Kuraburi
When neither reinforcement nor cooperation really worked, many organizations began to shift their strategies. Emergency shelters were already installed; it was now time to build both the temporary and the perma- nent ones. Temporary in this sense means something that will sustain the lives of the villagers until they find their own ways, which may take months or years. Thus, the needs of each particular group of villagers must be taken into account. Close observation and sensitive interpretation of their needs became primary, to create both the necessary shelters and a sense of belonging. In villages such as Kuraburi, Pang-Nga, where 30 families needed to be relocated, temporary shelters were built within the existing woods. The new site was further from the previous one, but with familiar environment. The planning of the village was focused on the relationship between houses and communal spaces as well the natural surroundings — existing trees were the major factor in planning the com- munity so that the village seems as if it grew with the trees. Full of uncertainty and fear, simple activities such as meeting and talk- ing among themselves have become a great necessity for the villagers. Rather than lining them up in rows, the houses are clustered into small groups, with communal spaces as a fundamental element of the community. This simply allows each family to both own a house and belong to a community. With a sense of reassurance after their great loss, the community quickly adapts to the new village. Some people even begin to individualize their typical houses with humorous paintings.
Many aid organizations recognised this issue as soon as they arrived in the area and looked for solutions other than rows upon rows of similar houses on empty land. But the crucial question was: what do the villagers want? Looking for solutions How do we know what the locals want? So we simply ask them? In reality, it was not that simple for although the locals tradition- ally knew what was best for them, after the disaster everything changed. They were not so sure if they wanted to go back to the exact same lives or what would be best for them. Ways to solve this issue by local authorities were also divided into two opposite ap- proaches. Some believed that the best way to deal with the problem was to decide for the villagers. Both communities and houses were pre-designed and promptly built without knowing who were to live there. Others strongly urged that the people had to partici- pate and build their own communities, but because of uncertainty among the villagers, idealistic process of rebuilding communities did not yield satisfactory outcomes. During the early stages, the process of people par- ticipation failed because people did not want to participate; it was too early for them to do so. The reason was simple, they had just lost everything.
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architecture and land
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