Caring for Victims of the Tsunami

JIM LEHRER:

Now we have three tsunami reports. The first is from Phuket, Thailand. It's about how tragedy has united people once divided by religion, politics or economic circumstances. The reporter is Ian Williams of Independent Television News.

IAN WILLIAMS:

Phuket held its own memorial service today, more than 1,000 Buddhist monks leading a chant in memory of those who died here, half of them foreign tourists. Leaders of the island's Islamic and Christian communities were here, too, united in grief as Phuket begins to rebuild. Schools are a priority.

In Karmala Village, volunteers work in the flattened remains of the primary school, aiming to cobble back together at least one building before the children return next week. A Christian charity has launched a 300,000 pound appeal to build a new school.

BRIAN BURTON, Phuket Christian Centre:

We're going to rebuild the whole school in a new place about a thousand meters back, partly because the parents are scared of another wave hitting.

IAN WILLIAMS:

In spite of the widespread damage, only two of this school's three hundred children died, together with one of their teachers. This is all that remains of the main school building, strange though it seems they were lucky. The wave struck on a Sunday; had they come a day later, this building would have been packed with children. Further along the coast, pupils at Kalim School also had a lucky escape, a quick-witted local official ordering them and their families out of their nearby homes.

MANA PANCHALAD, District Official:

I asked the people from the village, and the children also, you must go away or up to the hill, because after the big wave is coming, I think big wave, big wave coming, runaway, runaway, runaway.

IAN WILLIAMS:

The children are now back but lessons will have to wait until the books are dry. While we were here, a U.N. team was assessing the needs of the school and the psychological impact on the children, many of whom have lost their homes. Their first impression: That these children at least are in pretty good spirits.

The U.N. says it's concerned for small businesses, like shops and guest houses destroyed by the wave. Though in Karmala, local business people have additional worries. Most are former sea gypsies, whose families have lived on this land for generations. But like many in Phuket, they've no proper legal title to it and fear that in the name of reconstruction, they may be forced out by powerful well- connected businessmen.

Tonight Phuket was united as thousands, as thousands, Thais and foreigners, attended the memorial service. Ten thousand candles were lit in memory of the victims of the tsunami, and giant lanterns were released into the night sky carrying, they believe, the spirits of the dead to rest in peace.

JIM LEHRER:

Our second report is from ITN's Alex Thomson. It's about the economic impact of the disaster in eastern Sri Lanka.

ALEX THOMSON:

Fly over the affected areas and you'll see settlements at first untouched and they are, the last 300 yards to the beach have been devastated. But multiply this short strip along hundreds of miles of coast and you begin to see the scale of the problem. So it is that at ground level you will see well-stocked bazaars untouched by anything, just hundreds of yards from disaster, where wells contaminated by seawater and debris produce undrinkable water for a village district that can no longer exist here till outside help arrives in force.

No industry, tourism included, has been devastated quite like this country's fishing. In the village almost every family is dependent upon it. But the dugouts and their outriggers lie around smashed. Nobody is at sea; nobody is going to be for some time. The fishermen are frightened, believing there will be more tsunamis; they say it's punishment, an act of God. Some though have at least come back to the beach to begin repairing their nets. But first they've got to dig the nets out of the sand and the debris, and then sign up for any possible compensation for loss, to boats, nets, or houses, or in many cases all three.

For now, their families are refugees, some staying with village friends or relatives, others at one of the village schools, and they're at risk from epidemics. There are real fears of cholera, but no confirmed cases so far. And there are children, lots of children, as in every affected village, who cannot restart school just as their parents cannot restart the fishing.

PATRICK CAMPBELL, UNICEF:

Children are the most affected by trauma, children who have lost parents, who have lost schools. They will not be able to go to school for a few days yet. It is important that we get children back to school, that we have activities for them in their communities; that we keep them in their communities.

ALEX THOMSON:

Reconstruction, rebuilding, repair, it all works on many levels. And what's very important in a village like this is going to be reconstructing the fabric of the local school. That's important obviously in terms of education, in terms of getting children back to learning their lessons, but also in terms of getting them back to normality.

The government says it can be done by Jan.10, that's what they're aiming for across Sri Lanka. The blackboard still read Dec. 22 at the end of the last term. The lesson from a life before the tsunami still survives.

JIM LEHRER:

Report three: ITN's Dan Rivers focuses on the children who survived the tsunami in Aceh Province in Sumatra.

DAN RIVERS:

The village of Lampaya doesn't exist anymore. Three quarters of its residents are dead. Only a few coconut trees remain standing. They now provide shade for 1,200 refugees; among them, Rafika, four and a half years old and now an orphan. A distant cousin is caring for her, but she asks for her mother.

She doesn't cry, she just watches and waits, quiet, numb. She doesn't understand what's happening. But some are staying with total strangers. Budi is ten years old and was found wandering alone in the rubble. For three-year-old Sultan, another orphan, who charities are warning could be in real danger in these camps.

EILEEN BURKE, Save The Children:

When you're desperate, you turn to desperate means. And it leaves them very vulnerable to all sorts of dangers, such as trafficking. And that's why it's critical that we identify them as soon as possible and give them a safe place to stay.

DAN RIVERS:

This camp has food for two days. It's chaotic, and many orphans are left unsupervised for hours on end. Every tent you visit here has a harrowing story of loss and grief. Everyone here has suffered unimaginable trauma, but none more so than the children who've lost their parents. These children are from another camp nearby.

All are orphans. Siami is 11. When the tsunami hit, he and his family were swept away, but somehow he survived. It's difficult for him to talk about what's happened. Augustier is 13. His mother, father and two younger brothers are now dead. He only survived by clinging to a football, which buoyed him to the surface of the tsunami. His pain is raw; his loneliness is overwhelming.