wfn.org | FEATURE: Sri Lanka Still in Shock

["Frank Imhoff" <Frank.Imhoff@elca.org>]

FEATURE: Sri Lanka Still in Shock
Norwegian Church Aid Calls for Comprehensive Reconstruction

GALLE, Sri Lanka/GENEVA, 24 January 2005 (LWI) * It is more than four
weeks since disaster hit Sri Lanka but the country is still in a state of
shock. Survivors not only lost everything they had, they also mourn their
loved ones who perished in the December 26 massive tidal waves (tsunamis)
triggered by an undersea earthquake off the western coast of northern
Sumatra, Indonesia. At community level, people are crossing different
social and religious backgrounds to help each other. Within this context,
Norway's ecumenical development aid agency, Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), is
calling for a comprehensive development program.

Tamara Mendis, wife of Rev. Eardley Mendis, also died as a result of the
tsunamis, which caused widespread destruction, killing over 30,000 people
along Sri Lanka's coast. Fifty-five-year-old Tamara and her daughter
Eranthie were travelling by train from Colombo to Galle in the south to
visit relatives when the tidal waves struck.

Her husband, 59-year-old pastor of a Southeast Asian congregation of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and his son visited the disaster
site near Galle where, according to official figures 1,700 people lost
their lives. Survivors say the train stopped after the first wave. The
water was only up to platform level. Then the second wave struck, carrying
several wagons along with it. Mendis described how 24-year-old Eranthie
had tried to save her mother, in vain.

"Sri Lanka has been very badly hit," says Hans Einar Hem, NCA South Asia
representative. NCA, a partner organization of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) Department for World Service is providing assistance in
the context of the global church network, Action by Churches Together
(ACT) International, of which the LWF is a founding member.

Hem had arrived in Sri Lanka four days earlier to set up a new NCA
regional office. Then everything changed. A day after the tidal waves, he
was able to promise back-up funds to local ACT partner, the National
Christian Council of Sri Lanka (NCCSL).

He travelled to Galle one day after the waves wreaked havoc. Thousands of
bodies recovered from the rubble were lined up, wrapped in plastic bags.
"This is a terrible loss of human life," he says of the estimated 6,000
people who died just in this area.

The poorest sections of the population (up to 90 percent) were among the
worst affected by the disaster, according to Rev. Sumithra Fernando,
executive secretary, NCCSL Women's Commission. The fishing communities
that lived very close to the sea not only lost their homes but their very
means of survival, with boats and nets either destroyed or washed out to
sea.

Entire families were wiped out. Twenty-five-year old Suranja Padhum from
Galle lost 50 relatives. Only four of more than 60 handicapped children in
a home close to the sea are said to have survived.

Fernando wonders how people will cope with this immense loss. She is
currently developing projects for survivors' psychosocial care. Jayasiri
Peiris, NCCSL General Secretary emphasizes spiritual and psychological
support as a priority contribution of the churches. "This helps people get
back on their feet, and not only the infrastructure."

Hem also cites psychosocial care as crucial, and stresses the need for an
integrated development program. Concerning funds for such assistance, he
says, "We have never experienced such a degree of solidarity."

But there is still concern as Sri Lanka's economy has been seriously
affected. There are fewer tourists following the damage to hotels along
the coast. It will take years before the sector fully recovers. Two
decades of conflict between the Tamil rebels and government forces only
compounds the situation.

Prior to the disaster, it was normal to experience tension between the
different ethnic and religious groups but this has now changed, according
to Hem. "Many congregations were quite divided," particularly in the east
where Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians co-exist alongside Tamil
and Singhalese populations.

They are now working together to respond to the needs created by the
disaster. The NCCSL general secretary affirms "people have crossed
cultural and religious barriers, and are helping each other." Peiris, an
Anglican, and Hem, a Lutheran, advocate support for groups that seek to
bring about a new spirit of community.

Besides the reconstruction of houses and infrastructure, congregations
need to be rebuilt and strengthened, a process that requires psychosocial
care. Hem considers close cooperation with the NCCSL, and NCA's many years
of experience, as the right prerequisites for this task. (746 words)

(Reported for LWI by Stuttgart (Germany)-based journalist, Rainer
Lang.)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 138
member churches in 77 countries all over the world, with a membership of
nearly 65 million Lutherans. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches
in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith relations,
theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the
various aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is
located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

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