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Action Card Briefing - January 2006Tsunami - A Year On.
More than a year has passed since the Tsunami struck countries around the Indian Ocean on Boxing Day 2004. The images were striking and terrifying: villages washed away, train lines uprooted, cars resting in tree tops, landscapes smashed, lagoons filled with bloated corpses.
After the initial rescue and relief work, rehabilitation work began. Communities had to be rebuilt and livelihoods restored. Houses, schools, places of worship, and roads had to be rebuilt. In Sri Lanka, the government wants to restrict building so people would not live too near the shore, but fishing communities need to live near the water and land is not always available.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands were particularly badly affected. Most Nicobarese are members of the Church of North India, and that church has been at the forefront of the relief and rehabilitation there since the very beginning.
The government tasked CNI with rebuilding 36 schools in the islands. Rev Enos Das Pradhan explained that since the Tsunami had taken everything from these people it was the first time any permanent structures had been built. People wanted to witness and participate in the ceremonies. Outsiders were amazed by people’s participation at every level. Hundreds of people were waiting for this solemn function. They could see their hopes and aspirations coming true and the level of their fears and mistrust going down. They were concerned about the future of children and their education and now schools were being rebuilt. CNI’s active presence in these islands, restoring dignity of people by fulfilling their desires against all circumstances has brought a ray of hope in the lives of the people that will never fade.
Send this postcard to encourage and support those continuing with the development needs of the people of the Andoman and Nicobar Islands to:-
Rev Enos Das Pradhan Postage: 47p for postcard with airmail sticker General Secretary The Church of North India CNI Bhawan Post Box No 311 16 Pandit Pant Marg New Delhi 110 001 India
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