Boxing Day tsunami anniversary marked by Red Cross interactive challenge.

This Boxing Day will mark the five-year anniversary of the Asian tsunami. Resulting in the deaths of nearly 230,000 people and affecting the lives of millions, the 2004 tsunami is one of the most destructive natural disasters the modern world has faced.

In an innovative move to promote awareness, the British Red Cross has launched an interactive challenge called Decisions for Recovery. Placing you in the role of a disaster recovery manager, the interactive flash game asks you to coordinate the tsunami recovery response, rebuilding lives by answering a series of tough questions. Based on the actual events and dilemmas faced by Red Cross staff during the crisis, Decisions for Recovery uses role-playing game elements to engage players in the wide range of problems faced by real-life recovery workers.

“We were faced with the most difficult decisions of our lives, decisions that affected hundreds of thousands of people whose lives were destroyed by the tsunami," said Alistair Burnett, disaster recovery manager for the British Red Cross.

“The support we received from the public was phenomenal and enabled us to mount our largest recovery effort since the Second World War. Now we want to tell the story of how the money people gave was spent and the difference it has made to people’s lives.”

To support the continuing Red Cross recovery effort, visit recoveringafuture.org.uk/challenge and take the Decisions for Recovery challenge.