December 26, 2004, was a black day for the world, specifically Asia. A gigantic tsunami tore through the coastal states of South East Asia, ravaging human lives. In India, the low-lying coastal areas in the states of Tamilnadu, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Andhra Pradesh were most affected. Many people were displaced, and the death toll climbed to some 17,000 according to the official estimation. The dreadful devastation not only ravaged the socio-economic construct of the region, it also scarred the psychology of men, women and children for life – having exposed them to enormous loss, shock and grief.
It had been an uphill task for the State and various national and international NGOs to restore a shade of normalcy in these tsunami-hit areas. The situation became more complicated as the government of India did not show much interest in working together with the international advocacy groups, fearing that this would not complement its image as an emerging global power. So, agencies working in the field had to cope not only with a high magnitude of disaster but also bureaucratic red-tape, slowing the flow of information that made it very difficult to send timely aide to the victims.
In such a scenario, I accompanied Hope Foundation – an Ireland based NGO which implements extensive relief and rehabilitation activities – to document the extent of the damage and relief operations. In addition to building temporary shelters and supplying victims with food and medicines, they swiftly provided counseling to those mentally crippled by the incident. Children were orphaned and pregnant women widowed by the disaster. I saw a girl who lost her power of speech in sheer shock. Amid so much destruction what particularly struck me was the unyielding spirit and strength to fight back and survive. It took time to gather the broken pieces, but life and lost hope were built up once again.
