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| Tuesday, 8 February 2005 |
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The South's steady return to life by Chandani Jayatilleke - TANGALLE -
Madushan Jayasanka, a year 10 student of Nakulugamuwa Vidyalaya in Tangalle had a narrow escape when the tsunami mercilessly hit and wrecked his beach front village, killing hundreds of other villagers. He, his parents and the two siblings, are among the few lucky families in Mawella-South, a tiny fishing village off Tangalle to have saved their precious lives from the deadly tsunami. We met Madushan on our visit to his village recently. Some of their neighbours and kith and kin got drowned as the flood waters rushed inland. Later, some of the bodies were found in various places on the beach. Some are still missing.
Like many other tsunami survivors, Madushan's family also lost everything they had earned. Though their belongings were few, they were precious. Among them were Madushan's school books which he misses most. It was not the time to think about his books, it was time to run for his life. And he did precisely that. When the water receded, Madushan found that all his books had gone. Since the schools started a few weeks ago, he has been attending classes without any books. He and many other students in his class do not have exercise books. Their parents have no money to purchase books as they have lost their livelihood, fishing, due to the catastrophe. Madushan was hoping that some voluntary organisation would bring some books for them. What has he been doing in school over the last week? I was curious to know. "We just keep talking to the teachers and the other students," Madushan said. Did he get his text books? "We'll be getting them soon - the teacher told us," he replied.
On that fateful day December 26 - the day of full moon - the older men and women of the village, totalling over 40 gathered in the temple to observe sil not knowing that the tsunami was on its way. They all had attended to many religious activities and some of them were seated in the compound under the Bo tree when the tsunami waves gushed into the compound. Within seconds the people got submerged in the water. Some climbed trees. Some others were thrown by the force of the waves on to tree tops. Only a few could save their lives. Many of the houses and a couple of temple buildings in this village got washed away. So had the village Montessori school. The Montessori teacher had put up a temporary school in a tent. In that 'hut Montessori', there were about 15 students. Unlike the other affected children we met in different villages, these children looked shocked. Their teacher told us that it was a terrible experience for most of these children and that she was doing her utmost to calm their minds, and bring them back to their mischievous childhood. This teacher has been trained to do that job. Among the villagers we spoke to was a woman who had lost two of her children. The remaining one, a daughter, stays close to her mother all the time. Both the mother and the child still appear to be in shock. A man who lost his two children did not want to complain about anything. He attentively listened to what others had to say.
The villagers complained about discrepancies in the distribution of relief. They said that the Grama Sevaka (GS) favoured some people who were politically on his side and some of these people were not even affected by the tsunami. The GS had included their names in the relief list, leaving out some of the most deserving cases, according to the villagers. Some villagers said that they have received dry rations given by the Government. However, most of them are yet to receive their dry ration coupons. Our attempt to meet the Grama Sevaka did not succeed as he had gone away on the day we visited the village. We spoke to another Grama Sevaka from an adjoining village. He could not give us a clear answer on this issue. Referring to the ration coupons, he said the coupons were being written at present. Mawella, certainly cannot be the only village which had not got enough assistance to rebuild lives. Many in this village have undergone trauma due to the loss of family members. The authorities should look into this issue without delay and reorganise the relief distribution in a more practical way. The voluntary organisations should also make sure that their donations go to the deserving people. In many villages, there are groups which come to collect relief though they were not affected by the tsunami. Throughout our journey to and from Tangalle, amid the rubble and debris on either side of the Galle Road, we enjoyed the scenery of the sea which was clear now, due to the non-existence of some of the buildings by the sea. The sea was in its full splendour. Its waters were bright blue or aquamarine blue in different areas. In some areas we noticed it was placid and calm, and in some other areas the tide was hitting the shore. In some places, young men sat on the rocks by the sea and gazed at the sky; young boys played cricket on the beach; tourists walked along the beach, bathing in the hot sun; locals travelling along the Galle road enjoyed their meals by the seaside. Life is regaining its spirit. The tent culture is booming in many affected areas. Hundreds of tents have created new villages along the main road. As we returned from Tangalle, it began to rain heavily. Most of the devastated areas along the coastal belt, from Dickwella to Galle became a pool of water instantly. We were sitting in a well-covered, comfortable vehicle. I wondered about the people living in the tents. What will it be like to live in a tent when it is raining? The tent floor would be a pool of mud. These unanswerable questions haunted me throughout, until my focus got diverted to the fishing industry, having seen fishing boats with their flickering lights far away in the deep sea off Hikkaduwa and Ambalangoda. The fishermen had got on with their job. There was hope on the horizon. ***** Major data collection exercise After the tsunami devastation, the task of data collection on the loss of lives and property, the survivors and their properties and the counting of commercial buildings to verify the real owners has become a challenge. Villagers - the affected - complain that Grama Sevakas are producing wrong lists of survivors/occupants to various organisations and to the Government. Some of these lists, according to certain sections of survivors, have left out the most deserving people's names. To rectify this situation and also to support the Government's reconstruction policy, the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) has launched a fresh census in the districts affected by the tsunami to collect correct information on loss of lives and property. It will be conducted at two levels; the first level which has already been launched is to determine the housing units and other buildings pertaining to census blocks within the affected Grama Niladhari (GN) divisions, Director General, A.G. Nanayakkara said. "We will be using the 2001 census data for this purpose. These lists (F1 form) have already been copied from the available documents at the DCS - these lists have a sketch map of each of the census blocks to help the officials to identify the area easily," Nanayakkara said. He added that F1 form has information of housing and building units prior to the tsunami such as address, chief occupant, description of the unit, No. of persons living in the unit, whether they operate agriculture or livestock, land or engaged in fishing or doing non-agricultural economic activities. "We will also consider the distance of the damaged buildings from the sea - these statistics may be useful in the process of future reconstruction," he said. The Department also launched a project to collect data on surviving members of the affected families early this year. Under this category, the officials will compile information such as address of the person before the tsunami, name of the head before the tsunami, description of the unit, number of people living/lived, where do they live now, economic activity before, has anything been restarted and information on destroyed household equipment and vehicles. The census which started off a couple of weeks ago is expected to be completed by the end of February, Nanayakkara said. |
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