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December 28, 2004
Tsunami
By now I'm sure most of you have heard the tragic news of this earthquake and resulting tsunami that has devastated many costal areas in Southeast Asia. I would also assume that you know Thailand resides in Southeast Asia...and that I just spent the week surrounding Christmas on an island off the coast of Thailand. I'll put to rest any worried thoughts you're having and tell you honestly I'm perfectly fine and completely dry.
Fortunately, the island we chose to stay on lies on the other side of the narrow Burmese/Thai stretch of land that connects the two countries to Malaysia. There was some consideration to go further southwest and stay on a beach in Krabi, one of the heavily affected areas of Thailand. The town of Krabi neighbors Phuket, the highly-developed, resort filled, ultimately touristy area that also got hit hard. Hundreds of bungalows were completely washed away on Phi Phi Island, Krabi Province, which was made famous as the location that "The Beach" (starring you know who) was filmed on.
You can imagine what a major quake this was as the waves caused deaths in those African countries, over 3,000 miles away.
My Christmas was an excellent one. I slept in and woke up late to the sounds of the water washing up on the shore just twenty feet from the front door of my bungalow. Everyone was full of happiness, as always in this wonderful culture, and after some breakfast, we headed to the south of the island on the motorbikes to a village built entirely on stilts. One road stretches way out into the bay with diving shops, seafood restaurants, souvenir shops, beautiful homes, and even, surprise surprise, a 7-Eleven. We ate Christmas dinner at a table perched on the edge of the deck, feeding the remnants of our Steamed Lemon Herb Fish to the ravenous cannibalistic fish below.
The reported magnitude of the quake that caused the killer waves was between 8.9 and 9.1, the biggest in over 40 years. Apparently Bangkok experienced aftershocks of 6.5 but no damage was done. At least my sister made her December 28th flight out of Bangkok which is soon to be flooded by survivors desperately trying to get out of the entire area. Tourism is Thailand will be affected by this event, I'm sure, compounded by recent strict curfew laws and regulations requiring bars and discos to close at, in my opinion, unreasonably early hours.
I am so grateful to life for keeping me safe from this terrible tragedy, but with the death toll already over 40,000 and still rising, it's a very sad thing to hear about. Advanced monitoring stations and precautions have been set up in places like Hawaii and Japan, but unfortunately the areas that were hit the hardest have yet to join in the vast network of warning systems. How can you blame impoverished places like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the island off the coast of India, for not having evacuation plans? How can you evacuate millions of people who live their lives in little huts on stilts on the shores of the pacific, barely eating enough to get by? "I think this is the worst-ever natural disaster in Sri Lanka," N.D. Hettiarachchi, director of the National Disaster Management Centre, said. Food supplies and drinking water have been seriously depleted and the risk of widespread disease is very serious.
I just read that the US has pledged $15 million dollars in aid...How much did George spend in Iraq in the last week on technology based on killing? I see a huge, upsetting difference in these numbers. Billions are spent to kill for power and oil, but a catatstrophe affecting millions of people in 11 countries only deserves $15 million? There is much to be done to help these places. A new development just today states: UNICEF said uprooted land mines in Sri Lanka threatened to kill or maim aid workers and survivors. "Mines were ... washed out of known mine fields, so now we don't know where they are," said Ted Chaiban, the Sri Lanka chief of UNICEF.
Goosebumps and chills preceded the tears that came when I saw this photo. What's life for if not to feel?
"This was the worst day in our history," said Sri Lankan businessman Y.P. Wickramsinghe as he picked through the rubble of his sea-front dive shop in the devastated southwestern town of Galle. "I wish I had died. There is no point in living."
Traveling close to five hundred miles an hour at sea, the height of a tsunami may only rise a foot or two above the surrounding ocean. When it reaches close to shore and the sea floor rises, the water has no place to go but up and forward, destroying everything in it's path. You'll see the ocean retreating away from the shore, sometimes over three hundred feet back, and then suddenly stacking up and returning rapidly to crush the beach-front with waves over thirty feet high. I wonder what happens to the scuba divers that are down thirty meters below the surface? Are they affected? Are they thrashed along the coral that stands steady as a rock? The numbers of missing and dead continue to rise.
There is a lot of sorrow and concern in people's eyes here. The Earth is an unconquerable thing, and these reminders are not going cease for anyone. They happened long before us and will continue long after we are gone. I'm not going to bring religion into this event, but in answer to those who ask "What did we do to deserve this??" I'm going to say "Absolutely nothing. We're human. This is the Earth." If anything, it's a wake-up call from our mother reminding us who our life support and guardian is. Part of me thinks the real question is "What did the Earth do to deserve us?" Someday better care will be taken.
Let's all close our eyes and send our love and healing energy to those who have lost their lives and those who have lost their loves.
Posted by Tom Bodhi at December 28, 2004 03:30 AM
Comments
From Chay:So glad you're safe, Bodhi. Any plans to be involved with relief efforts?
Posted by: Anonymous at December 28, 2004 02:18 PM
I was thinkin about it, Chay, but I'm a bit torn. I figure, karmically, I should already be down there doing everything I can to help...not to mention the epic photojournalism opportunity this is. With deaths over 1,500 just in Thailand, there's a lot to be done and a lot of bodies to be moved. At the same time, I hear stories about the rotting bodies and the resulting widespread disease that may double the casualties in the end that makes me just a bit leary. Plus, I've been limping around for the last 3-4 days because of a long night of dancing and a mis-judged jump on a concrete floor in Koh Chang, how's that for selfish? Anyway, I'm in Bangkok now, and am going to look into what kind of help is needed. I may go give blood here in town if I have the right type. Anyway, thanks for all your concerns and I'll let you know what I decide.
Posted by: Bodhi at December 29, 2004 01:30 AM
When I first heard of the extent of the tradegy, i didn't really put two and two together. I knew you were going to spend Christmas on an island with Paco and Yoko, but... it just didn't register until you explained on the phone that it was your choice. Fortunately for us all, you chose to get away from the tourist crowd. Seems you could just as easily ended up in the middle of it. As you say, it's been quite a wake-up call-- a reminder of how precious every day is to every one of us. As to "What did the Earth do to deserve us?": It became so beautiful, wonderous, and awesome that it needed to be able to appreciate itself.
Posted by: gian at December 30, 2004 11:45 AM
It's cool that we can post comments here-- I'm still learning how to blog. Thanks, Bodhi, for sharing your words with us and touching our hearts.In regards to relief efforts, the risk of disease now means that volunteers not only need training but vaccinations and protective gear as well as clean water, food, and sleeping quarters. International relief organizations must have official processes for working with volunteers and avoiding liability. I'd be curious to find out how smaller organizations are contributing to the relief efforts-- like monasteries, churches, and local non-governmental organizations. Let us know if you learn about some of these more de-centralized efforts.As for the $15 or the $35 million--whatever the amount is-- it still doesn't add up to a day in Iraq. In addition, our president missed an opportunity to win back the love of the world. He could have saved face in Iraq and made the terrorists look bad by sending trained military personnel and equipment to help in the relief efforts. So many places are inaccesible by road that having the extra helicopters and tough Marines would really help. Diplomatically, it seems like a great way for the US to back out of the disaster still brewing in Iraq and make much better use of its military. Iraq may still need peacekeeping forces for a while, but in this way, the rest of the world might be more willing to join the coalition. May this disaster help awaken all to global consciousness and human unity.One people, one planet.
Posted by: emma cornell at December 30, 2004 04:09 PM
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Posted by: Anonymous at December 31, 2004 12:51 PM
thank you for your beautiful words.as far as helping with relief efforts, have you thought about sending money to an organization? I know you don't have that much, but money can help buy supplies and other stuff. there's a lot of corruption, so be careful who you donate to. here's two sites, one where my friend lives in india, and the other is oxfam, an international aid organization.I'm going to send $20-30.http://aviusa.org/donations_donatenow.htmlhttp://www.moveon.org/r?r=631talk to you soon. love you, yoko
Posted by: yoko at January 3, 2005 05:00 PM
Here's the actual website for Oxfam International. I donated to them because they have already been working at the grassroots level in Southeast Asia, so they will be able to respond to this disaster more effectively. Besides feeding the hungry, their long-term goal is to help re-organize the local economy so people become more self-reliant and have more access to food and resources.www.oxfam.org
Posted by: emma cornell at January 5, 2005 11:54 PM
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