Community: Real Life

A message of hope


Sarah

Sarah White (28) works for the UK Government Department for International Development (DFID). She writes about returning to Sri Lanka for a "holiday" after witnessing the Boxing Day Tsunami first hand.
Entry: 6
Date: 30/11/2005

Sarah finally feels hopeful about Sri Lanka's future, but she's urging people to keep helping them to rebuild their lives.

I did not share all the news in my previous entry to depress you and suggest nothing works. Not at all. I just want to illustrate how complicated things can be - you can learn a lot more from Department for International Development DFID, Disasters Emergency Committee, Red Cross and the UN. And I want to encourage you to remember next time there is a disaster, and sadly Hurricane Katrina and the Pakistan Earthquake have already reminded us that there will be more tragedies needing our generosity, to send money, not goods. This will empower relief agencies to use your money to buy things people really need and distribute them in a more systematic and fairer way.

One question I found easier to answer during my return visit, was what would really help the survivors move forward now and rebuild their lives? The key is rebuilding people's livelihoods so they can earn an income again, create jobs for other people and stimulate the local economy. Part of my volunteering involved interviewing people who had received a small asset from Project Galle 2005's Livelihoods Programme to help rebuild their businesses, for example, some mechanical equipment for vehicle repairs, or a sewing machine for making clothes.

Everyone we interviewed inspired me, but I particularly remember Mr and Mrs Priyanthi. In minutes, the tsunami wiped out 20 years of investment in Mr Priyanthi's tailor business and 13 years of investment in his wife's beauty parlour, along with jobs for their nine staff. I cannot begin to understand how it must feel to have lost years of hard work just like that. Yet Mr and Mrs Priyanthi were so unbelievably positive about the future. They'd received a sewing machine each from Project Galle 2005, nothing compared to what they had before, but were positive that "everyday step-by-step business is improving". I doubted I would be so positive in their position. Particularly when I learned that many of the tsunami victims also face pre-tsunami bank loan repayments at rates unchanged by their banks despite the fact they have lost their businesses to earn an income to repay these loans! In comparison I had nothing to complain about - my insurance company completely covered the costs of my lost possessions in the tsunami.

"Last December, I urged my friends and family to donate to the emergency appeals, now my message is that Sri Lanka is open for business, is a beautiful country and needs tourists."

The good news is we can all help Mr and Mrs Priyanthi and the whole of Sri Lanka recover, by putting money into the economy as tourists. While tourists are starting to return, bookings are still down and Sri Lanka urgently needs tourists. I was amazed by how much has been rebuilt in tourist areas, particularly Unawatuna. Last December, I urged my friends and family to donate to the emergency appeals, now my message is that Sri Lanka is open for business, is a beautiful country and needs tourists.

When I escaped from Sri Lanka on 29 December last year, I doubted I ever wanted to see it again. It represented too much suffering and fear for me. I certainly didn't remember it as a dream holiday destination. That's why going back in August was so important because I left this time with a restored love for Sri Lanka. I remembered why I, like thousands of tourists every year, wanted to visit in the first place. Sri Lanka is an amazing country full of: stunning tropical beaches; excellent surfing beaches; fascinating Buddhist and Hindu temples; picturesque tea plantations; mystical hills, mountain peaks and waterfalls; exotic wildlife; rich culture; delicious food; and warm, open, friendly people. The most important thing for me now is to encourage as many people as possible to visit Sri Lanka, and even better, to stay in the Thaproban or Thampanni Retreat.

But perhaps the greatest lesson I learned, which I am determined never to forget as Boxing Day 2004 falls further into the past, is the importance of putting life into perspective. Only a month after the tsunami, I was standing on a London platform on a freezing Monday morning, cursing as my train was late again. Life just seemed so frustrating and miserable. But then I told myself - RTT - remember the tsunami". Why I was spared on Boxing Day, when thousands were not, I will never know. But I do know now, more than ever, how important it is to make the most of every day, be grateful for what we have, realise how much worse our problems could be and remember our fellow human beings when they need our help.

I will always remain indebted to Preshan and all the other kind Sri Lankans who took such good care of me and my four friends when the tsunami hit. I will always remain inspired by the positivity of those who survived, who shared their moving stories with me in August when I returned to Sri Lanka. And I hope, in my small way, I have been able to give something back to them by encouraging those who read my diaries to put their own lives into perspective, help Sri Lanka recover by going back as tourists and be even more generous next time - and sadly there will always be a next time - a disaster hits another undeserving group of human beings.


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