On Easter Sunday in April, the world was shocked to witness the horrific terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka, which struck two international hotels and several Christian churches around the country. The premeditated, planned, and well-coordinated attacks took the lives of 279 innocent people, including a Japanese mother, and injured hundreds more, including her family.

A couple of weeks later, before the shock of the attacks had worn off, cyclonic storm Fani approached Sri Lanka bringing heavy rain and high winds, causing flooding and extensive damage. Fortunately, no deaths were reported in the country with much experience in natural disasters and decades (in the past) of conflict.

In March, prior to the above tragedies, I had the pleasure of reuniting with some friends and colleagues from Sri Lanka, who work for the country branch office of the Asia-Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management, a six-country partnership for disaster reduction and response headquartered in Japan to which I serve as an adviser.