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Sri
Lanka Journal:
Entry Number 3
Visiting the Devastation - Part 1
Sri
Lanka is a country of about 19 million persons. Fifty-six percent of
the population is under the age of 25. The predominant religious force
is Buddhist at sixty-nine percent. This is followed by sixteen percent
Hindu and six percent Muslim and Christian each. Although tourism is
growing it is really a tiny part of an economy which relies on
agriculture and fishing followed by wholesale and retail business and
only seventeen percent manufacturing. To give a perspective from an
American viewpoint is to point to the fact that average income here is
U.S. $850.00.
When I first arrived here I was struck by the very genuine and sincere
nature of the people, their attempts to live good lives and how they
survive on very little. The Sri Lankan rupee is worth about one cent
American. This means a thousand rupee note is worth ten dollars. I did
not think this to be unusual until I found out that there are decimal
currencies making up the amounts leading to that one rupee. So one cent
here is worth one one hundredth of one rupee. There are 5 cent coins,
25 cent coins, and so on up to that one rupee which is worth one cent
of American money.
When I took a cab here in Colombo, I was driven to my destination in a
very nice new air conditioned Japanese sedan. The driver then waits for
me to finish my business and then drives me back to the hotel. The
charge is 200 Sri Lankan rupees. I give a 50 rupee tip and so have paid
for two hours of this cab driver's time for about $2.50 American. I
mention all this to illustrate when the tsunami disaster happened here,
it happened in a culture where a little bit goes a long way. This is
also true in the kindness and emotional support you can give. Five or
ten minutes of listening to a family about the loss of their house,
their jobs not to mention children, husbands, wives and others in their
family is very meaningful to them. The expectations we have as
Americans from health care to consumer goods to education to social
service far outweigh any expectations people have here. Having said all
that, I originally felt that as one person I could only do a little
bit. What I discovered is that a little bit of compassion goes a long
ways here.
The trip to the Tsunami Area
My host, Rifky Noordeen, suggested that we take an overnight
trip
to the Southern Province which is the beginning of the tsunami
destruction. Rifky is renovating a property at the Galle Fort. So, we
headed out in the usual terrible traffic. Rifky's driver is a very
loyal employee named Mr. Parara. Having a driver here is not exactly
frivolous. First of all the breakneck traffic demands full time
concentration on the road. If you are in business which seems to be
conducted almost entirely on cell phones, you are well advised not to
be on the phone while driving. Secondly, if you leave your care
unattended for long, the tires and almost everything else will be
missing when you return. Mr. Parara speaks only a little English but
Rifky speaks flawless Sinhalese.
Our first stop was at the Dharga
Shariff mosque. Rifky told me this is a very famous mosque which is
considered to be a pilgrimage site. We were there to pick up Hassan
Mowlana who is a Muslim priest who commutes back and forth from this
mosque to his home town in Hambantota. Hassan was going with us as far
as Galle and then was taking the bus the rest of the way to meet us the
next day. He primarily spoke Senegalese but we got by communicating
with the English he knew. He is a very energetic man who exudes a style
of leadership obviously tempered by his strict religious observance.
After he got in the front of the car, I said something but Rifky
motioned for me to be silent since it was the time of noon prayer and
Hassan was actively praying while Rifky was keeping a prayerful
silence. After that, Rifky and Hassan carried on a conversation in
rapid Senegalese. While Rifky and I spoke in the back, Hassan managed
to keep up an unending conversation with Mr. Parara in the front seats.
Just getting out of Colombo took forever in constant, unrelenting
traffic. I realized that I was making endless comments about the near
misses we had as we wove in and out of fast moving traffic "on the
wrong side of the road." Rifky kept agreeing with me but I finally got
the message that this way of driving was the norm here. The road we
drove on is a coastal highway. On our right side is the strip of land
going to the ocean. This ranges from about 50 to 1000 feet from the
shore. On the other side, the space is defined by the railway tracks
about 1000 feet away from the road.
It took me a while to understand that we had left Colombo. We went
through small towns defined by a group of stores. Finally, we saw some
evidence of the disaster. My first look came of a group of which were
erected on the ocean side of the highway. Because the traffic was so
fast and pulling over was so difficult, I decided to try to take some
pictures using the "sports setting" on my camera. I was happy to see I
got some pretty good shots but felt very much like a tourists snapping
shots rather than someone who was here to help.
Rather than there being huge refugee camps, the various aid agencies
had erected tents pretty much in the same places the people once lived.
Some had actually erected a tent on the concrete slab which was all
there was left of their homes. In some places, there were huge piles of
rubble. The homes had been built of concrete blocks or bricks with
a stucco finish. From those few which were intact, I noticed that they
were very attractive small dwellings, some having been two stories
high. There were some partially destroyed houses with staircases going
up to no where. I was amazed that the force of the water was able to so
completely destroy these sturdy buildings.
The places where there was only partial destruction seemed to be areas
where there were a lot of palm trees and other vegetation. Rifky told
me many people in those places were saved since they were able to hold
on to the tree trunks and avoid being swept out into the sea. Later on
a man would show me the big welts which were still on the inside of his
arms from clinging onto the tree. He had lost 27 members of his family
who simply were too small or too weak to hold on to the trees or who
were unfortunate enough to be located where there were no trees to
cling to. I also found out that many people were saved in several
locations because one member of the community had watched a recent
documentary on tv about tsunamis. When that person saw the tell tale
sign of a tsunami when the tide receded far out, he ran and warned
others who fled to safety. There is a great deal of controversy about
the government passing a 100 meter law preventing people from
rebuilding close to the shore. Many saw that more trees and more
education would save more lives if another tsunami came by.
As we passed more and more tent communities, I saw signs from various
countries indicated that they had paid for or actually erected the
tents on that area. Some places were actually flying the flags of that
country. One place where we would stop had a huge Italian flag flying
since the Italians had contributed all the tents there. There were also
large plastic containers of water, some of which were identified by the
country that donated the water.
Before
reaching
the Galle Fort we finally had that too close to call moment of driving.
We were passing through Bentota - one of those small town outposts -
and another car was passing in our lane at a high rate of speed. We had
no where to swerve. When the two cars passed one another, I felt a
swoosh of air and the sensation that we had touched the other vehicle.
We stopped as did they. Rifky and his driver jumped out. Hassan and I
decided to stand on the side. I did take a photo of the proceedings.
Basically the other driver was diving too fast and was in our lane. The
damage was, miraculously, a transfer of the white paint of the other
car on the front bumper of our car. It was as though someone had lifted
the paint - like a decal - and placed it on the bumper. There was no
bump or scrape. The other car admitted fault. The passenger was an
official of an Asian bank. Rifky told them that the fact we were not
killed was a sign of God's goodness and later told me that since we
were on an errand of mercy this was a sign that God was approving of
our mission. I could not help but think of a similar incident n the
U.S. with insurance cards being exchanged, angry recriminations etc.
After this near miss, I felt a lot better about the driving in general.
I had faced my fear and survived!
As we proceeded to Galle Fort (an
ancient town dominated by a very old Portugese fort) I began to realize
that although there was violence in this land and a long standing civil
war and a great deal of social injustice and poverty, there was an
underlying desire to seek goodness in life either through the religious
values of Islam or Buddhism or Christianity or through a shared common
humanity. The people here are extraordinary in both their physical
external attractiveness and their inner souls.
Before going to bed that night, I would read from the daily office the
prophetic words of the Prophet Jeremiah:
"Disaster follows
hard on
disaster, the whole land is laid
waste ... I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void; and to
the
heavens, and they had no light. I looked to the mountains, and lo, they
were quaking, and the hills moved to an fro. I looked, and lo, there
was no man, and all the birds of the air has fled."
But following those words of doom, were the words of St. Paul:
"They show that
what the law
requires is written on their
hearts..."
Goodness can emerge from faith which is tested in what we
must
endure in this world but courage is to reach out in love which holding
unto the trunk of a tree when all you have and all you love is swept
away. My fears in coming here were swept away when others expressed
such faith in God's ultimate goodness.
CF
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