Hope in place of despair, loss gives way to new beginnings
A return visit to a formerly tsunami devastated area of Tamil Nadu, India

Hope emanates from this scene of happy fishermen attending to rows of new boats, financed largely due to targeted grants via the tsunami relief fund.

Six months ago, in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami, upon witnessing the unprecedented physical devastation, suffering and human grief, a relief worker in India chronicled the following:

"The tsunami survivor started talking to me in Tamil saying that he had lost everything: his wife, three of his five children, his home and his boat. I could tell he just didn't have it in him to know how to start to rebuild his life. Not knowing what to do I just took him in my arms and hugged him and then he just burst forth in tears, uncontrollable crying and grief. I too could not restrain the heartache. At last he got it out, all the pent up grief and uncertainty...came gushing forth.

"Anyone coming here must realize that when they come these people hurt deep inside. Not only do they need to rebuild their homes and lives and means of livelihood but many of them need to find a reason to even put forth the effort to carry on.”

The same relief worker recently shared the following:

"This month I was able to visit the same beach I had visited six months previously, just four days after the tsunami hit, and the change that has taken place is very encouraging. At that time I had recorded the following observation.

"When I walked the beach this time, it was refreshing. It was as if life had sprung up again in the hearts of the people. The beach, instead of its previous state of being strewn with wreckage and debris, was now full of new fishing boats. Men sat mending and preparing their new nets instead of untangling or burning the endless cobweb nets that seemed like they covered everything months before. There was hope in the air instead of despair, re-birth instead of death.

"No one can ever bring back the lives that were lost, but for many there is hope of a new beginning. The tsunami brought unprecedented destruction, and, in its wake, has been the catalyst for great change. The world community responded to the need and many things have changed for the better."

We hope this brief testament is an encouragement to you, to see the progress that is being made at the grassroots level; which is where it really counts, and that lives are being helped and touched through your giving and concern. We also wish to express our thanks to those of you who have given so generously and sacrificially. Your giving has made it possible and thus you have been instrumental in helping to bring about these changes for the better. You truly have and are helping to make a better world.

Please click the following link for more in-depth news, photos and reports: Tsunami Relief