From Tucker in Columbo January 11, 2005

Update 1/11/05

After a grueling 48 hours in the air crossing several continents, I finally arrived in Colombo, and was greeted at the airport by Sarah and Niko, two members of the VeAhvta team who have already been in Colombo for several days now. We were taken by car back to their headquarters in the stadium hotel in the centre of Colombo, and there I met some of the other staff from Germany, Malaysia, and the United States.

Exhausted, but determined to check my technical equipment, I consumed the better part of the afternoon setting up my digital and audio equipment, and speaking to the local GSM provider so that my world phone could be connected to their internet link for updates that I will be posting to the Serendib web site.

Late afternoon and the fatigue crept over me, my body wrenched out of its natural sleep patterns and thrown into the shock of a new climate. I was determined to go and visit Galle Face Green, the area I knew in Colombo where the waves would have risen up over the 10 foot barrier walls and come seeping into the city. I was relieved to find that the damage in the capital was in fact minimal, and that as a result of the tsunami striking at an early hour in the morning – most people were not yet out strolling along the boardwalk or playing in the waves.

As I left to return to my hotel, a child and his parents came across the green, heading for the burnishing sun as it slipped over the horizon. The child cried out in excitement, “look, mommy, this is where the tsunami came and hit Colombo.” I thought to myself how lucky these parents were to have their son still with them, and trained my thoughts on those whom I would soon meet that had not been so fortunate.

Tomorrow I leave with an assessment team for Galle, one of the hardest hit areas on the Southern coastline.

Tucker