The Myth of the Great Equalizer: Translating ‘Gender and Post-Tsunami Recovery’

by Vasantha Wakkumbura

We often hear the phrase that natural disasters do not discriminate—that nature strikes everyone equally. But while the wave itself might not discriminate, the recovery process almost always does.

Translating Gender and Post-Tsunami Recovery (authored by Chamila Attanapola, Cathrine Brun, and Ragnhild Lund) was a profound exercise in understanding how deeply unequal the aftermath of a catastrophe can be. Co-translating this text alongside Sepala Wijesekara for the Social Scientists’ Association brought a very specific, crucial academic lens to the 2004 tragedy.

When we rebuild houses, communities, and livelihoods after a disaster, who gets a seat at the decision-making table? This book unpacks the uncomfortable reality that post-tsunami reconstruction policies often overlooked women’s specific needs, capacities, and pre-existing vulnerabilities. It explores the intersection of disaster management, geography, and gender dynamics in Sri Lanka.

Bringing this collaborative research into Sinhala was never just an academic exercise for us. It was about equipping local administrators, grassroots NGOs, and activists with the vocabulary and the data to ask better questions. If the research on how to manage disaster recovery equitably only exists in English, it cannot effectively influence the very communities it studies.