大約一個月以前，印度洋沿岸12個國家遭到海嘯襲擊，估計這場災難造成的傷亡人數已經高達29萬。國際社會發起了有史以來規模最大的救災行動，目前救災人員繼續向倖存者提供食品和臨時住所。救災行動有效地防止了疾病的大規模蔓延，但是救災官員說，需要做的事情還很多。
Positive signs are beginning to emerge. In Indonesia's Aceh province, the region hardest hit by the tsunami, U.N. officials report the number of refugee camps has decreased by 75 percent during the past week.
現在已經出現了一些令人鼓舞的跡象。聯合國官員報告說，在災情最重的印尼亞齊省，過去一個星期裡， 難民營的數目減少了75%。
Officials say people are moving from the camps to the homes of relatives, or back to what is left of their villages along the devastated West Coast of Sumatra.
官員們說，災民正從難民營轉移到親戚家中，或者回到蘇門達臘西海岸那些被海嘯摧毀的村莊裡。
One-hundred-thirty schools are scheduled to reopen Wednesday in Aceh, the one-month after the disaster. They will serve as many as possible of the 540,000 Acehnese children whose schools were damaged or destroyed. In Sri Lanka, which suffered second only to Indonesia, children began returning to school last week.
在災難過去一個月之後，亞齊省的130所學校星期三將重新開始上課。這些學校將儘可能多地接納災區的大約54萬名學生，這些學生原來的學校被海嘯毀壞或摧毀。在災情僅次於印尼的斯裡蘭卡，學生們上星期開始回學校上課了。
World Food Program Asian regional director Tony Banbury says relief workers are still supplying basic necessities to devastated communities, but governments and organizations are starting to think of restoring of homes and livelihoods.
世界糧食計劃署的亞洲地區主任班伯裡說，救災人員繼續向災區提供基本必需品，但是政府和一些組織已經開始考慮幫助災民重建家園，恢復他們的正常生活。
"The focus is still on the emergency assistance, general distribution to anyone who has been affected without any conditions of any kind attached," he said. "But it's not too early to be thinking of the recovery phase."
班伯裡說，「目前工作的重點仍然是提供緊急援助，無條件向所有災民提供他們急需的生活用品。但是現在應當考慮重建問題了。」
Mr. Banbury says the WFP will be working with the governments of Indonesia and Sri Lanka to assess long-term needs. He estimates the transition to the recovery phase will take place during the next five to six months.
班伯裡表示世界糧食計劃署將會同印尼和斯裡蘭卡政府協同努力來評估一下長期的需要。他估計重建過程將會在未來的5個到6月中開展。
"During the recovery phase we need to target our assistance in a more refined manner to make sure that we do not create a dependency culture; we can also very importantly help with the restoration of livelihoods through food for work projects, for instance clearing cities, helping rebuild schools and homes and community centers," he said.
他說："在重建階段我們以更仔細的方式來達成我們援助的目標，來確保我們沒有在搞一個依賴的文化；我們能通過糧食工作計劃在很大程度上幫助災區生活的恢復,比如清理城市，幫助重建學校，民宅和社區中心。"
While countries like Thailand have begun to rebuild destroyed houses and businesses, the harder-hit regions are still struggling to find and bury the dead, and to clear the massive amounts of debris. The number of dead and missing in Aceh was put as high as 228,000 on Tuesday.
儘管泰國等國家已經開始重建在海嘯中被毀壞的房屋和其他設施，但是受災比較嚴重的地區仍然在努力尋找和埋葬死者，清理大量廢墟。星期二，亞齊省的死亡和失蹤人數已經高達22萬8千人。
Louis Jorge Perez, the World Health Organization's Asian coordinator for tsunami relief, says the danger of epidemics has probably passed, thanks to the world's rapid response to the disaster, but he warns against complacency.
負責亞洲海嘯救災行動的世界衛生組織協調員佩雷斯說，由於國際社會反應迅速，發生大規模瘟疫的危險可能已經過去了。但是他警告人們不要高興過早，掉以輕心。
"Definitely we cannot lower our guard," he said. "We have to continue this as if we were still in the first few days of the emergency, because this is going to be a long rehabilitation process."
佩雷斯說，「我們絕對不能放鬆警惕。我們應當象災難剛發生後最初幾天那樣努力，因為這將是個漫長的恢復過程。」
Thailand, which lost more than 5,000 people to the tsunami, saw at least another seven killed Tuesday, including four foreign tourists, when an overloaded boat heading to the holiday island of Koh Samui capsized.
泰國在這次海嘯中有超過5000人遇難，周二當一艘超載的客船在前往古塞穆艾度假島嶼的途中傾覆，又有至少7人死亡，包括4名外國遊客。