2004. Through a friend in Los Angeles, Jan Smith, I was able to join up with
Ray Dingle of Australia, who owns property in the hard-hit Southern tip of
Sri Lanka. After the tsunami, Ray set up a fund to help the villagers in the
area, called The Marwella Village Relief Fund (MVRF). Marwella lies between
Matara and Tangalle, and the primary vocation of the villagers there is fishing.
I arrived in the Marwella area February 1, just over a month after the tsunami
struck. The emergency phase of the disaster was over, and most displaced
people were situated in makeshift "camps," comprised of tents and other
temporary shelters. Food and water were in demand, and through various
governmental (Sri Lanka) and non-governmental organizations (N.G.O.'s from
Sri Lanka and many foreign countries), these needs were being met. MVRF
focused mainly on getting the fishermen back to work, so the villagers could start to rebuild their lives.
The Sri Lankan Navy, particularly the training base in Tangalle and
Commander Jagath Mutubandara, gave enormous support and aid to MVRF. Cmdr Jagath brought Navy mechanics to repair outboard motors damaged by
salt-water immersion, and Raymond supplied the parts, travelling to Matara in a Took Took most days. In the end, 53 outboard motors were repaired, and two
brand new motors were purchased to replace two lost motors. Adopt Sri
Lanka had a program to replace completely damaged boats, and fix repairable
boats; I set up a small boatyard to repair boats as well. I also began to replace
some of the fishing gear, at least light tackle, so the men could begin fishing.
Raymond's MVRF kindly provided accommodations for me, at an operating
resort between Tangalle and Marwella, called The Palm Paradise Cabanas
(palmparadisecabanas.com). Dr. Manfred Meinike of Germany built this
paradise 25 years ago, and used his facility as a staging area for the
distribution of relief supplies to the villagers in the area. MVRF also allocated petty cash for my use in purchasing tackle, fiberglass and resin, etc.
I brought carpentry and masonry tools from California, and we set up a
workshop so the villagers could repair their own boats, and later, homes. The
government implemented a 100 meter setback from the sea rule, which they
hoped would protect villagers from another tsunami disaster, and there was
much discussion about where to relocate the displaced people and build
permanent housing. In the meantime, we also provided some necessities for the
people in shelters such as gas cookers, gas bottles, tables and mattresses. The
Navy gave us mosquito nets and lanterns to distribute. I ran a beach cleanup
operation, with 36 workers, and the Navy helped with officers to help supervise.
G.T.Z. (German Development Cooperation), a large N.G.O. in Sri Lanka,
reimbursed MVRF for the wages to clean the village beach area.
Many wonderful people from the U.K., Germany, France, Netherlands, Japan,
Korea, Australia, Belgium and Italy came and worked as volunteers, and many
donated money or food or clothing to the villagers.
One gal from the U.K., Lyn Watson, came and worked with MVRF, and helped the kids' trauma with art classes. I also set up a painting class, and MVRF
supplied oil paints and brushes; the kids (and adults) had never used oil paints
and they were quite good. A small wistful distraction for these people, who had
lost loved-ones and homes. Between Hambantota and Matara approximately
6,000 people were killed or missing from the tsunami.
Lyn also set about surveying each family door-to-door in the entire area, 4
villages and a large camp, to complete a Needs Assessment which all the
N.G.O.'s in the area could access, through G.T.Z. In my free time, I started a
survey for nets, which was the principle method of fishing the villager's used. I
stayed in Sri Lanka for nearly 5 months, and before I left, LTU (Lufthansa
Airlines) through Berti and Maria Rumpel, kindly granted me 35,000 Euros
for the purchase of 95 fishing nets; 73 were distributed just after I returned
home to the U.S.
After returning to the U.S., I took my video footage to show a friend who is an
editor, Barbara Gandolfo-Frady. Barbara thought we had good footage for
a documentary, and she came out to Californai from North Carolina for a
month to edit. We put together a movie called, "And The Sea Took Us," with
Michelle Phillips very generously donating narration, and Jim Goodwin of
Eggchair Music in Hollywood (eggchairmusic.com) donating the writing and
performing of his great music. This movie chronicles the effects of the tsunami
on the local villagers, and the relief efforts from all the generous foreign aid
workers.
A rough cut of 114 minutes version of our movie premiered in April 2006 at the
Docufest Atlanta Film Festival, and we won "Best Educational Documentary" award. The final edited version at 65 minutes of "And The Sea Took Us"
was an official selection in the River's Edge International Film Festival in
Paducah, Kentucky, in August. This completed version of the movie was also shown at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival in 2006, which ran from
October 20 to November 12, and won The Spirit of Independence Award for William Prosser and also Michelle Phillips won the same award for her narration.
By listing all the incredible relief organizations' contacts at the end of the
movie, I hope to bring still more help to this beautiful island people. It has been
some time since the tsunami hit Sri Lanka, and there are still many in need of
basic necessities for a household, such as a mattress for sleeping, or uniforms
for the kids for school. The most recent word I have is that permanent housing
is slow in coming, and they still need help.
I heartily recommend people in the West to take a vacation on the south coast
of Sri Lanka; tourism really benefits the locals. While there, stop by some
villages and buy fish and vegetables for some of the tsunami affected families.
You will remember the experience for the rest of your life.
Below are some links to pages of photos I shot in Sri Lanka, along with a page
with all the N.G.O.'s I positively know are doing a great deal towards the relief
effort; any funds you donate to them goes directly to the displaced people of
Sri Lanka in our southern coastal area.
Photos
GTZ
Tangalle Hospital
Handloom Factory
Deaf School
Palm Paradise Cabanas
Cmdr Jaggath
"And The Sea Took Us"
Documentary
Making a Difference
to Return to
William Prosser
Homepage