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Sherry's Diary

A Face to the Disaster

 

 

 

Sherry Grant

Phuket, Thailand

7 January 2005

 

We arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka from Phuket at two in the morning and then had a one hour drive to the hotel.  I wrote my journal and got to bed about 5:00am.  My body clock was way off - too many time zones in too few days.  Dr. Listriani and I have been moving fast and only sleep when we either fall down or are traveling in cars.

 

Our morning was spent on the telephone coordinating the Dr. Wayan Mudiarta who was heading the Aceh advance team.  Dr. Wayan, who is a veterinarian with the Bali Street Dog Foundation,  was getting supplied and outfitted in Medan before moving on the Banda Aceh. 

 

He was trying to rent a 4-wheel drive vehicle but the NGO’s had stripped the town of practically everything.  All goods were in short supply.  He finally found a vehicle, but they wouldn’t insure it to go to Banda Aceh, which is still considered a war zone.  We had no choice.  We had to go without any insurance and hope that it didn’t get wreaked or hijacked.

 

After sorting out other last minute details we wished Wayan good luck with a promise to see him in Aceh in 36 hours.  Fortunately, we would be flying into Banda Aceh and thus avoid the treacherous twelve hour drive from Medan.  Already several aid trucks have been hijacked by the rebels. 

 

At 1:30pm we met with Bob Bloomberg, Anusia David (a one woman show in Sri Lanka animal welfare), Dr. Sumith, Director for the National Livestock Board Sri Lanka and Director of the Pets V Care animal hospital. 

 

We had lost a day in Phuket dealing with the Dolphin rescue, so we had to shorten the schedule on this end while still getting everything done.  This wasn’t a problem for Bob and Anusia who were more than up for the challenge.

 

Our first stop was Payagala, about one hour south of Colombo.  This use to be a fishing village before it was completely wiped out by the tsunami.  We wanted to look at several issues.

1. The relationship between the displaced families and the dogs. A recent newspaper article headlined “Canine Terror after Tsunami” had alarmed everyone.

2. Developing programs for emergency care and rabies vaccination dispensed from a central location.

3. Developing a treat-and-release field program.

4. The livestock/farm animal issues.

 

HSI generally prefers working with already established animal welfare groups.  In this case it was Pet V Care.  They have 14 veterinarians and four mobile units working on the relief effort.  We departed at 2:00pm for a one hour drive south along the coast to Payagala.

 

In Payagala we met with the chief investigator with the local the police and explained our mission.  He was very accommodating and understood immediately the link between the people and their animals.  He said they needed help and assigned us an officer to take us through the village and thanked us for caring enough about the families who had lost everything including their pets and farm animals.

 

Payagala is a sleepy little village with small concrete block homes set among thick of green foliage and palm trees.  It certainly didn’t’ look like it is one of the hardest hit areas.  That is, until we turned off the main road onto a dirt track towards the beach….. Phuket did not prepare me for what lay ahead.  The homes were piles of rubble. 

 

Where as in Phuket the destruction was mostly to businesses, hotels, and restaurants, the devastation here had a faces and families attached to it.  The villagers were doing the best they could to sort through the rubble without any help or heavy equipment.  Piles of what couldn’t be salvaged were beginning to take shape. Personal belongings, bricks, wood, twisted metal and clothing were being sorted with the hope of salvaging anything that might be useful in the rebuilding their lives.  Dogs were sniffing and searching, circling the ruins which once were their homes.  Cats sat among the rubble, obviously missing the high posts they were use to perching on.

 

 

We walked toward the sea. Twisted railroad tracks and ties now bisect the community.  The heavy iron railroad tracks bent and heaving from the ground are testament to the force of the wave.

 

Walking into the village we were in awe of the destruction. I noticed a small play tea set, children’s sandals, and family pictures torn from frames - signs of lives now in the past. This disaster had faces, hearts and souls - and in the middle now sat forlorn and confused dogs and cats.

 

Next, we went to the makeshift refuge camp which was filled with women, older men and children.  The children were restless and without toys.  There were smiling faces eager to touch, ask my name and have contact. 

 

Dr. Listriani had thoughtfully brought along some animal puppets used by the Bali Street Dog Foundation in their animal awareness school programs (sponsored by WSPA).  The kids went wild.  We thought we were going to be crushed as they pushed and shoved to get the little presents sent from Bali students. It was a joy to see these children, who had just been through so much, still possessing the kind of resilience and spirit that only children have.  My heart was lifted.

 

 

We moved on and some pigs and chickens caught my attention.  I followed them into a cemetery.  It was scary.  The only thing remaining in this area was the fisherman’s quaint cemetery.  Headstones were ripped from the graves whilst pigs rooted for something to eat.  As I made my way through the cemetery a man approached me.  His warm face was so engaging that I just wanted to throw my arms around him when he asks me why I am interested in his pigs.  I told him why I am there. Self-consciously, I extended my hand in condolences which seemed so inappropriate.  He squeezed my hand and did not let go while he told me the story of his pigs.  It went like this.

 

He explained that the fishing is seasonal so the pigs and chickens get the family through from one season to the next.  The day of the tsunami started out no different than any other.  But it would be a day that he would remember forever.  When the wave came in without warning he frantically tried to rescue his wife and children.  Before the tsunami there were about 1,000 pigs in the village.  About half of them perished.  Those remaining ended up on the road – the high ground – dazed but safe.  All night long he helped his severely injured wife and searched for his two children, who he found dead among the ruble.  The next morning, still stricken with grief he decided to retrieve his remaining pigs which he now needed more then ever.  When he and the other villagers went up to the road they were surprised to find that all of the pigs were gone – apparently stolen by marauders in the night.

 

The tears swelled up in his eyes as he explained that he has lost everything – his children, his boat, his house, his animals and his very means of survival. 

 

He gave me his address in hopes that I could later send him a copy of the photos that we had taken of us along with the surviving children happily waving their animal puppets.

 

M. Lal Gamini

Cemetery Road

Kalamulla, Sri Lanka

 

 

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