This was Michel’s 7^th and my 12^th trip to Sri Lanka since January 2000, a testament to our affinity and passion for this country and its people. 

Hearing about the disaster, we worried about our friends who live in Colombo, close to the sea.  Thankfully, they were not directly affected and had already started to help by bringing food to Galle by interior roads.

Sri Lanka is comprised of nine provinces and 25 districts.  Hambantota (province) is about a nine hour drive from Colombo, although it is only 200 kilometers to the southeast.  It lies on the edge of the “dry zone”, which means there are very long periods of drought, then extreme floods, once the monsoon starts.

In Hambantota there was a charity organization from Taiwan as well as a unit of the Pakistani army.  Some other organizations had been there leaving not much more than a couple of tents with clearly visible logos.

Up to this date, 95% of the marriages in Sri Lanka are arranged by the parents.  It is not easy to be born as a daughter and it is very costly for the family to get their daughters married. 

The first widow we visited was 26 year old Sifaya.  Before the tsunami, they had a good life. She had been married for eight years, mother of six year old Nasreen and two and a half year old Nasmila.

In Hambantota, two kindergarten schools were completely destroyed.  Other schools were destroyed to different extents and in some cases could be repaired.

… Not even a tsunami!

One of the three students graduating in June was Riyas.  He was 19 years old and lost his parents and his sister in the tsunami, as well as most of his relatives.

We had known Banuka for three years as he had been working as a waiter at the most beautiful (or better) hotel on the west coast.  He was always a bit faster, a bit friendlier and a bit more attentive than his colleagues.