Justice in Disaster
January 19, 2005 Our last day in India
Hello from an internet cafe in Chennai. We arrived here about 1:30 a.m. This is a mail-only cafe, so once again no pictures.
And, my, there are pictures. I took 240-plus images yesterday. To set the scene, Leslie and Belletech went elsewhere to visit food distribution and other relief sites supported by the ELCA through CASA (Churches Auxiliary for Social Action, the Church World Service of India). So, it was just me and the guys.
On our way out of Karaikal we passed the big fishing vessel tossed on shore--I scrambled to take a shot. I did not know that this was just a foretaste of what was ahead.
We stopped at what used to be a busy fish market. There are vessels (50' to 60' long holding 25 people) thrown about every where. The 20' high waves tossed them over two-story buildings. The fish market was open on the 26th, and busy. Children were playing as their parents tended to business. Five hundred people died here, more than half were children.
[Interestingly, from a previous day we talked to fisherfolk who were out on the sea fishing during the tsunami. They did not know anything was wrong until they came in to shore.]
We talked to Sarela, a Roman Catholic nursery school teacher. Nine of the children in her school were killed and most were affected in some way: "Their mother, father, sister, died."
I took a picture of a man praying, crouched low on a bridge so he was near the sea, but could avoid looking at it.
I don't want to forget to say how beautiful it all is here--the beach front is heartbreakingly beautiful, and now so empty. I'm mostly recalling previous days in the rural areas. We are worried, then, that the government insistence that all most move 500 kilometers away from the shore might make way for land developers to claim this oceanfront for tourists and restrict access to it for the fisherfolk, especially the Dalits who are not fisherfolk, but depend on the fish business. We've heard talk of "Dignity in Disaster," and I also hear real concern for "Justice in Disaster." It's all very complex, especially in relationship to the caste system in India.
Many of the fisherfolk affected, especially those who own the big vessels and the fiberglass, motorized boats, are upper class. I think about the Towers. The wealthiest perished along side with those who served them coffee and the civil servants who raced up the steps to save them. At the relief stage--food, water, clothes, medicine--rich and poor are most alike. At the restitution stage, it is a more complex matter. There are no simple ways to achieve justice in disaster. It is important to note that the UELCI churches, NGOs, and others are keeping the lights up on the issues of justice.
Hello from an internet cafe in Chennai. We arrived here about 1:30 a.m. This is a mail-only cafe, so once again no pictures.
And, my, there are pictures. I took 240-plus images yesterday. To set the scene, Leslie and Belletech went elsewhere to visit food distribution and other relief sites supported by the ELCA through CASA (Churches Auxiliary for Social Action, the Church World Service of India). So, it was just me and the guys.
On our way out of Karaikal we passed the big fishing vessel tossed on shore--I scrambled to take a shot. I did not know that this was just a foretaste of what was ahead.
We stopped at what used to be a busy fish market. There are vessels (50' to 60' long holding 25 people) thrown about every where. The 20' high waves tossed them over two-story buildings. The fish market was open on the 26th, and busy. Children were playing as their parents tended to business. Five hundred people died here, more than half were children.
[Interestingly, from a previous day we talked to fisherfolk who were out on the sea fishing during the tsunami. They did not know anything was wrong until they came in to shore.]
We talked to Sarela, a Roman Catholic nursery school teacher. Nine of the children in her school were killed and most were affected in some way: "Their mother, father, sister, died."
I took a picture of a man praying, crouched low on a bridge so he was near the sea, but could avoid looking at it.
I don't want to forget to say how beautiful it all is here--the beach front is heartbreakingly beautiful, and now so empty. I'm mostly recalling previous days in the rural areas. We are worried, then, that the government insistence that all most move 500 kilometers away from the shore might make way for land developers to claim this oceanfront for tourists and restrict access to it for the fisherfolk, especially the Dalits who are not fisherfolk, but depend on the fish business. We've heard talk of "Dignity in Disaster," and I also hear real concern for "Justice in Disaster." It's all very complex, especially in relationship to the caste system in India.
Many of the fisherfolk affected, especially those who own the big vessels and the fiberglass, motorized boats, are upper class. I think about the Towers. The wealthiest perished along side with those who served them coffee and the civil servants who raced up the steps to save them. At the relief stage--food, water, clothes, medicine--rich and poor are most alike. At the restitution stage, it is a more complex matter. There are no simple ways to achieve justice in disaster. It is important to note that the UELCI churches, NGOs, and others are keeping the lights up on the issues of justice.
posted by Sue-s | 11:30 AM
<< Home