The Multi Donor Fund for Aceh and Nias (MDF) and the Java Reconstruction Fund (JRF) have played significant roles in the remarkable recovery of Aceh, Nias and Java, following some of the worst disasters in Indonesia in recent years. The MDF and the JRF, which is patterned after it, are each considered a highly successful model for post-disaster reconstruction. This paper presents the lessons from the MDF and JRF's use of large-scale, government-implemented community driven development programs to deliver reconstruction at the village level in Aceh, Nias and Java. It documents how local level recovery using a community driven approach can result in not only cost effective physical outputs, but also empowered communities with greater capacities and more prepared to face future disasters. The MDF and JRF experiences have demonstrated many less tangible social benefits. These include faster social recovery from the impact of disasters and increased confidence and capacities of local actors to engage in local level planning. Most importantly, the community driven approach to reconstruction empowers victims of natural disaster to become key agents in their own recovery.