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Solutions July 2005
Off
Hours
Images
Tsunami
Relief Brings Waves of Emotion
Editor’s
Note: Susan Hartmere, CEO of Hartmere
Associates, a distributorship
in Woburn, Mass., was part of
a 22-person team that helped tsunami
victims in southern India. This
is an edited version of her essay
about the trip.
The
farther south we headed, the more
we became aware of the plight
of the tsunami victims. Our destination
was the village of Nagapatnum,
just north of Sri Lanka. Along
the road were makeshift shelters
and tents, which were in neat
rows on land that was barren due
to the enormous force of the waves.
Some shelters were made of thatch.
I fast-forwarded through a typical
day in my life: I have a bed with
nice sheets, my favorite pillow
and a down comforter. They had
straw mats. I have too many outfits.
They had the clothes on their
backs. I didn’t want for
anything, and it seemed they needed
everything…
We
visited a temporary shelter, and
I will never get over it. It consisted
of long corridors of corrugated
metal buildings that were sectioned
off to families. Each space measured
60 square feet. The temperature
was hovering near 100 F, and the
humidity was off the charts. But
these were not sad people. Desperate,
yes, but not defeated…
We
became part of a celebration marking
the first time fishermen would
put their boats in the water since
the tsunami. We all marched to
the sea behind an Indian band.
Children were running up to me
to hold my hand…
Our
team was scheduled to build temporary
housing for tsunami victims, but
the Indian government hadn’t
cleared the land. Our plans changed
to helping build a new orphanage
that would house children from
four temporary ones. As promised,
donations we had collected before
leaving will be used to bring
families to permanent homes. When
they’re completed, one house
will have a plaque marked: “From
the People of Woburn, Massachusetts,
USA…”
Our
team worked with laborers who
make $2 a day. We moved bricks
by hand via the chain-gang method.
We mixed cement on the ground
with worn-out tools, and we carried
it on our heads in wok-shaped
‘hods.’ We spent the
day moving earth, passing bricks
and laying bricks for a retaining
wall…
We
went to the beach where the tsunami
hit. It was overwhelming—a
completely bare beach with barren
land as far as the eye could see.
I saw the top of a concrete roofing
structure sticking out of the
sand; the bottom was 40 feet away.
Seeing this put in perspective
the utter force of the water.
One team member brought a soccer
ball and pump. Children gathered
around us, and we pumped the ball
and gave it to them. They were
so grateful…
At
the end of the last day, we hosed
off our boots and lined them up.
They were gone in an instant.
Then we gave away extra clothes
we had washed and snacks we had
brought. As I was leaving, one
worker pointed to my sneakers
that were caked in mud and cement.
I put my foot on a bench, and
the laborer unlaced them, took
them off my feet and bowed in
thanks. I walked to the bus through
muck and sat down to change into
my sandals. He followed me and
pointed to my socks. I took them
off…
It
wasn’t what we completed,
it was what we accomplished—showing
that we cared enough to travel
so far to help. I know we mattered
to the children who will live
in the structure we started. Happiness
isn’t found in possessions.
We say it all the time, but sometimes
it takes a trip halfway around
the world to truly understand.”
—Susan
Hartmere
