Silver Lining - The Dark Cloud Presented
“A Thursday in September 2005 …….a bell is ringing …Nice and welcome sound – the symbol of life coming back to the Hindu temple, damaged by the tsunami, in the village of Kalmuni in the east of Sri Lanka. The bell announces the ceremony and prayers made to bless the temple and thank the people who have been working on the project.
Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Sinhala Budhists from Sri Lanka worked hand in hand with Italians, Spanish, French, Japanese, Belgian, Australian , Englishand Nepali volunteers to rebuild the village temple since March 2005.
Step by step, stone by stone, the Hindu temple has regained its bright colours, its devotees and his high position in the life of the village. The eyes of the villagers have brightened. Happiness, hope and delight to share these moments of prayer together in this sacred place.
Friday ……7.30 pm the bell is ringing again for the first weekly religious ceremony…the religious ceremony …….the children’s song rise in the temple. The prayers are peaceful. Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Sri Lankan and foreigners, all together again to celebrate life coming back to the tsunami torn village………….. simply
The most beautiful reward for all the volunteers and workers.
The above is a little episode faithfully recorded by Eric Morel – the French volunteer who was a part of our emergency relief team that rushed to Kalmunai – the little township in the east of Sri Lanka – immediately after the tsunami disaster.
The shock, the horror, the damage and the devastation the tsunami of December 2004 caused would never be forgotten by those who experienced it. SCI-Sri Lanka was one among the thousands of relief agencies who rushed to the scene of disaster.
As the saying goes “Every Dark Cloud has a Silver Lining”. The tsunami saw no distinction between the rich and poor, the powerful and the weak, low caste or high caste, man or woman, able or disabled. Everyone suffered equally without any discrimination whatsoever. The warring factions in Sri Lanka – the military and the LTTE suffered equally with their arms and ammunition, ships, boats and their cadres being washed away by the giant killer waves which came without any warning or signal. This forced them to help one another to stay alive and created history in the twenty five year old civil war in Sri Lanka.
SCI – Sri Lanka saw in this situation a unique opportunity to add the dimension of peace, tolerance and understanding to its emergency relief action. We made it a point to embark on activities that would bring the divided communities together in an act of goodwill and friendship.
Our international team comprised of volunteers from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Italy, France, Japan, Belgium, United States, England and Germany. Locals were selected on the basis of their maturity, experience and leadership qualities in peace building. It was hard and tough work. First it was burying the dead, then it was clearing the debris. The putrid smell was unbearable. There was no drinking water, no electricity and no proper accommodation. The ardent Hindu Tamil was shocked and surprised to see a Sinhala Buddhist, a Muslim, a Christian who were supposed to be his enemy cleaning his house and toilet. The low caste Hindu was amazed to see the high caste Hindu doing his menial work – this would never have been possible if not for the great disaster that crossed all dividing lines.
Then it came it came to the cleaning of the wells that provided drinking water to the residents and which were inundated by the sea rendering them useless. Our team comprised of all communities belonging to different races and religions and speaking many languages. Wells were a highly protected entity in these communities. A low caste family was not allowed to draw water from a well belonging to a high caste family. But the tsunami changed all these – there were only a few wells that provided drinkable water and they were forced to share these thus breaking down barriers and establishing communication and dialogue
All in all it was a great experience in emergency relief and peace building.
Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Sinhala Budhists from Sri Lanka worked hand in hand with Italians, Spanish, French, Japanese, Belgian, Australian , Englishand Nepali volunteers to rebuild the village temple since March 2005.
Step by step, stone by stone, the Hindu temple has regained its bright colours, its devotees and his high position in the life of the village. The eyes of the villagers have brightened. Happiness, hope and delight to share these moments of prayer together in this sacred place.
Friday ……7.30 pm the bell is ringing again for the first weekly religious ceremony…the religious ceremony …….the children’s song rise in the temple. The prayers are peaceful. Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Sri Lankan and foreigners, all together again to celebrate life coming back to the tsunami torn village………….. simply
The most beautiful reward for all the volunteers and workers.
The above is a little episode faithfully recorded by Eric Morel – the French volunteer who was a part of our emergency relief team that rushed to Kalmunai – the little township in the east of Sri Lanka – immediately after the tsunami disaster.
The shock, the horror, the damage and the devastation the tsunami of December 2004 caused would never be forgotten by those who experienced it. SCI-Sri Lanka was one among the thousands of relief agencies who rushed to the scene of disaster.
As the saying goes “Every Dark Cloud has a Silver Lining”. The tsunami saw no distinction between the rich and poor, the powerful and the weak, low caste or high caste, man or woman, able or disabled. Everyone suffered equally without any discrimination whatsoever. The warring factions in Sri Lanka – the military and the LTTE suffered equally with their arms and ammunition, ships, boats and their cadres being washed away by the giant killer waves which came without any warning or signal. This forced them to help one another to stay alive and created history in the twenty five year old civil war in Sri Lanka.
SCI – Sri Lanka saw in this situation a unique opportunity to add the dimension of peace, tolerance and understanding to its emergency relief action. We made it a point to embark on activities that would bring the divided communities together in an act of goodwill and friendship.
Our international team comprised of volunteers from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Italy, France, Japan, Belgium, United States, England and Germany. Locals were selected on the basis of their maturity, experience and leadership qualities in peace building. It was hard and tough work. First it was burying the dead, then it was clearing the debris. The putrid smell was unbearable. There was no drinking water, no electricity and no proper accommodation. The ardent Hindu Tamil was shocked and surprised to see a Sinhala Buddhist, a Muslim, a Christian who were supposed to be his enemy cleaning his house and toilet. The low caste Hindu was amazed to see the high caste Hindu doing his menial work – this would never have been possible if not for the great disaster that crossed all dividing lines.
Then it came it came to the cleaning of the wells that provided drinking water to the residents and which were inundated by the sea rendering them useless. Our team comprised of all communities belonging to different races and religions and speaking many languages. Wells were a highly protected entity in these communities. A low caste family was not allowed to draw water from a well belonging to a high caste family. But the tsunami changed all these – there were only a few wells that provided drinkable water and they were forced to share these thus breaking down barriers and establishing communication and dialogue
All in all it was a great experience in emergency relief and peace building.
