Sri Lanka: Eyewitness account

By Christian Aid's Anjali Kwatra in Sri Lanka

(Anjali Kwatra is part of a Christian Aid (CA) emergency assessment mission in Batticaloa, eastern Sri Lanka. CA is a member of the global alliance of churches and related agencies Action by Churches Together (ACT) International.)

We spent the day in the village of Dutchbar three miles away from our base in Batticaloa, on the east coast of Sri Lanka.

It was unbelievable. I don't know how many houses were there originally - maybe a 100. Today there were three or four left standing - and these are proper brick houses. There will still be bodies under there. Everywhere were children's toys and plates of food.

I spoke to a man, Stanley Barthlot, age 57. On Sunday morning he left his house to go to work. The wave struck 15 minutes later. His wife, two daughters and two-year-old granddaughter were swept away. He has only found one body.

They won't be part of the official death toll. In fact, it is likely that the true death toll will never be known. People have been told not to bring corpses to the hospitals any more. They are overflowing, so people are burying them where they can.

And many bodies have been washed away without a trace, so they won't be counted.

No one here has been untouched by death. Everyone knows someone who has been lost. People are traumatized and in shock, and there are also the survivors who are feeling guilty. People were clinging to their loved ones, friends and family in the water and many were washed away. They lost their grip on
them. It's dreadful.

There is also a clear sense of fear in the atmosphere. People are very afraid that another wave will strike. There were rumors today that another tsunami was coming.

I was talking to a woman in Dutchbar when the news came over the radio. Her husband began shouting to her that they had to leave because more water was coming. The roads suddenly filled with people trying to jump on cars and trucks. The roads were choked.

All the survivors from Dutchbar are staying in a camp in Batticaloa. People are getting basic food - rice and lentils - but little else. The sanitation is bad. There are only 10 toilets for 2,000 or so people and there is only one well.

Many people have lost their livelihoods. Houses, fishing boats, rickshaw taxis have all been destroyed and people do not have insurance. These people have lost everything. But no one is thinking about tomorrow. They are thinking about food and water today. Nothing else.

People are saying: why did no one tell us this was going to happen? Why weren't we warned?

There is a shortage of equipment and vehicles and there are fears that public health is deteriorating.

Food is less of a priority, but more is needed. So much is happening it's hard to take it all in, hard to know how people are coping and where to begin to sort this out. But we can't stop to worry about ourselves - everyone here is just pitching in.

(ends)

Christian Aid's local partners, of which one, the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka (NCCSL), is a member of ACT International, are all responding in various ways to the disaster that struck the island nation on December 26, 2004. Some will start cleaning wells and disposing of rubbish, as the biggest problem now is the threat of communicable diseases. Other ACT members who are supporting NCCSL in Sri Lanka itself, along with Christian Aid, are DanChurchAid and Norwegian Church Aid. Hungarian Baptist Aid has sent a medical team to Sri Lanka, while Hungarian Interchurch Aid has sent a shipment of medicines. (Both are members of ACT).

And around the world, ACT members have rallied in support of the countries hit by the disaster, launching campaigns to raise funds for the survivors of the December 26 catastrophe. In North America, Europe, in Asia and the Pacific, and as far away as Jamaica (which itself recently suffered losses when hit by hurricanes), members of ACT have notified the ACT Coordinating Office of their financial support to the ACT members responding operationally to the disaster.

In Sri Lanka, the ACT member is the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka (NCCSL)

In India, the ACT members are: Church's Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA), Lutheran World Service India (LWSI) and United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India (UELCI).

In Indonesia, the ACT members are: Yayasan Tanggul Bencana Persekutuan Gereja-gereja di Indonesia (YTB-PGI), Yakkum Emergency Unit (YEU) and Church World Service (CWS) Indonesia.