Tar Heel Baptists respond to tsunami disaster

By Tony W. Cartledge

BR Editor

DODANDUWA, Sri Lanka - When seen on a map, the small country of Sri Lanka looks like a giant teardrop - an appropriate image for recent days. When a 9.0 earthquake off the coast of Sumatra sent a tsunami speeding across the Indian Ocean on the morning of Dec. 26, 2004, the coastal residents of Sri Lanka were enjoying a beautiful, sunny Sunday morning. An hour later, an estimated 30,000 of them were dead, and thousands of homes were destroyed.

An assessment and logistics team from North Carolina Baptist Men arrived in the country Jan. 8. For this project, N.C. Baptists are working in cooperation with Hungarian Baptist Aid (HBA). Ferenc Tisch, HBA's director of international operations, encouraged the team to explore ministry opportunities in and around the southwestern city of Galle.

Tisch put the team in touch with Christopher Gammadehewa, a native of Galle who works as a prison chaplain in Sweden, but who came back to the area to assist with relief efforts.

Gammadehewa is hosting the team at a home he still owns outside of Galle, and in an adjacent church building where the teams are sleeping on cots, beneath mosquito nets.

Half of the business district in Galle was wiped out by the tsunami, requiring the logistics team to purchase most of its equipment in Colombo, the capital city.

For 50 miles along the south and western coast, homes and businesses lie in total ruin, as if smashed by giant wrecking balls. The east coast of Sri Lanka took a more direct hit from the tsunami, and remains difficult to reach. Teams from Texas Baptist Men are working there.

It was anticipated that water purification and meal preparation would be the greatest needs. In the Galle area, however, the team discovered that supplies of clean water were adequate. Two large purification units obtained from Samaritan's Purse had cleared customs in Sri Lanka by Jan. 10, but they may be diverted to the east coast or another location.

Food is also available, if not abundant, in Galle and the surrounding area. The team purchased supplies for a field kitchen and planned to cook some meals for distribution, assessing the continued need as days go by.

While visiting a refugee camp at Sudharmarama Wihare, a Bhuddist temple in Galle, the team learned that food and water were available for the 100 children, many orphaned by the tsunami, who were staying there. What the children needed most were school supplies, officials said. The team then purchased and delivered school supplies for 150 children.

Most refugee camps were emptying by the second week after the storm, as the government announced plans for schools to reopen on schedule after the holiday break. Families moved in with relatives or found other ways to return closer to their home areas, even though many of their houses were gone.

An immediate need, the team discovered, was both psychological and physical. Though coastal villages still have tap water, many residents don't want to drink it for fear that a dead body might have been in the water. Villages typically have several open wells that are used by the community for bathing and washing. Many of the wells were filled with seawater and debris when the tsunami washed over the coast, leaving a murky mess and an ugly reminder behind.

The logistics team purchased two water pumps and has been assisting villagers in cleaning debris from the wells and pumping out the polluted water, then applying chlorine to "shock" the water and make it useful again. Some of the wells are ten or more feet in diameter, requiring extensive effort.

The team has focused much of its efforts in Dodanduwa (duh-DON-dua), a fishing village several miles north of Galle. The village of 15,000 persons suffered massive damage, with many homes completely leveled and hundreds of others severely damaged. The team's presence in Sri Lanka, along with their willingness to work hard and get dirty for the sake of the people, is one way of offering hope and helping the people return to a sense of normalcy.

Along with well cleaning, the team also distributed bottled water in several areas. In Dodanduwa, they demonstrated portable water purification filters donated by Woman's Missionary Union. The first team carried 20 filters, while the ten-member second team delivered 102 more. The teams also have access to 500 purification kits containing cheesecloth and chlorine sachets, provided by Samaritan's Purse.

A 10-person team left for Sri Lanka on Jan. 12. Plans call for a six-person team to follow them. Assessments of future needs and projects will follow.

A 12-person medical/dental team is going to another country in the region.

(EDITOR'S NOTE - For an inside look at how the assessment/logistics team has functioned in Sri Lanka, read entries from the editor's Sri Lanka journal

. To volunteer for or contribute money to the ongoing ministry in Sri Lanka, contact N.C. Baptist Men at (800) 395-5102 ext. 325 or send e-mail to gmoss@bscnc.org.)