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CWR Continues Rebuilding Lives of Tsunami Victims
By Stan Friedman
CHICAGO, IL (January 17, 2006) - Jim Sundholm and Elliott Johnson became
concerned when an Indian customs officer seemed especially persistent in
asking if they had visited one particular Andaman island.
Sundholm, the director of Covenant World Relief, and Johnson, the
Covenant's director of financing and controller, had traveled to Sri
Lanka, fishing villages in India and the Andaman Islands to inspect
tsunami relief work funded by the Evangelical Covenant Church. Although
they are a part of India, the Andaman Islands are closer to Thailand,
roughly 320 miles southwest of Bangkok in the Bay of Bengal.
Travel is permitted to most of the islands, but visits to Little Andaman
require a special visa because of a sensitive military installation
located there. When Sundholm advised the officer that a visit had been
made to Hut Bay, a nearby Indian Army captain who had been listening
began to make his way over. "I thought, what's going to happen now?"
Sundholm says.
But, the captain began to tell them of how he and soldiers under his
command had been to the island to help with tsunami relief. He then
proceeded to tell them about a group he met there. "They were amazing
people," he said. "The way they cared for people - they were serving
them medically, they were feeding them, and they were giving them fresh
water. I spent all my free hours helping them." The captain added, "It's
probably a group you never heard of - it's the HCC (Hindustani Covenant
Church)."
"We told him we were the group funding the HCC and then he got real
excited," Sundholm says. "What I thought might be potentially
troublesome turned into being a major blessing."
For Sundholm and Johnson, the encounter was a confirmation of the work
in which Covenanters were participating. "It showed me we are doing the
right things and that we're working with really great partners,"
Sundholm says.
The joyful hope demonstrated by the islanders and others the Covenant is
helping was further confirmation, says Johnson. "It's amazing - their
attitude."
Everywhere along the coasts, so much had been destroyed, so much taken
from the people in an instant by "the wave." The wall of water, which
reached higher than 30 feet, taller than the trees, taller than all the
telephone polls, tore apart nearly everything in its path.
The island actually sank a noticeable amount, the two men say.
Scientific reports state that some islands tilted as a result of the
events. The same had happened during a 1941 earthquake and tsunami,
according to the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental
Sciences at the University of Colorado.
In Sri Lanka, hundreds were killed in a train more than a quarter mile
inland when fleeing residents had sought shelter, thinking the distance
and dense trees would keep the water away. "I thought the train was in a
swamp," says Johnson.
Today a young woman in the Sri Lanka sits weaving fishnets, which she
sells to provide income for her family. Her sister had been a hotel
worker who was taken by the wave and never seen again. "The tragedy so
shocked her other sister that she has not spoken since," Sundholm says.
The father was and remains critically ill.
The young woman, herself continues to battle her own physical ailments
even as she works. "She also has a muscle illness that makes life
difficult, but she has an amazing faith and an unsinkable spirit,"
Sundholm says.
Covenanters have been a major source of that attitude, says Johnson.
"They have given them hope by allowing them to go back to their fishing,
and they will have homes that will be safe in the future, not only from
tsunamis, but also from cyclones."
The homes will be safer because of construction that is far better than
previous houses and because they will be moved farther inland, Johnson
says. Unlike the villagers' previous homes, these houses have solid
walls, real ceilings and concrete floors.
Finding land, financing and building the homes still will take a lot of
time. Getting enough homes for the people will take a year at minimum
and likely longer, says Johnson.
Sundholm and Johnson met a family they hope will be able to quickly move
into one of the homes. Three children now live with their grandparents
after having seen their other family members killed. Their father had
grabbed the boy and girl and moved them to higher ground. The mother was
struggling with the couple's baby and the father returned to help, only
to have all three drown.
Having heard about the arrival of Sundholm and Johnson, the new family
traveled nearly 40 miles to express their gratitude and share their
story, Sundholm says. Covenanters now are covering the cost of the
family's food and school fees for the next two years.
Through CWR, the denomination has committed to reconstructing lives for
the next two years. In addition to building homes, more fishing boats
will be added, needed fishing nets will be made available, food will be
provided as will temporary shelter, schools will be funded, businesses
and farming will be started and restored.
"It will change their lives forever," says Sundholm.
(Editor's note: this is the first in a three-part series that shares
the Covenant's work in India and other areas a year after the December
2004 tsunami.)
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
