Two women with a passion for helping people affected by the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia spoke about their work. May Arnett, a program assistant in the local Church World Service office, and WTB member Gay Montague, who recently went to Sri Lanka, an island off the southeast coast of India, to see firsthand the devastation and help the survivors.
Gay narrated a series of slides she took during what she called “one of the most heart-warming and heart-wrenching experiences of my life.” She traveled with two doctors and two Reverends on flights totaling 27 hours.
After arriving in Sri Lanka, her first impressions were of a very poor, congested country returning to normal commercial city life. Streets were crowded and busy. The group’s first stop was at a Baptist Bible College where many workers were having a conference, and Gay’s group were able to meet people who had been working in some of the 300 displaced persons camps that have been set up around the country. About a half a million people have been made homeless by the tsunami.
Gay’s next slides showed a boys’ school. The dormitory was neatly organized with mosquito netting over every bunk. Photos of the boys with their teachers showed healthy, smiling faces and clean, simple clothing. The girls’ school had been taken over by Tamil Tigers, a military group.
There were several slides of a displaced persons camp in the middle of the capital city, on former parkland. One hundred seventy families are housed in tents; latrines and clean water are available. However, the tents with no trees nearby are too hot in the daytime, and boredom is a problem. The men have no work to go to, and most have lost the tools of their livelihood. The women are more community oriented, and occupied with daily food and cleanliness. Cooking is done in barrel fires, and children’s safety near these is a cause of concern.
Gay had a number of photos of camp residents, including a young girl who spoke some English and attached herself to Gay as her personal guide. A child with a broken leg was obliged to sit idly as there are no wheelchairs. The two doctors in Gay’s group set up a haphazard clinic in cluttered and unsanitary spaces, and supplies were distributed from a pharmacy that Gay said looked like a 1915 museum piece with years of dust and decay. Volunteers ran children’s play groups where children enjoyed coloring and were very generous with one another. Children eagerly completed their artwork for a single piece of hard candy. One of the Reverends went off to play basketball with the children, but after a short time returned to get a volleyball which was far more interesting to the children. Teenagers enjoyed the diversion of a beanbag toss game. All of the people were gracious and grateful for all help.
Gay’s group delivered a Care package consisting of two panties, one bra, one bar of soap, and one box of milk powder, which the residents of the camp had waited two months to receive.
Gay had a number of slides of the coastal devastation. Many pictures show piles of rubble. She said that the Sri Lankans are very grateful to the U.S. Marines for clearing the roads on the only route to the south of the country. In some areas there are tents, donated by countries all over the world and labeled with the country of origin, amid the destruction. A slide showed a sunken and irretrievable fishing vessel; the majority of fishing boats were lost. In some photos, people are stacking building materials that can be recycled – mostly building blocks. A big problem is lack of heavy equipment, even wheelbarrows, so all reconstruction is being done by hand. A photo of men carrying new lumber for building was accompanied by the comment that the group had only one dull saw to cut the wood. Another man was carrying a small quantity of cement by hand.
The government is trying to get people out of tents and to more permanent, although still very basic housing. The government had given each family a bag of lentils, but at the time people didn’t even have pots. Now photos show a kitchen consisting of one teapot, one gas burner, and one pot. Bedrooms may consist of two pillows or a sleeping mat on the floor, and mosquito netting.
People are now prohibited from rebuilding within 100 meters of the shore, so in addition to losing their homes, some people are not allowed to rebuild on their land. Habitat for Humanity and Church World Services are both active in helping with rebuilding programs.
Gay’s group had brought packets of fishing supplies – poles, lines, hooks, hats, etc. – which the men who had lost everything were thrilled to receive (very little fishing equipment is manufactured in Sri Lanka). Men who used to fish from boats now fish from land with nets that take three hours to haul in. Another photo shows a train that had been hit by the tsunami killing 1500 passengers, some cars thrown miles from the track. The people had dragged the train cars back to the tracks.
Gay was frequently stopped by people who just wanted to tell their stories of loss, and perhaps have their photo taken with the destroyed home and then the makeshift current home. One woman had lost 16 family members. Another had lost five children. Surviving village elders play an important part in recreating a sense of community.
Gay visited another medical center where volunteers from all over the world had come to help. At one time medications had arrived from Germany, but no one could read the directions for their use. A private businessman from Holland had sent a truck of supplies, but it took two weeks of bribes to get the material released to the people.
There were photos of a coastal swampy area and workers setting out to clean up. Over 1000 bodies had been retrieved from this area.
Gay had traveled with about 250 Beanie Babies, some she purchased and some donated by a dealer. She distributed these cuddly items to children who had lost everything, and the pictures of their beaming faces as they clutched the toys to their chests are charming. Also included were photos of children in sparkling white school uniforms, studying in tent classrooms.
A local Buddhist monastery ran a pre-school. Photos of the monks and children show how the people are working together and welcome all strangers into their midst.
A Catholic priest was alerted during Mass of the impending wave and sent his flock inland; then he helped rescue residents of a senior citizen center. Afterwards, volunteers helped retrieve benches that had been washed inland and whitewashed the remaining walls of the church.
Gay wanted us to know that though the needs in Sri Lanka are great, the people are resilient and determined to resume normal living. They are gracious in accepting help, but the love and support and compassion that they give one another will be their greatest resource.
Church World Service
May Arnett, a program assistant in the local Church World Service office, explained the work of Church World Service in the areas hit by the tsunami. She reiterated Gay’s message of the hope and resilience of the native people in SE Asia. She told of a drama presented by children: “The Big Wave” portrayed the destruction caused by the tsunami, but ended on a hopeful note “but we are here.”
Church World Service is an ecumenical organization founded in 1946 by 17 Protestant denominations to respond to devastation in Europe caused by World War II. The original name was the Christian Rural Overseas Program, which remains in the name CROP walk. The original purpose was to send train loads of grain to devastated areas in Europe. CWS now represents 36 Protestant and Eastern Orthodox denominations. They continue to follow their original goal “doing together what none can do alone.” The national offices are in New York City on Riverside Drive and Elkhart, Indiana.
May explained that many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) representing the world’s religions, quickly responded to the devastation of the tsunami. The administrators know one another and know the strengths of each organization and how to work together cooperatively. The CWS is known for their supply of blankets, food assistance, health kits, and emergency medical boxes (which are assembled by local churches for Interchurch Medical Assistance at a cost of about $350.00 per box). Each medical box contains supplies for 1000 people for 3 months, and CWS provided 100 boxes in Indonesia and 75 in Sri Lanka. In addition, 100,000 personal health kits were provided. Generally CWS does not have much overseas staff, so they work with local agencies at their request, but in Indonesia they have 100 staff and many supplies were already stockpiled, so distribution was swift. In Sri Lanka they were able to provide 500 family-sized tents quickly, and then add more later. Because they have a strong presence in Pakistan, they were able to truck supplies across borders quickly. They worked closely with Red Cross, Red Crescent, Catholic Relief Service, Lutheran World Relief, Habitat for Humanity.
CWS commits their help for the long haul. In response to a question, May said that she has not heard of any delays in deliveries of supplies such as those reported to Gay. This is probably because CWS has an on-going presence in these countries and employs local staff. They also work closely through Action by Churches Together (ACT) which works with the World Council of Churches. In Indonesia, CWS was designated as the lead agency in the tsunami crisis. They continue working on installation of village water systems and sanitation systems with equipment donated by the Norwegian government.
May discussed the various kits that CWS volunteers assemble and distribute:
-the kid’s kit contains school supplies, health items, and toys, packaged in a plastic box
-the clean-up kit (or flood bucket) is a 5-gallon pail with scrub brushes and cleaning supplies, rubber gloves, garbage bags; this is distributed in the US in the aftermath of hurricanes, floods, fires
-the baby kit is a layette with 2 blankets, 6 cloth diapers and safety pins, a sweater, 2 shirts, 2 gowns; this is the only kit in which the contents are not necessarily new
-the health kit, generally distributed to displaced persons
-the school kit, generally distributed in refugee camps
In response to questions, May discussed the role of CWS in other crisis areas. CWS is in Afghanistan for the long haul, rebuilding homes, funding women’s projects such as quilt making and weaving cooperatives, and providing school materials. CWS provided early massive response to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, and Croatia and are still there providing school and health assistance. A new Africa initiative is back on track (temporarily sidelined by the tsunami emergency). They intend to provide funds for peace-building, hunger and poverty programs, and HIV/AIDS assistance. One effort is to de-stigmatize HIV so that individuals and families will address rather than hide the illness and be willing to publicly work for solutions. In March a pilot project began in Kenya to create school safe zones; funds are being provided for hot meals, perimeter fencing, teacher training, and school kits to children. Another aspect is to bring the problems of Africa to the attention of the media, the governments, churches and the general public in hopes of raising funding levels..
In response to another question, May said that CWS has not faced US government interference in its work in Muslim countries. When possible CWS prefers not to accept federal money. They do regularly receive funds from USAID for the refugee resettlement program, However, payments were delayed last year due to the new Homeland Security policies and procedures.
May also mentioned the CWS program in Iraq which is called All Our Children. This is providing medical supplies and equipment to pediatric hospitals, with supplies trucked through Amman, Jordan.May concluded with a request for volunteers to travel to New Windsor, Maryland, in November to help work in the CWS warehouse organizing supplies. She also pointed out the table display and handout materials that she had brought.
Liz Spence thanked those who worked on putting together the school kits for tsunami survivors. women donated fabric, sewed the school bags, and stuffed them with pencils, erasers, scissors, paper, etc. Women who have never been to a WTB meeting participated in this project. The school bags were really beautiful, and we had great fun doing it and made a total of 67 school kits.