Home to a sizeable Muslim population, Hambantota, Southern Sri Lanka suffered extensively damage during the Tsunami disaster.

But with ActionAids help, some of those most affected by the Boxing Day tragedy are being to come to terms with the disaster.

Zeena Saleh, who lost 15 members of her extended family in the devastation, is just one example of an incredibly strong and courageous woman who is working hard towards instilling hope in others.

Still grieving the loss of her husband, who died four months prior to the Tsunami, Zeena lost her own children and her two nieces in the Boxing Day disaster. Her home was destroyed beyond repair; her worldly possessions lost, he loved ones dead, her world shattered.

Consumed with pain and grief, Zeena has made a remarkable recovery with the help of ActionAid trained community psychosocial volunteers.

She attended a three-day psychosocial training programme conducted by ActionAid in February and was given an opportunity to share her story with everyone.

Although in tears most of the time during training, recollecting the last moments with her children, Zeena was starting to move forward in life, deciding that she wanted to help other tsunami survivors rebuild their lives.

She started campaigning for other tsunami survivors in her camp. In March of this year, The National Anti-War Front, a local partner in Hambantota, then asked Zeena to become a community volunteer.

Her life has improved tremendously, though the scars of her past have not disappeared. 'The day time is now fine, Im happy to be busy in the office, its at night when I'm most alone, night time is terrible,' she says.

But despite her ordeal, she has become a role model within her community as a woman who is dealing with her grief through helping others.

?She is an inspiration to us all, Roopa, the project coordinator says. ?Everyone calls her ?mama because she has become such a mother figure for all the children.?

'Zeena represents all the hope that we want to instill in this country,' said Kuldeep Sagar, ActionAid project coordinator, Southern region.