Markets reopened, fishermen got new boats and the sea even got a cleanup on Saturday as people toiled to undo the Asian tsunami's damage. US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was the latest official to fly over the devastation in Indonesia's scarred Aceh province - where the tsunami claimed two thirds of its 163,000 victims - and to express shock at how bad it was.
Sri Lanka, where 30,000 died from the December 26 tsunami, geared up for a reconstruction phase due to start on Saturday.
In a small but symbolic step, the government handed 60 modest fibreglass boats to fishermen, the first instalment of a plan to replace half of the estimated 18,500 vessels washed away or smashed to pieces - four-fifths of the island's fleet.
Others tried to help themselves. Fishermen began patching up their boats and farmers worked to flush clean land poisoned by salt water.
About 3,000 tsunami survivors are being hired for $3.30 a day to clean up rubble in the city under a UN-funded programme.