I just got back from Sri Lanka, and i would just like to say that never before in my life have i been so aware of all the stuff i generally take for granted.
Having seen some of the destruction I would just like to tell everyone that your help is still needed. The disaster that happened on December 26th was unprecedented and the number of people without homes, families, and livelihoods is absolutely unfathomable to me.
I will give a small account of some of my experience while there, but keep in mind that I travelled the West and South Coasts of Sri Lanka, so these were actually the less damaged areas since the wave came from the East.
Driving down the coast, there are tons of places where all that is left are trees. If i hadnt been there before, I wouldnt have even been able to tell that at one point there were villages and homes in what are now empty feilds and beaches. There are tons of places where all that is left of a small village in is a wall or a single building. Because its has been several months since the disaster happened, now there is literally nothing left, and its really unbeleivable in some areas that there was ever anythign to begin with.
There are still lots fo people who just sit on the foundations of what used to eb their homes because they have nowhere to go. Others are living in tents, or trying to move elsewhere, but so far very little rebuilding has been done. Lots of temporary tents were provided, but imagine having to live in a tent.
The one thing that hast really been cleared yet are a lot of the broken boats. Driving down the road, you will see half a boat against a tree and the other half down beach a ways or on some random roof.
Whats worse than the material losses are the losses in life. Everybody you talk to has lost somebody dear to them. I talked to one old lady who said her husband, and 3 sons were lost leaving only her and her daughter. She never even found the bodies of 2 of her sons depriving her of the closure of a burial. One 7 year old boy told me that he was one of the luckiest kids around because he "only" lost his mother, and the rest of his family was okay. I spoke to one lady near the sight of the train wreck, and she said that in the entire area it was very difficult any young children, because they were all too small to be able to do anything to save themselves. There arent enough children in many areas to have any kind of schooling, and even if they could, there are neither buildings nor teachers.
Also, many people have lost their jobs or breadwinners. There are women who all of a sudden have to support families, and men who have no job remaining to do. MAny of these people seem to just spend their days wasting away, without anything to do. Alcoholism is becoming rampant among people who have basically lost their entire livelihoods.
Most of the people living along the coast have lost their homes, their families, and their livelihoods. They have no house to live in, no boat to fish with and a large number still havent gotten over the deaths of family members.
Many countries pledged large amounts of aid, but since then havent actually give all of the money that was pledged. Therefore, much of the rebuilding effort has fallen into the hands of NGOs, so your money can be used by them.
Hopefully ill be able to post pictures from my trip in about a week (when my mom gets back with the camera). Ill also try to get around to posting a list of charities and their websites.
