Dave Toycen - Sri Lanka Diary

January 1, 2005
Thambaitai, Sri Lanka

Exactly one week ago, this beautiful sand beach was filled with children playing and local fishermen making their living from the sea. Now it's a long line of wrecked houses, smashed cars and dashed memories of lives that used to be. The place is Thambaitai on the central east coast of Sri Lanka. Two hundred people lost their lives here -- 60 of them children.

Meenachi Mahtendran was at home cooking for her family when she saw the first wave coming. Moments later the second wave hit. Her most haunting memory from that moment is of three of her daughters holding hands as the waves swept them away. All of her photographs are gone.

Now she passes time at a centre for displaced people with her two remaining children, Thindjini, 17, and Yubaraj, 13. Tearfully, they remember their last moments together as a family.

For families like Meenachi's, emergency aid is critical. In the 24 hours after the disaster, World Vision began to mobilize local staff and volunteers to collect emergency food and clothing for survivors like this grieving family. Others began gathering up dead bodies, using World Vision vehicles as temporary ambulances to haul more than 100 bodies the first day.

In one community, our staff brought together young volunteers from local churches who put together emergency food kits and other kits containing cooking utensils, clothing, soap and sleeping mats. More than 150,000 of those kits made it into the hands of children and adults. Other local volunteers are coming forward to clear debris, make financial gifts and provide hot meals.

Near Colombo, St. Rita's church has become a sanctuary for the homeless. Here, World Vision is distributing sleeping mats, pillows, clothing and drinking water.

Sharmila Croos tells me her husband was suspicious that something was wrong in the sea, so he moved the family to a higher bank after two smaller waves hit. When the tsunami struck some minutes later, they ran for their lives. For a moment Sharmila was stranded in the rising water holding her two-year-old daughter and two-month-old baby girl. She finally managed to get to safety.

Her entire family was spared death or injury, but they lost their house and all their possessions. The sea, which used to be their provider of food, has become a monster, and she is reluctant to return to the space they used to call home.

In spite of all their losses, she and her husband are determined that, for the sake of their children, they cannot lose hope. Their hearts break for others who've lost much more. Says Sharmila: "I have lost my house but I grieve for those who have lost family members."

These tsunami victims are fortunate compared to others. In the countryside, there are not enough trucks to distribute relief goods and access roads are crowded. To make matters worse, in the northeastern part of the country torrential rains are causing flooding. In our travels in the area, we repeatedly have to stop and find another way because the water is a meter high in some places. Health concerns are rising because some areas are flooded with water, which in turn has flooded latrines. Sewage mixed with floodwaters will spread diarrhoea and more severe gastro-intestinal infections, and children are especially susceptible.

A relief situation like this is more than food, water and shelter. People are traumatized, especially the children. Four-year-old Sugikaran lost his entire family apart from his father who was away at the time. His aunt, who now looks after him, says that during the night he screams out for his mother. Sugikaran survived because he happened to be playing with friends further away from the killer wave.

World Vision is preparing to support a program that trains counsellors and helps survivors share their stories with others who are suffering. It will be a long journey toward wholeness, but it has to start somewhere.