How to move on?

By Eva Berglund, Church of Sweden/ACT International

Southern Thailand, April 11, 2005 - This is a story of two women whose lives, like those of so many others, were turned upside down the day the tsunami hit. While they have received some assistance and have some options for getting their lives back on track, their stories show how the road to recovery can be hard and full of uncertainties.

Kuanchai Chanloeang is eager to return to work. Until she can, she gathers every day with about 30 other women to make flowers. All of them were forced from their homes by the tsunami, which totally destroyed their village and damaged their fishing boats and equipment. Since the end of December they have been staying in temporary shelters in Khuk Khak. Here they have learned to make flowers, soap and candy that they sell in the camp.

"I will not continue with this," Chanloeang said. "As soon as our boat is repaired, I will go to the sea with my husband for fishing."

Her younger friend and neighbor, Pannee Bunkan, feels differently. She stays at home to care for her two young children. The skills she has learned making flowers can provide her with extra income, even after she leaves the temporary shelter.

Chanloeang returned for a visit to her village of Paka Rang, where only sand remains. She found a broken shower from the big hotel that sat close to the former fishing village. The hotel, of course, is damaged, and its houses for staff were leveled. Of the 46 families in the village, 19 people are still missing.

"We were in front of the house working when people shouted that the water was coming. We jumped into our car and drew away," recalled Chanloeang. "First we stayed on the hill for four days. People came and gave us noodles and tinned fish. When we went down to the community centre, we got tents to stay in and, after some time, temporary houses."

On the beach her husband works on their boat. He prefers to be alone and doesn’t want their two adult sons to help him - perhaps his way of dealing with the situation. It will probably take another month before the boat is seaworthy and they get new equipment. The government has provided money to all families with damaged or lost boats, but it is not enough. The Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT), which is responding to the tsunami on behalf of the global alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, will assist a number of families in repairing their boats and equipment.

The boat belonging to Bunkan and her husband sits farther down the beach. It needs a great deal more repair before it will be of use again. "We got some things from our cousins, who lost their parents in the tsunami. They will never return to the sea again," said Bunkan. But she and her husband are unsure of what they should do.

The tsunami swept inland for kilometers and left nothing but palm trees. Now the government is constructing new villages some distance away.

"I have lived here for the last 30 years," said Chanloeang, pointing at the sand where her house used to stand. "Before, it was easy just to go out from the house and into the boat. Now, we need a car to come to the sea. It is not our decision, and there is nothing we can do about it. We didn't have any papers saying that we are the owners of the land."

These women's stories are filled with loss and despair, but also some hope for the future. In a few weeks, Chanloeang can return to fishing. And Bunkan might continue making flowers, a new skill she gained since the tsunami hit. Life will continue - despite all they have experienced after the devastating earthquake over three months ago.