December Twenty-Six
Everyone in the village has a story to tell about the events of December 26. It is easy to forget what tragic circumstances have brought their need to our attention, but it is important that we remember just how much they have lost.
Sirimanthe's brother, Nihal lived near the beach where the river meets the ocean. His timber home was washed away by the tsunami. He was working in this village, Thibbotukanatta, at 9:30 on the morning of December 26 and ran to his sisters house when they heard the water coming - it was very very loud. Seconds later they could see the water flooding towards them. Nihal carried their mother while Sirimathe carried the children. Everyone was crying. There was no time to gather belongings or even close the doors. The entire village simply ran as fast as they could. At it's peak the water stood above head height yet it took just minutes for the water to recede. A second wave hit at 12pm, although not as big as the first. It took days to restore power to the village and weeks to make the area inhabitable again.
The weaker homes were knocked over or washed away and the stronger homes were filled with debris and a very fine sand. Stranded fish were strewn all over the village and beyond. Worse yet were the dead bodies that lay scattered around peoples homes. Sirimathe says they were mostly unrecognisable, swollen and torn, and soon they became a health risk so authorities buried hundred in mass graves. Her neighbour, Violet, lost her husband on December 26. His body was never found and she wonders if he is lying in one of the mass graves, washed out to sea, or still undiscovered somewhere in a forest or mangroves. It was a slow and torturous wait for Violet, unsure of whether he might return or be found in a hospital one day.
A young man named Isuru is helping build another house with our team. It belongs to the neighbour of a friend, but Isuru has no job and spends his time helping where he can. He once worked for a dive centre in Unawatuna. The owner of the dive shop and the owner's son, Isuru's best friend, died when the tsunami crashed through the shop. "All the beach side building suffered big blast. Unawatuna beach corner. My family is good, my family not trouble. My father is broken the leg. My father is painter. I'm happy my father is alive."
Isuru doesn’t want to go back to the ocean because that is where his best friend died. He would like to be a painter like his father but no one pays very much money for that. In Matara he painted for a few days, but he earned 250 rupess and spent 100 rupees to catch the bus. Sujith, whose house Isuru is working on, is a carpenter by trade but also is finding paid work difficult to come by. Sujith used to work for himself, but the tsunami destroyed all of his power tools. It would cost about $US500 to replace his equipment, or about six months of full-time work. It is hard to restore their lives but the first step is building a home.
Sujith and his wife, Inesha, talk about the process of starting over. For the first two weeks they lived in a temple about three miles away, too afraid to return the village in case another wave came. When they did return they found only a few belongings worth saving. The Red Cross kept lorries coming in to provide rice packets and water, and sometimes clothing. Inesha also tells me about the spirits that haunted the village. For the next three months she and others could hear the shouting voices of unsettled souls during the night, calling for help. It terrified them. They lit the streets at night with oil lamps and brought in shamen to drive away the spirits. Inesha says that the souls were people who were not ‘ready’ to die
Nothing was as it should be - The tsunami took people before it was their time.
Sirimanthe's brother, Nihal lived near the beach where the river meets the ocean. His timber home was washed away by the tsunami. He was working in this village, Thibbotukanatta, at 9:30 on the morning of December 26 and ran to his sisters house when they heard the water coming - it was very very loud. Seconds later they could see the water flooding towards them. Nihal carried their mother while Sirimathe carried the children. Everyone was crying. There was no time to gather belongings or even close the doors. The entire village simply ran as fast as they could. At it's peak the water stood above head height yet it took just minutes for the water to recede. A second wave hit at 12pm, although not as big as the first. It took days to restore power to the village and weeks to make the area inhabitable again.
The weaker homes were knocked over or washed away and the stronger homes were filled with debris and a very fine sand. Stranded fish were strewn all over the village and beyond. Worse yet were the dead bodies that lay scattered around peoples homes. Sirimathe says they were mostly unrecognisable, swollen and torn, and soon they became a health risk so authorities buried hundred in mass graves. Her neighbour, Violet, lost her husband on December 26. His body was never found and she wonders if he is lying in one of the mass graves, washed out to sea, or still undiscovered somewhere in a forest or mangroves. It was a slow and torturous wait for Violet, unsure of whether he might return or be found in a hospital one day.
A young man named Isuru is helping build another house with our team. It belongs to the neighbour of a friend, but Isuru has no job and spends his time helping where he can. He once worked for a dive centre in Unawatuna. The owner of the dive shop and the owner's son, Isuru's best friend, died when the tsunami crashed through the shop. "All the beach side building suffered big blast. Unawatuna beach corner. My family is good, my family not trouble. My father is broken the leg. My father is painter. I'm happy my father is alive."
Isuru doesn’t want to go back to the ocean because that is where his best friend died. He would like to be a painter like his father but no one pays very much money for that. In Matara he painted for a few days, but he earned 250 rupess and spent 100 rupees to catch the bus. Sujith, whose house Isuru is working on, is a carpenter by trade but also is finding paid work difficult to come by. Sujith used to work for himself, but the tsunami destroyed all of his power tools. It would cost about $US500 to replace his equipment, or about six months of full-time work. It is hard to restore their lives but the first step is building a home.
Sujith and his wife, Inesha, talk about the process of starting over. For the first two weeks they lived in a temple about three miles away, too afraid to return the village in case another wave came. When they did return they found only a few belongings worth saving. The Red Cross kept lorries coming in to provide rice packets and water, and sometimes clothing. Inesha also tells me about the spirits that haunted the village. For the next three months she and others could hear the shouting voices of unsettled souls during the night, calling for help. It terrified them. They lit the streets at night with oil lamps and brought in shamen to drive away the spirits. Inesha says that the souls were people who were not ‘ready’ to die
Nothing was as it should be - The tsunami took people before it was their time.
posted by ewster at
12:53 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home