The day after Christmas, 2004, my family and I watched along with the rest of the world as Southern Asia was hit by the most devastating natural disaster in living memory. Sitting in my living room and watching the video feeds from India and Thailand on the news, I had no concept of the magnitude of destruction the calamity wrought. Initial reports of "20,000 presumed dead" were sobering, but I had watched on live television as the Twin Towers came down on September 11th. Devastation and tragedy have filled the news for long enough that each new crisis seems another immovable obstacle in humanity's way, with ameliorating efforts making things worse as often as they accomplish anything positive. My heart went out to all those affected by the disaster, but what could I do? After all, I lived thousands of miles and a world away from the people in those pictures, and was powerless to help- or so I thought.
In disheartening times, there seems to be a trend that people prefer finding and asking hard questions (Is our country giving enough money? What are the true motivations of our government in offering aid? And my personal question, how can I hope to make a real difference?) to the much harder task of getting those questions answered. Fortunately, the world responded to this particular crisis in good form and rushed aid to the affected areas almost immediately. A lot of good people put forth their best effort, not knowing if it was going to be enough to make even a small difference. I was not one of the first on the scene, nor did I even have any plans to help out other than a vague notion of making donations to some organization or another. It was my father who changed that for me, my father who approached me with his own plans of going to India to help rebuild a village and asked me if I wanted to go with him. With the destruction I had seen and human cost I had heard about in mind, I agreed.
Weeks later we are beginning to realize more fully the price that the tsunami exacted from Asia's coast. The death toll climbs daily, reaching over 150,000 at the time of this writing. Hundreds of towns have been wiped clean away, and though the ocean has long since calmed the survivors must deal with the emotional trauma that only intensifies as more and more of the missing are confirmed dead. Starvation, malnutrition, and disease now set in as society's infrastructure struggles to regain its footing in remote areas. Relief efforts continue, but cannot hope to keep pace with the development of this tragedy. Nations and individuals the world over have been extraordinarily generous, but we can only hope that such donations make it to where they are most needed.
As for myself, I am now committed to accompanying my father for a few weeks to assist in reconstruction of the most impacted part of the Indian coast. There we will work along side the locals in whatever capacity we are needed to rebuild over 200 houses and public service buildings (including latrines, schools, and a medical ward) under the auspices of the Global Uplift organization in partnership with the Indian government. Fund raising for the effort is proceeding at a promising rate, and the leader of the organization, Mr. Peter Shah, is confident that a temporary village can be completed before the June monsoon season hits the coastline. Field specialists in country have assessed damage and logistics concerns, and the organization is preparing for permanent construction. Engineering and construction issues are being prepared by a group of volunteer specialists, including my father. Up-to-date information about the progress in these and all other areas of the project will be available constantly on this site, so please explore at your leisure and contact us with any questions or comments you have.
I write this introduction and the rest of this site as a candid account of my experience so that you, the reader, know exactly what's going on. The task seems overwhelming, but any contribution helps more that you can imagine. Not everyone can make it over to India or Burma or Sumatra, but any donation can make a huge difference. In India, with volunteers and workers contributing to their own villages, we can find donated and recycled material, and lead the construction of a house for an entire family for about $250. Anything you contribute can make a difference, so please keep that in mind as you follow our progress and see what your money, effort, and good wishes are accomplishing.