Tsunami Update

[zcat_abroad]

From my brother, in Phuket, a view of what it's really like on the ground:



I flew into Phuket yesterday afternoon after a rather wasted day in
Bangkok. The best way to describe the experience is to simply quote my
diary entry from then:

" The plane crosses the coast directly over Khao Lak National Park on
the approach to Phuket. I am on the wrong side to see the devastation
in the tourist areas and at Ban Nam Kem, but the effect of the tsunami
is very apparent all along the coastline where a brown stain comes at
least 500 metres inland.

" The long, low approach to Mai Khao beach has a sense of tranquility
that belies what occured just two weeks ago. The sand is still golden
(although a little bit too yellow) and the Casurinas and Coconuts all
seem to still be there. It is only as we touch down that you can see that
many of the trees are actually starting to die, and piles of rubble
mark former buildings in amongst the coconut trees. However, we are
quickly past that section and the rest of Phuket looks as it always has (of
course). A few things bring the reality of what happened home to me: the
line up about 50 large military and rescue helicopters, the boxes and
bags of clothes stacked up in the airport, the Check-in counters
converted to makeshift emergency embassies, and most dominant of all a
pervading sombre atmosphere in a normally bustling aiport. It's the height of
the of the tourist situation, yet our 6pm 747 from Bangkok disgorges
only about 10 tourist types. The other 100 passengers are all Thai, some
restless relatives and business and official aidy types."

It is amazing how much has been cleared and repaired in just a few
weeks. Everywhere I go it all initially looks normal, until you look
closely. Every one also has a story, or five. The tourist industry and the
economy are definitely not going to recover as quickly as some are
saying. It is still the main topic of conversation around here. There is a
general feeling that once 'CNN' (a new local term for the thousands of
journos) and the aid workers leave, there will be nothing left for the
economny to survive on.

I got out to Rawai village this morning. As was to be expected, the
news we had received from the village was only a vague representation
of reality. Somethings are worse than we were told, other things are not
so bad. Again, it is easier to cut and paste from my diary entry than
to write it all out again:

" As I drive along the waterfront at Rawai, initially it appears that
nothing is wrong. There are boats out on the water (no fewer than would
be expected at this time of year with everyone out at sea fishing),
kids and dogs play in amoungst the trees, and the same old characters are
lounging around. It's not long before I hear someone call out "Oh,
Daewit mareh!" (David is coming). Word of my arrival reaches Mening's house
before I do.

" It's probably only because I know Rawai that I quickly see the
damage. All the walls and supporting posts of the houses along the
waterfront are new (on the landward side of the road), and a number of houses
are clad in shiny new iron sheets. I soon realise that all the shacks and
houses on the seaward side of the have been rebuilt, and only just. A
number are still just piles of rubble. Likewise, the boats that floating
are mostly ones that have been repaired first (those that belong to the
Chinese middlemen). There are also many floating wounded, that will
need a lot of work before they will be seaworthy. And then you notice the
skeletons of the boats. Some are just prows poking above the water,
others are shadows bobbing in the tide. The bare framework of some boats
stick out of the sand where they are buried, other smashed remnants lie
on the beach, up on the sea wall, and even a couple of hundred metres
inland in amongst the coconut trees. Large blocks of coral lie all along
the beach with tangled fishing nets, clothing and other flotsam. It's
roughly a10:30:60 split. 10% floating, 30% destroyed, but the majority
are all lined up along the top of the beach in various states of
destruction. Some are obviously too far gone, and wood is being salvaged to
repair the others. It's here that I meet up with Ahlin (the main Church
elder, and a leader in the village), and his son, daughter, wife,
brother etc.. It's great to see them all again, but quickly we get to
discussing the situation. AhLin's two boats are pretty seriously damaged.
Feverish work (well village-style 'feverish', with much loud discussion and
pointing of fingers) is going on to repair the boats. In the ruins of
Mae Nom's house, men are clustered around all the salvaged engines. They
are all in bits and pieces as they try to rescue and repair what they
can. AhLin says 100% of boats that were at Rawai that day were damaged.
The boats that were out at sea were ok.

" After taking photos and chatting a bit, I take AhLin over to Koh
Sireh village (30mins north). There, much fewer boats were affected, but
almost all the houses were damaged to some degree. One fact is emerging
very clearly; Meow's (AhLin's daughter) actions certainly saved many
lives. When the tsunami hit Rawai, AhLin had just reached Koh Sireh for
the Church service on Sunday morning. While everyone else was running
for their lives, Meow managed to call her father's cellphone to warn him
about the wave. Despite initial disbelief (it was a perfect day, blue
sky and no wind), they managed to evacuate Koh Sireh to higher ground
before the wave hit. Now they believe every report that comes through,
and just on Monday everyone ran screaming to the Thai temple at the top
of the hill again because of some unfounded report of another tsunami."

Here, again, alot has been accomplished in two weeks. There are about
a dozen new houses being built. The Thai community has rallied around
to help, and a random American Church group also turned up and are
helping to build new houses. Most concerning is that the vast majority of
houses are damaged, but it is going to take a long time to fix them all.
The foundations/stilts of most of the house were broken by debris in
the water, and the sand has been washed away from around them. Most of
the houses are still very unstable, yet people have moved back in because
they have no where else to go.

Money is not going to be a problem in the short term, there is a lot
coming in from all around the world for these people, including from
many of you on this list. It is also not a matter of needing teams of
people to come and help build. In fact, this is probably the last thing
that needs to be done, as a lot of time is taken up being a tour guide to
people and explaining how Urak Lawoi houses are built a bit differently
from your average American house and that that's ok. So don't jump on
the first plane out yet! Amnart (one of the Thai Church leaders), is run
off his feet helping to get the resources the people need for their
houses and boats, yet still fields calls from all sorts of people who want
to come down to see and bring teams down to help.

I was initially concerned that I might be viewed a bit like this, but
both AhLin and Amnart are very pleased for me to be here, and to be
able to discuss different things with me. I've certainly been accepted
straight away again as family. I will probably also be able to take some
of the load off Amnart by dealing with people who are coming to visit.
AhLin has by default become the main spokesperson and contact for both
Rawai and Koh Sireh villages, and is incredibly busy as well. He has
featured on many TV programs around the world in the last few days. It is
good to see that the government is helping out, but the process is
slow. It is good to be able channel funds through the Church directly and
instantly to where it is needed. I spent the rest of the day with Amnart
and AhLin sourcing and buying wood to repair boats (initially to get
AhLin's two boats in the water to provide income for all the men who are
his crew). With so many hundreds of boats badly damaged around the
island, wood is disappearing fast and we need to buy whatever can when we
see it. Luckily, the tribal boats are built very solidy. The big flash
tourist speedboats are very lightly constructed, and so disintegrated in
the waves. Rawai beach used to have a huge line-up of these boats, and
now only has a dozen or so.

In the midst of this all we are very aware that these two villages
got off lightly. The news from Phang-nga is not good. The Moken village
at Ban Nam Kem was obliterated, and many died. But AhLin confirmed our
fears that there were probably many more smaller villages and groups of
house that have been wiped out with no-one knowing. When my father
arrives next week, AhLin will travel with us up this coast to try to locate
some of these places.

So.. to wrap up for now... It is clear that there is no short term
solution here, we can't just throw money or foreign volunteers at it.
There just needs to be solid application of wisdom to figure how best to
proceed and to distribute aid. I will keep in touch as I spend more time
with Ahlin and the people at Rawai tomorrow night.

For those of you who are of the praying type, the following is a
little prayer request list:
- The fresh water wells at Rawai have all been contaminated with salt
water, and so fresh water has to be bought in at the moment.
- Pray for both Amnart and AhLin that they will have the strength and
wisdom to be able to cope with their workloads, and that there would be
other reliable people they could delegate to.
- Pray for wisdom in the distribution of funds, as it can be difficult
to assess priorities when everyone needs something, and you can't just
have a lolly scramble. There is a lot of politics going around
- It is certainly good to be here actually doing something now... it's
like a weight has been lifted off. But please pray for wisdom for me to
know how best to use my time, and who I need to be connecting with.