketplace, since it’s essential not to create an aid-dependent society. Nevertheless, the key to revival for many shopkeepers ends up being the need for foreign tourism…the same kind that many talking heads decried as the causes for the extent of the tsunami damage.

Immediately following the tsunami, Acton put together a “Tsunami Guide to Giving,” which emphasized some important considerations to think about before giving, including the reality that “beyond the immediate alleviation of suffering, relief efforts should be aimed at long-term self-sufficiency of local populations.”