Month: December 2004

A cold yet pleasingly steady England. To be up and out of the Tsunami zone and into a hot bath within 2 days is strangely disarming. I feel as if I am betraying the local people left behind in this tragedy. Now, more than ever, people in these regions need the income from tourism to help them get back on their feet. The areas most hit obviously need the most help. But, in the badly affected places, the infrastructure is simply too strained to be able to support any further drain on water and food resources that visitors would bring. We actually left the Andamans following our intended schedule. There were enough supplies on Havelock to support the people there and many fellow travellers were choosing to stick to their original plans. Of course, news of the wider reach of the waves and the associated images that have been in the media all around the world hasn’t quite filtered round the islands yet. Believe me – I was choked by what the news showed on the plane coming home. We were blissfully unaware just how close we were.

So, now that we are home and safe with friends and family, what can anyone do to help? GIVE MONEY. Either donate to a specific organisation, such as the Red Cross and Oxfam, that are already based in some of the affected regions and doing excellent work. Or the Disasters Emergency Committee is running an appeal where you can also donate online. How much can you afford? Double it. Incredibly, even these sites are starting to buckle under the sheer enormity of things but please keep trying.

If you are looking for information about the situation in the Andaman Islands, an Andaman-Tsunami website has been created for those seeking to post or find out news.

Chennai, India. We have just arrived from the Andaman Islands and the extent of the Tsunami’s devastation is only just starting to hit home. Sleeping in a simple hut on the beach, we were woken by a serious rumble in the morning and we certainly got a bit wet but, as there are no communications on Havelock Island, we did not know what was happening in the outside world. The lack of information and rumours just caused more panic. When we left yesterday, people were still camped out in the hills for fear of another quake. Water and food supplies were low but not desperate. When a lady from the British High Commission met us at the airport, we realised people must have been worried. I didn’t quite expect us to make the news though! Anyway – we and all the other people who were on Havelock Island (the same should go for Neil Island too) are safe; there were no casualties. As we head home, my heart goes out to all those touched by this tragedy.

Chennai, India. Catching a lift with an Indian family and their kitchen sink, my nose is pressed close to the window. Sacred bulls stand dazed in the heavy traffic – either mesmerised by headlights or bewildered by the neon and noise of the night market. I catch my partner’s eye and we smile. Yep – we are back in India.