16 January 2005

Surangani Newsletter #4

by Shigeko Baba

I have just returned from Vadduwan last night to write you this report. I have attached some images of the village to this file.

While there is plenty of rice and grain provided to each family in the evacuation areas, there still seem to be some difficulties in adjusting to life in the emergency tents. Currently, there are still many children that do not have regular meal times, which means some go without a meal for many hours and are hungry throughout the day. As a result, Surangani has continued to provide the children with the morning and afternoon milk and biscuits. As the older children within the center administer the milk, we noticed that sugar was being used in large amounts. We realized that this may become a health issue and tried to persuade the children to make the milk with more powder and less sugar- this was greeted with less enthusiasm, as the unsweetened milk was not as ‘tasty’ as the sweetened milk.

The 14th of January is the colorful Hindu harvest festival- Thaiponggal. Normally, this is celebrated by the preparation of milk rice and offering this to the Gods in the temples. Unfortunately, families and persons in bereavement are not allowed to enter a temple for 30 days after their loss, thus, Surangani gave these families donations of milk rice for them to be able to have some semblance of celebration during this somber time. I believe the children enjoyed the milk rice very much.

Every morning, the children of the village gather under the mango tree at the Surangani center and talk about their lost village. We provided them with some colored markers and a white cloth upon which they could express their thoughts, remember and reminisce. There were many sad thoughts- “there used to be a coconut tree in my backyard,” “I wonder where the birdcage I made went,” “there is no more village.” Our resident illustrator Anton asked the kids what they would like to have in their new village and there was a flurry of response from ‘a big temple with a big god’ to ‘a hospital’ and ‘a big building with lots of lights.’ This set the kids to drawing a whole bunch of new drawings, dreams of a beautiful new village.

This morning the children were recruited to create a ‘remembrance star’ in the lawn of the Surangani Center. The grass was cleared in a star pattern about ten meters wide and was packed down with sand and marked with white chalk. We then placed 400 oil lamps in the lines of the star and filled them with wicks and coconut oil. We then distributed 200 teddy bears that were kindly donated by the Colombo Japanese Association Volunteer Circle. It warmed my heart to see the smiling faces of every single child fiercely hugging a fluffy teddy bear.

As sunset approached, we had a moment of silence for those who were lost and one by one each child and parent walked towards the star and lit a lamp. As the sun set, the wails of mothers crying for lost children and the fervent prayers of fathers quietly weeping filled the air, for some it was the first time they had been able to physically grieve for their lost ones. We all prayed for the radiance of this earthly star to reach the heavens and become a heavenly light to shine down upon this village and protect its people.

We have been able to help each and every one of these people out of the generosity of you, our friends. The school principal, the army and the police, who acknowledge that we were the first group to respond the tragedy, have commended us on our efforts. This could only have been possible through your support. I can only say a very big thank you to all- our cash donors, relief goods donors, vehicle lenders, logistics advisers, those who sent messages of support and to those who worried about my welfare. We will continue our efforts, please continue your much needed and much appreciated support.

Next week our staff will visit Vadduwan, and I am happy to announce that from April Anton will become an official Surangani staff member.