On the Edge of the Wave – A Study

Lewis J. and Lewis B. 2006, A?a??E?On the Edge of the Wave: Community recovery in a
tsunami-affected area of Sri LankaA?a??a??
in K.Cook and K.Gilbert, Eds, A?a??E?Life on the margins: implications for health researchA?a??a??,
Pearson Education, Melbourne.
1
At the Edge of the Big Wave:
Community recovery in a tsunami-affected area of Sri Lanka
Jeff Lewis and Belinda Lewis
2006
A?a??E?I can tell you thisA?a??A?I would never, ever, ever donate to a charity or aid organization in
the futureA?a??a??. (Community member, Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka)
A?a??E?The trouble with doing aid work in Sri Lanka is that the people here are incompetent:
from government officials right down to the workers on the site. They just donA?a??a??t have
the skills, theyA?a??a??re hopelessA?a??a??. (Aid Manager, Habitat Christian Aid Organization)
A?a??E?I think the emergency aid program has gone quite well. Given the complex and violent
nature of this society, we have achieved a great deal.A?a??a?? (Senior official, USAID)
Introduction
Lying off the south eastern coast of the Indian sub-continent, Sri Lanka has been shaped by a
complex history of invasion, maritime trade and various forms of colonial incursion and
administration. The warrior emperor Ashoka, for example, brought Buddhism from southern
India into Sri Lanka during the second century BC (Senaveratna, 1997). Since that time,
however, the culture of the island has been influenced and transformed by Arabic traders,
Portuguese, Dutch and ultimately British colonizers. With less than fifty kilometres of
shallow water land bridge separating northern Sri Lanka from India, it is not surprising that
Hindu Tamils also migrated to the island, occupying and controlling significant parts of the
north and Jaffna Peninsula. British colonization, modernization and the more recent
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Lewis J. and Lewis B. 2006, A?a??E?On the Edge of the Wave: Community recovery in a
tsunami-affected area of Sri LankaA?a??a??
in K.Cook and K.Gilbert, Eds, A?a??E?Life on the margins: implications for health researchA?a??a??,
Pearson Education, Melbourne.
2
integration of Sri Lanka into global trade and cultural exchange have generated further social
complexities and transformations. For example, independence in 1948 brought with it a surge
of Sinhalese nationalism, itself a precipitant for Tamil nationalism which contributed
eventually to civil war from 1983 to 2002 (Wilson, 2001, Ghosh, 2003).
Hasbullah and Morrison (2004) have characterized these transitions in terms of Sri LankaA?a??E?s
struggle to establish civil institutions which might effectively embrace the islandA?a??E?s ethnic,
cultural and political diversity. The ongoing deficiencies in civil governance continue to limit
peace-building and reconciliation, as well as frustrate broader attempts to improve Sri LankaA?a??E?s
economic, social and community well-being. Thus, while tourism authorities seek to promote
the island as A?a??E?serendipityA?a??a??, a tropical paradise, the actual security, living conditions and health
of many Sri Lankans continues to be constrained within politically volatile, A?a??E?third worldA?a??a??
conditions. In fact, industries like tourism, which bring essential foreign exchange funds into
the Sri Lankan economy, demonstrate the precariousness of the post-conflict society; any
outbreaks of violence or social unrest immediately affects international arrivals and hence
overall economic activity.
These community tensions and security vulnerabilities have been illuminated and in many
respects even exacerbated by the tsunami event of December 26, 2004. The waves struck the
east and south-west of the island with savage and devastating effect, killing over 40,000
people and displacing around 2.5 million survivors. The everyday privation and indigence
experienced by many of the people in the affected areas suddenly became exceptional as
images of the tsunami were beamed across the globe. Confronted by this terrifying spectacle,
first world governments and their citizens mobilized their compassion through a major global
emergency relief effort; substantial funds, aid workers and volunteers poured into the regions,
providing unparalleled support which, in principle, was not bounded by political, ethnic or
religious difference.
This extraordinary mood of co-operation and support was mirrored within Sri Lanka itself
where Tamil and Sinhalese antagonisms were set aside, at least temporarily, as bereaved and
traumatised communities sought to recover their dead, heal the injured and take stock of the
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Lewis J. and Lewis B. 2006, A?a??E?On the Edge of the Wave: Community recovery in a
tsunami-affected area of Sri LankaA?a??a??
in K.Cook and K.Gilbert, Eds, A?a??E?Life on the margins: implications for health researchA?a??a??,
Pearson Education, Melbourne.
3
physical damage to their homes, infrastructure and environments. The threat of disease, food
shortages and contaminated water were common to all groups. And despite provocations from
people like President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who claimed that the peace process had been
accelerated by the tsunami since it had decimated the Tamil fighters, the suffering itself
seemed to unite most political interests in Sri Lanka, providing a genuine opportunity for
reconciliation and peace-building. It seemed possible in the first weeks following the disaster
that the long history of antagonism between the Sinhalese and Tamils could draw the margins
into a pragmatic process of national and democratic consolidation.
As if to immaculate this process within the War on Terror and the promulgation of western
democratic values, US President George Bush, assuming the role of tsunami global statesman,
visited a number of the devastated areas of the region. With the Iraq occupation going very
badly for the US-led Coalition, it is not surprising that Bush embraced the opportunity to
present himself and the United States in a compassionate and supportive leadership role. Nor
is it surprising that the Sri Lanka photo-op was situated in the overwhelmingly Sinhalese
region of the south-west around Galle. BushA?a??E?s visit and the associated USAID package worth
over $35m (US Agency for International Development 2005) were clearly designed to
influence the Sinhalese dominated government to take more seriously their A?a??E?democraticA?a??a??
responsibilities for peace-building and reconciliation between the two major ethnic groups.
The World Bank, pursuing parallel political goals, insisted similarly that that their own aid
and development package was contingent upon the effective social management of ethnic
tension. In pursuit of these funds President Kumaratunga was prepared to sacrifice her
governmentA?a??E?s coalition partner the JVP (Marxist PeopleA?a??E?s Liberation Front), which had
objected to the sharing of aid money with the Tamil tigers. KumaratungaA?a??E?s implementation of
the Tsunami Relief Council and the National Centre for the distribution of relief funds, while
leaving her as the head of a minority government, has also led to widespread protests from
Buddhist monks and Sinhalese students in the capital and across the south-west of the
country. The goal of the National Centre, however, was for A?a??E?the proper distribution of the
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Lewis J. and Lewis B. 2006, A?a??E?On the Edge of the Wave: Community recovery in a
tsunami-affected area of Sri LankaA?a??a??
in K.Cook and K.Gilbert, Eds, A?a??E?Life on the margins: implications for health researchA?a??a??,
Pearson Education, Melbourne.
4
international aid among the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities and for the process to
build a new Sri LankaA?a??E? (Colombo Page, 2005).
For all their undoubted potential, these ideals are clearly struggling to erase the sources of
tension and insecurity that the majority of Sri Lankans experience as a daily reality. Amid the
resonance of civil war, poverty and violence mingle in an insidious collusion of social anxiety
and unrest. The A?a??E?recoveryA?a??E? in fact has been extremely uneven. While significant re-building is
evident around the more publicly extant areas of the southwest, in the more ethnically mixed
areas of the east, progress has been at best intermittent and at worst stagnant. Ethnic division
continues to constrain the economic development and social health of the nation; as the
recovery evolves from emergency relief to the provision of longer term development
assistance, these underlying problems are becoming increasingly evident. Now, as many aid
organizations have left the devastated areas and many more are drawing their operations to a
close, the opportunity to build a A?a??E?new Sri LankaA?a??E? seems seriously to be under siege.
The principal aim of the current chapter is to examine the recovery process in one
particular area on the east coast of Sri Lanka. We explore the experiences of people living on
the edge of the recovery process A?a??a?? communities marginalised due to their remote location,
ongoing political violence, ethnic/religious tensions and contradictory engagements with
A?a??E?westernA?a??a?? tourism. As we shall explain below, our research on Arugam Bay (Arugamby) was
conducted six months after the tsunami struck. Arugam Bay is the coastal village adjoining
the larger settlement of Pottuwil, a Muslim dominated community on the east coast of Sri
Lanka. While originally a fishing village, Arugam Bay has over the past thirty years become a
low level international tourist destination, popular among European backpackers and surfers
from the UK, Australia, Israel, Japan and the US. This low level tourism has brought
considerable development to the town and, by east coast standards especially, the area around
Arugam Bay is reasonably well-off with tourism creating demand for food and other
consumables. Even so, the area remains volatile with high levels of crime and intermittent
outbreaks of politically motivated violence. During the three week period in which we
conducted our research, a grenade exploded in the office of the Tamil Tigers (LTTE), three
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Lewis J. and Lewis B. 2006, A?a??E?On the Edge of the Wave: Community recovery in a
tsunami-affected area of Sri LankaA?a??a??
in K.Cook and K.Gilbert, Eds, A?a??E?Life on the margins: implications for health researchA?a??a??,
Pearson Education, Melbourne.
5
undercover intelligence soldiers were shot in a neighbouring village, there were reports of
sexual violence against tourists, and a Buddhist temple erected as part of the post-tsunami
recovery project was attacked by a group of Muslims who believed it to be an offensive and
aggressive act of Sinhalese territorialization.
The tsunami, in fact, had struck Arugamby with terrible ferocity, destroying all but a few
buildings and killing nearly half the townA?a??E?s population. As a Muslim dominated community,
which is also home to significant numbers of Tamil Hindus and Sinhalese as well as
permanent and visiting A?a??E?westernersA?a??E?, Arugam Bay is a complex ethnic, social and political mix.
Muslims, Tamils and westerners have all claimed that the area has been largely neglected by
the government-sponsored aid program, although numerous aid workers and organizations
have been active in the area. In many respects, many of the debates around tsunami aid and
recovery for Sri Lanka and other parts of the world are particularly pertinent for this area. The
problems associated with recovery in Arugam Bay are intricately linked to broader national
and global conditions. It is not just that Arugam Bay is part of the international tourism
industry and that the tsunami was a trans-national natural event; the conflicts and tensions
experienced in the community, as well as their proposed solutions, are profoundly implicated
in world conditions. As the local encounters the global, there are very clear effects on the
health and well being of individuals and their communities.
Background
While Sri LankaA?a??E?s GDP has been growing at a rate of 4-5% since the 1990s, the actual GDP
per capita is around US$4,000. While this figure is relatively low by OECD standards, it
compares favourably with India (US$3,300) and Indonesia (US$3,200) though less
favourably with China (US$7,200). It is certainly clear that the civil war in Sri Lanka (1983-
2002) has constrained economic development, especially tourism which in the A?a??E?post-conflictA?a??a??
period has experienced considerable growth in other areas of the country. However,
development and growth has been particularly constrained in the north where the Tamil
Tigers (LTTE) continue to control much of the territory, forming their own governmental
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Lewis J. and Lewis B. 2006, A?a??E?On the Edge of the Wave: Community recovery in a
tsunami-affected area of Sri LankaA?a??a??
in K.Cook and K.Gilbert, Eds, A?a??E?Life on the margins: implications for health researchA?a??a??,
Pearson Education, Melbourne.
6
institutions and processes. While only a small proportion of Sri LankaA?a??E?s total population, the
Tamil Hindus have sought to secede from the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan nation.
The following tables describe the ethnic and religious divisions of Sri Lanka.
Table 1: Ethnic groups in Sri Lanka
Ethnic Group
% of Total
Population
Sinhalese
73.8
Sri Lankan Moors
7.2
Sri Lankan Tamil
3.9
Indian Tamil
4.6
Unspecified and Other
10.5
(Source: 2001 Sri Lankan Census)
These ethnic categories parallel the religious affiliations as they are outlined below.
Table 2: Religious affiliation in Sri Lanka
Religious Affiliation
% of Total
Population
Buddhist
69.1
Hindu
7.1
Muslim
7.6
Christian
6.2
Unspecified
10
(Source: Sri Lanka 2001 Census)
It is important to note that the majority of Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils are Hindus; the
Tamil Tigers, however, are not exclusively a religious secessionist movement but are
motivated by a strong secularist, Lenin-Marxist political ideology. The Sri Lankan A?a??E?MoorsA?a??E? are
Muslim groups who claim a genealogical connection with the Arabic traders who visited Sri
Lanka around the 15th century. While there are numerous debates about the authenticity and
significance of this connection (Vadivale 1997), it is reasonably clear that there was some
level of reproductive interaction between the traders and the Tamil Muslim women who were
part of a much older Muslim settlement that had originated from India. It is possible that the
claim to a Moorish genealogy has been generated by the desire to bring the Muslims closer to
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Lewis J. and Lewis B. 2006, A?a??E?On the Edge of the Wave: Community recovery in a
tsunami-affected area of Sri LankaA?a??a??
in K.Cook and K.Gilbert, Eds, A?a??E?Life on the margins: implications for health researchA?a??a??,
Pearson Education, Melbourne.
7
the origins of the faith, thereby creating an A?a??E?essentialA?a??E? or A?a??E?resistantA?a??E? identity which distinguishes
Muslims from all other Sri Lankans (see Castells, 1997). However, as Tables 1 and 2 above
demonstrate, not all Sri Lankan Muslims identify as A?a??E?MoorsA?a??E?; many locate their ethnicity
within the Indian or Sri Lankan Tamil groups.
In Arugam Bay-Pottuwil the ethnic divisions are very different from the national
demography. While there is no specific census information on the exact proportions, our own
research is represented in the following table:
Table 3: Ethnic and Religious affiliation in Arugam Bay-Pottuwil
Ethnic-Religious Group
% of Total
Community
Muslim (Tamil-Moor)
74
Hindu (-Tamil)
8
Buddhist (-Sinhalese)
7
Sri Lankan Christian
4
Non-specified (includes A?a??E?westernersA?a??a??)
7
This table excludes temporary visitors, including tourists and aid workers. The predominance
of Muslims is proportionately more significant in Pottuwil than in Arugam Bay which is the
principal tourist precinct and far more exposed to the open ocean. While the style of Islamic
worship varies across the community, there are nevertheless a number of identifiable
characteristics and practices which distinguish the Pottuwil-Arugam Bay area from other
communities in Sri Lanka that tend to be dominated either by Buddhist Sinhalese or Hindu
Tamils. These can be summarized as followsA?a??a??
1. Muslim religious practices
There is a reasonably high level of religious observance. The A?a??E?call to prayerA?a??E? is well-
observed in Pottuwil with a ubiquitous placement of speakers and mosques. Prayer is less
faithfully observed in Arugam Bay where the requirements of work and the presence of
tourists seem to have compromised the strict observance of prayer. Even so, the
loudspeakers announce themselves with considerable insistence and volume in the
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Lewis J. and Lewis B. 2006, A?a??E?On the Edge of the Wave: Community recovery in a
tsunami-affected area of Sri LankaA?a??a??
in K.Cook and K.Gilbert, Eds, A?a??E?Life on the margins: implications for health researchA?a??a??,
Pearson Education, Melbourne.
8
Arugam side of the bay A?a??a?? at times carrying strident messages which denounce non-
Muslims as corrupt, infidels and agents of the devil.
2. Participation of women
Women are generally absent from public life. While far less strict than some Middle
Eastern states, women are generally not to be found working in shops, hotels, or even
markets. While the chadoor or veil is rare, the hijab is always worn by local Muslim
women, who also cover their arms and legs when in public. In contrast to Sinhalese
villages or cities, Pottuwil streets are almost entirely absent of women and children.
3. Local government
Not surprisingly, the local government is dominated by Muslim men, whose faith and
ethnic allegiances are unapologetically foregrounded in their authority and decision-
making. Most of the aid workers and managers with whom we spoke complained of the
insularity and inefficiency of local government officials and their narrow focus on the
Muslim community over other ethnic-religious groups.
4. Western influences
A number of young Muslim men and youths appear to use Arugam Bay as a form of
A?a??E?party zoneA?a??a??. Like the western visitors and many local Sinhalese and Christians, the
young Muslim men come to Arugam Bay to drink alcohol and engage with western
women, whom they generally regard as promiscuous and irreligious. The A?a??E?visibilityA?a??E? of
western women and their mode of (un)dress are a source both of outrage, condemnation
and allure.
METHODS
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Lewis J. and Lewis B. 2006, A?a??E?On the Edge of the Wave: Community recovery in a
tsunami-affected area of Sri LankaA?a??a??
in K.Cook and K.Gilbert, Eds, A?a??E?Life on the margins: implications for health researchA?a??a??,
Pearson Education, Melbourne.
9
A major criticism of the tsunami recovery process has been the lack of consultation with
community members about their own priorities and the strategies which they identify as most
appropriate to their needs (Thampi 2005). Community perspectives are important in ensuring
that humanitarian assistance addresses peopleA?a??a??s changing needs and the problems that arise as
the recovery process unfolds (Toole et al 2001, UNSW Health and Conflict Project 2004).
The researchers conducted qualitative, in-depth interviews with a range of people engaged in
the recovery process in Arugam-Pottuwil. The principal aim of the research was to explore
peopleA?a??a??s experiences of the recovery process and to record and analyse the issues which
respondents themselves identified as important. This research was a pilot study for a larger
project exploring the tsunami recovery process in Sri Lanka and South-East Asia.
Sample selection and recruitment
In recognition of the potential for trauma and distress, interviews were not conducted with
individuals who were still grieving, severely injured or who presented themselves as
significantly traumatised. It is for this reason that the majority of respondents in this pilot
study were people working in donor organisations and aid agencies (professional and
volunteers) and survivors who had, by their own measure, significantly recovered from the
trauma of the tsunami event.
Participants were recruited to include both community members and key informants. Key
informants were people in positions of responsibility or leadership considered by the
community to be a rich source of knowledge or information. Their perspectives were
complemented by interviews with community members whose voices are less likely to be
articulated in expert or official discourses. Recruitment of respondents was undertaken
through personal contacts and recommendation from key informants. A total of fourteen
respondents participated in the study, with participants from a range of ethnic and religious
groups according to the following table:
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Lewis J. and Lewis B. 2006, A?a??E?On the Edge of the Wave: Community recovery in a
tsunami-affected area of Sri LankaA?a??a??
in K.Cook and K.Gilbert, Eds, A?a??E?Life on the margins: implications for health researchA?a??a??,
Pearson Education, Melbourne.
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Table 4: Participants in the study
Category
Criteria
(n)=14
Aid workers
Volunteer
Professional
Senior management
3
3
1
Community
members
Muslim
Sinhalese
Tamil
A?a??E?westernA?a??a??
3
1
1
2
Data collection
A semi-structured, open-ended interview format was used to collect data about community
membersA?a??E? lived experience in the aftermath of the tragedy and their perceptions of the
recovery process.
The research was not focused on the tsunami event itself, nor the specific psychological or
emotional trauma experienced by individuals; rather, we focused on the ways in which the
recovery is proceeding at a social and community level. The interviews, therefore, included
questions about aid distribution and effectiveness, reconstruction, restoration of economy, and
issues relating to social tensions, community cohesion and well-being.
Due to resource limitations, all interviews were conducted in English and thus a basic level of
English language was a prerequisite for participation. This limitation will be addressed in the
larger project through the use of local interpreters. Interviews were conducted in participantsA?a??a??
homes, places of work and in a range of public spaces. All participants received a plain
language statement explaining the purpose of the study and conduct of the interviews.
Consent forms were completed by all participants. Six interviews were recorded with the
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Lewis J. and Lewis B. 2006, A?a??E?On the Edge of the Wave: Community recovery in a
tsunami-affected area of Sri LankaA?a??a??
in K.Cook and K.Gilbert, Eds, A?a??E?Life on the margins: implications for health researchA?a??a??,
Pearson Education, Melbourne.
11
consent of participants and a further eight interviews were recorded only through detailed
fieldnotes at the request of participants.
Data analysis
The interview data was initially explored using principles of grounded theory in order to
allow meaning to emerge from the data (see Strauss and Corbin 1990) and then extended by
making multiple cuts back and forth across the empirical data and existing theoretical
frameworks (Layder 1993). The analysis draws on the theoretical perspectives of cultural
studies with a particular focus on social cohesion and community well-being in the context of
globalization, political violence, culture and the notion of A?a??E?language warsA?a??a?? (Lewis B. & Lewis
J., 2004, Lewis, 2002). Our analysis seeks to situate the various perspectives on the tsunami
recovery process within the broader context of globalization, insecurity and community
transition. We identify key issues and explore them through the lived experience of
community members.
FINDINGS
Our research identified a range of issues which are impacting on the health and wellbeing of
marginalised groups. Discussion of the findings is organised the four key themes: aid
distribution and effectiveness, public infrastructure, ethnic tensions and community division,
and modernisation.
1. Aid distribution and effectiveness
There was a general agreement among the Arugam-Pottuwil communities that the government
had not fulfilled its responsibilities and promises regarding assistance for the recovery. In the
absence of support, people were struggling to rebuild private dwellings and businesses. Ted,
the owner of a mid-range hotel largely destroyed by the tsunami, had partially re-constructed
his restaurant but was only able to re-open a couple of rooms for accommodation. While
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Lewis J. and Lewis B. 2006, A?a??E?On the Edge of the Wave: Community recovery in a
tsunami-affected area of Sri LankaA?a??a??
in K.Cook and K.Gilbert, Eds, A?a??E?Life on the margins: implications for health researchA?a??a??,
Pearson Education, Melbourne.
12
severely criticizing the emergency aid effort, especially of the Red Cross, Ted believed that
tourism operators would have to rely on their own resources to get back on their feet:
A?a??E?In some respects it is better that we just get on with it, accept that the local and national
governments are at best inept and at worst corrupt.A?a??a??
A long term resident in Arugam Bay and German national, Ted had established the hotel with
his former wife, a Sinhalase Sri Lankan. In the immediate aftermath of the tsunami he had
provided free accommodation for a group of Red Cross emergency relief workers in the
remains of his hotel. However, the arrogant attitude of the workers and the property damage
caused during their stay had led to considerable tension, resulting in an international law suit.
The discourse of control
Respondents expressed considerable frustration about the problems created when outsiders
(aid workers) enter a community, taking control of funding priorities and adopting
A?a??E?ownershipA?a??a?? of the disaster. While some people talked about feeling powerless and
marginalised from the recovery process, there were also stories of extreme resourcefulness
and creativity.
The behaviour of aid workers was viewed with suspicion and resentment by many tsunami
survivors in Arugam Bay. While this was not a sleight on all aid workers and their
organizations, at times a view was expressed that aid workers could be arrogant and
excessively focused on their own A?a??E?missionA?a??E? rather than understanding the needs of the victims.
To some extent, these views reflected on the personal demeanour of the aid workers, many of
whom were short-term volunteers with minimal or no experience in international aid work. At
Arugam Bay, this problem had been exacerbated by the behaviour of the many aid workers
who use the tourist destination as a party zone to relieve the pressures of a demanding job.
Our interviews with aid workers themselves, seemed to confirm the criticisms expressed by
tsunami survivors. Bob, a senior aid worker with the Christian-based aid organization
Habitat, for example, seemed indifferent or at least insensitive to the plight of the people he
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Lewis J. and Lewis B. 2006, A?a??E?On the Edge of the Wave: Community recovery in a
tsunami-affected area of Sri LankaA?a??a??
in K.Cook and K.Gilbert, Eds, A?a??E?Life on the margins: implications for health researchA?a??a??,
Pearson Education, Melbourne.
13
believed he was helping. For Bob, the mission was to build cheap and easily erected
dwellings:
A?a??E?The biggest problem here is the people. TheyA?a??a??re just so incompetent. We could build
each of these houses in a couple of days if theyA?a??a??d just let us get on with it. But they want
concrete floors and lintels and all these traditional things . The problem is that theyA?a??a??re
Buddhist. They have their way of doing things…and it just makes it impossible.A?a??E?
Arissa, who was of French-Arabic descent and working for a French aid agency, was herself
deeply critical of her own aid organization. According to Arissa, the organizationA?a??E?s goals and
projects were far too narrow and inflexible:
A?a??E?They come in with their views and projects already fixed rather than working with
communities to identify their priorities. They are far too insensitive to the peopleA?a??E?s
actual needs and we are forced to play the aid game, ensure good photos for the donors
back home.A?a??E?
ArissaA?a??E?s particular project was based around the security of women and children, projects
designed to support the psychological well-being of individuals and community groups.
Arissa argued, that while these projects are laudable, they fail to really address the underlying
and urgent needs of people:
A?a??E?These organizations seem to be just competing for credibility. They establish housing
and settlement camps which then become populated by people who have barely ever
seen the ocean, let alone a tsunami. These are impoverished people who come down
from inland areas to access free housing and food. ItA?a??a??s understandable. ItA?a??E?s a strange
irony that the relief organizations are creating new forms of social displacement. They
just donA?a??E?t seem to understand the local context at all.A?a??E?
But for Bob, the problem is culture itself:
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Lewis J. and Lewis B. 2006, A?a??E?On the Edge of the Wave: Community recovery in a
tsunami-affected area of Sri LankaA?a??a??
in K.Cook and K.Gilbert, Eds, A?a??E?Life on the margins: implications for health researchA?a??a??,
Pearson Education, Melbourne.
14
A?a??E?Culture gets in the way of things. After all, theyA?a??E?re Buddhists arenA?a??E?t they? And IA?a??E?m a
Christian working for a Christian organization. We just canA?a??a??t get involved in the
religion issue. People, our donors, we just want to see the Gospel in action.A?a??E?
While far more sensitive to the local communities than Bob, other Habitat workers
interviewedA?a??a??Jane and RoryA?a??a??were no less enthusiastic about their Christian mission. A
newlywed couple in their twenties, they had volunteered for a two-week stint working in the
ravaged areas of the south, and had finished their stay with a two week holiday in Arugam:
A?a??E?We came here because we wanted to do something for these people. We wanted to shed the
light of Jesus into their lives.A?a??E? Not surprisingly, the effectiveness of this A?a??E?disaster tourismA?a??E? was
questioned by some of the professional aid workers interviewed.
Prescriptive aid and short-termism
Members of Mercy Corps, an international aid and development organization which had
been working in Sri Lanka prior to the tsumani, had mapped out a pre-determined approach
for their program. They would not attempt to re-build houses or infrastructure. Instead, they
would focus on the needs of specific businesses and the economic recovery of the community.
To this extent, Mercy Corps embarked on a program of donating equipment such as freezers
to local businesses. Community members, however, were quick to point out that the
unreliable power supply in Arugam-Pottuwil meant that the storage of frozen food was
simply not viable except for the small proportion of people who could also afford to buy a
back-up generator and fuel at prices vastly inflated since the tsunami. Consequently, as food
was frozen, thawed and re-frozen in the donated machines, serious health problems such as
salminella and other gastro-intestinal infections had emerged.
Moreover, Ra, a Tamil Hindu survivor of the tsunami, pointed out that the distribution
process for assistance was itself highly problematic and inequitable. Nonetheless, community
members were extremely resourceful in devising strategies to negotiate these limitations. In
order to mobilise assistance from Mercy Corps, some families would open a small teahouse,
then close their doors within several weeks of opening. The equipment would then simply be
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Pearson Education, Melbourne.
15
sold off to mobilise the cash flow families needed to rebuild their lives according to their own
priorities.
In fact, prescriptive aid programs and lack of coordination between agencies has
intensified inequalities in the community. Many respondents offered different versions of the
same mantra: A?a??E?After the tsunami some rich men become poor, and some poor men become
richA?a??E?. In an extreme case, one particularly wily individual had convinced two separate aid
agencies that his fishing boat had been destroyed by the tsunami and he had been rendered
destitute. Each agency provided a new US$80,000 boat emblazoned with their insignia and
slogans about working with the community. Both boats were sold and the individual is now
one of the wealthiest men in the town. In fact, many of the boats that are now used by
fisherman in Arugam are not owner-operated, but belong to professional A?a??E?entrepreneursA?a??a?? from
Pottuwil.
The micro-economic effects of aid
Recent critical analysis of aid strategies (Thampi 2005) has highlighted the problem of
distortion of local economies due to the influx of aid. Large numbers of aid workersA?a??a??
volunteers and professionals who descend on a particular area bring with them a concentrated
source of provision, consumption and demand. It is certainly clear, for example, that prices
have been driven up by this demand, especially for foodstuffs and basic necessities.
Paradoxically, the presence of aid workers in Arugam Bay has contributed to higher prices for
fish and fresh vegetables, further marginalising disadvantaged members of the same
communities they aim to assist.
A further distortion, has been created by the provision of emergency food relief such as
rice. While more prevalent in other parts of Sri Lanka, it is becoming increasingly clear that
farmers are drastically reducing their rice production in response to the provision of grain
handouts. Rather than helping to rebuild the capacity of local communities, this emergency
assistance by well-intentioned, short term aid programs may well be contributing to a form of
aid dependency. According to Arissa:
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Pearson Education, Melbourne.
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A?a??E?The short-term solutions are not good. These people are already marginal. We should
be building the capacity of local people A?a??a?? skills and training A?a??a?? so they can solve their
own problemsA?a??a??.
The economic bubble which the invasion of aid workers has brought to the tsunami-
affected areas is due to burst over the coming months as the emergency work and associated
contracts come to an end. The vacuum that this mass departure will create in the affected
economies may yet overwhelm the positive economic effects of their assistance programs. As
many respondents noted, if the legacy of their presence is not substantial and lasting, there
may be nothing left but a sense of feeling cheated and vulnerable.
2. Public infrastructure
One of the difficulties for all aid agencies, especially in terms of the enormous scale of the
tsunami disaster, is the intense competition between agencies for credibility with both their
donors and communities:
A?a??E?Everywhere I go I see NGOA?a??a??s tripping over each other A?a??A? you hear about the
oversubscription of aid, in nearly every sectorA?a??A?.IA?a??a??m not trying to say that I think that
all the needs are met in a satisfactory way in the eyes of the community or in the eyes
of the beneficiaryA?a??A? I think that whatA?a??a??s a challenge for the NGO community
themselves is that there are no real strong ties that bind them one to another. Yet they
all sort of benefit or lose out from the failings of others. If a fly-by-night NGO comes
in and promises a lot of stuff and then doesnA?a??a??t deliver, or drops off a whole bunch of
stuff that the community doesnA?a??a??t really care about, people blame NGOA?a??a??s at largeA?a??a??.
(Senior manager, USAID)
The complex politics of donation has been broadly criticised in terms of publicly funded aid
programs and national self-interest. For Arugam Bay, this issue is clearly manifest in the
ongoing problems with public infrastructureA?a??a?? water, sanitation, waste management,
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Pearson Education, Melbourne.
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transportation, electricity and health care. While the infrastructure of Arugam-Pottuwil was
already of Third World standards, the tsunami has made conditions even worse. Funds that
are held or managed by the Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) have been generally
allocated to specific recovery or emergency projects, and are not available for larger scale
infrastructure or development work. Eliza, the British wife of a local tsunami survivor, made
it clear that these funds have been largely wasted in Arugam Bay:
A?a??E?In any one day, youA?a??E?ll see about five or six different water trailers coming into the town
and re-filling the roadside water tanks. Each tank has a different logo on the side. ItA?a??a??s
like theyA?a??a??re competing for attention. There are Red Cross, CARE, UNICEF water tanks,
each with their own tractor and water carrier. Why donA?a??E?t they just invest in a proper
reticulated water system? And they have to use tractors because the major road into
town is still completely wrecked!A?a??E?
Eliza and others point also to the sudden oversupply of tuk-tuks, the three wheel taxi vehicles,
during the recovery. According to Ibrahim, a tuk-tuk driver from Pottuwil,
A?a??E?Virtually anyone who wanted a tuk-tuk could get one after the tsunami. You just had to
go to one of the NGOs and tell them youA?a??E?d lost your taxi in the big wave and you got
one. Now there are hundreds of men with tuk-tuks and not enough work to go around
any moreA?a??E?.
Ted, the ex-patriot hotelier had trained as an engineer. He was amazed at the lack of planning
of the recovery:
A?a??E? I think it is the fault of these NGOA?a??a??s. They donA?a??a??t plan it properly. I mean if they
would implement a proper program, like putting in pipes for water and sanitationA?a??A? but
they did it all back to front. They planted all nice trees in the street now. That was
Mercy Corps. But youA?a??a??ll have to dig the trees all up again to put the water pipes in. You
should at least make a canal tunnel so you can put the pipes in the ground later. I mean,
this is how you should do itA?a??A?Instead of roads and water, we get toilet rolls from
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in K.Cook and K.Gilbert, Eds, A?a??E?Life on the margins: implications for health researchA?a??a??,
Pearson Education, Melbourne.
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AmericaA?a??A?28,000 rolls. The kids use them as streamers in the camp because we donA?a??a??t
have any toilets. They donA?a??a??t use toilet paper here anyway. They wash with water. ItA?a??a??s
downright stupidA?a??A?We had a brilliant chance, with the area devastated, to do it properly.
I mean you donA?a??a??t have to demolish anything. You have a brilliant chance to do
everything much better than it was before, but they didnA?a??a??t take that chanceA?a??a??.
While the provision of roadside tanks of clean drinking water was a major priority during
the emergency phase of the recovery, the armadae of large black water tanks in Arugam Bay
is a potent symbol of the duplication and lack of coordination between aid agencies. Many
respondents pointed to the fact that, despite the abundant supply, there appears to be an almost
programmatic neglect of water quality in the tanks, and it is common to see children using the
unpalatable drinking water for washing and playing. When asked about the need for
infrastructure, a senior manager of the USAID recovery program in Sri Lanka agreed that this
would undoubtedly be the principal priority for most communities. USAID has a total
package of US$35m for infrastructure across the country:
A?a??E?But we canA?a??E?t just allocate moneyA?a??A? we present a list of priorities but itA?a??a??s not certain
what Congress may ultimately approve. Or what the administration may make available
for this effortA?a??A? It really gets very complicatedA?a??a??
The value of infrastructure, of course, is that it is available to all members of the
community. Community health and wellbeing is enhanced through the supply of clean water,
sanitation and better hygiene for all. Nonetheless, two thirds of the USAID total infrastructure
budget has been allocated to re-build the bridge which connects Arugam Bay to Pottuwil and
the main transport route to the capital, A?a??olombo. The bridge was destroyed by the tsunami
and re-built by the Indian Army.
A?a??E?You know thereA?a??a??s political will and political interests in there. Aragum Bay is an area
of interest to this office to support the development of that area – the tourism, the
economy, the social concerns thereA?a??A? There was political interest to do a very high
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Pearson Education, Melbourne.
19
profile project here and the bridge there certainly stood out. And after the Indian Army
worked to rebuild the bridge, our engineers did an assessment, and determined that the
columns are not safe enoughA?a??A? Yes, profile is definitely an important issue…A?a??a?? (Senior
manager, USAID)
3. Ethnic tension and community division
Although, in the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, the community was galvanised as
people responded to the emergency, the influx of external resources and influences has
exacerbated existing ethnic tensions and community division. Bill, a tsunami survivor with
connections to the London business community, had raised a considerable amount of money
and provided it directly to public agencies to assist schools and a local hospital. Sally, an
Australian surfer who had been caught in the tsunami, was uncertain about how to use the
money she had raised. During the month of her return visit, she distributed clothing from a
surfwear manufacturer to some of the local children and, along with some friends, conducted
community swimming lessons to help children overcome their fear of the water. These
projects aimed to provide hope that was accessible to all and thereby draw the community
together.
Laudable as these aims are, they could not entirely eschew the problem of inequitable
access and inter-communal rivalry. Ensuring equitable distribution of assistance is a key
problem for humanitarian assistance programs (Thampi 2005), and while the aid programs
have clearly been of benefit to some individuals, many have received nothing. According to a
local Tamil Hindu man, distribution follows ethnic and religious lines:
A?a??E?The aid organizations go to the local government and ask what is the problem and who
needs help? The local government here is Muslim so the aid goes to the Muslims. Some
of them were never even touched by the tsunami. Some farmers have got new
equipment, some of the fisherman have new boats. The bank manager A?a??a?? heA?a??a??s Muslim –
has a new boat. He never even had one before.A?a??E?
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Pearson Education, Melbourne.
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Others claim that, despite the best intentions, aid is often distributed to people with the skills
and resources to access support. People less likely to receive support are those without
English language skills, basic education, access to transport (to get to distribution centres), or
pre-existing resources eg. fishing equipment which can be identified and replaced.
James, one of the professional aid managers in Mercy Corps, corroborated this story, claiming
that the ethnic tensions were intensifying as a result of the aid programs: A?a??E?It is difficult to
know who to believe in a place like this. Each group has its agendaA?a??a??. A Buddhist monument
built in the town centre with tsunami aid funds aimed to strengthen the morale of the minority
Sinhalese community but had created considerable disquiet, even outright hostility, amongst
the Arugam Bay Muslims. Kaiyoon, a well educated and relatively urbane Muslim hotel
manager, was incensed by the monument.
A?a??E?The Sinhalese want everything. They have a temple over in Pottuwil. They donA?a??E?t need
another one. They just want to tell us all they are in control and we Muslims better not
forget itA?a??E?.
The skirmishes surrounding the building of the temple were quelled by government troops
and by a general recognition in the local communities that the tourism upon which they all
depended would be further threatened by violence or instability in the township. But there
remains an uneasy calm around the temple; as a survival monument, it seems to represent
fracture and separation rather than harmony and hope.
4. Modernization
Modernization and global integration mainfest themselves in complicated and often diffuse
ways in Sri Lanka. Through governance, law and economy, the communities of Sri Lanka are
being drawn into new forms of cultural and social interaction. Historical and more recent
antagonisms, or A?a??E?language warsA?a??E? (Lewis, 2002, 2005), are evolved through more co-operative
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Pearson Education, Melbourne.
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societal imperatives. In Arugam Bay, at the interface of these agonistic and collaborative
gestures, governance and rule of law become subsumed within a more intense modernizing
trajectory. With a national government that is beset by prejudice and ineffectual management
of ethnic tensions and a local government that is obsessed by its own ethnic and religious
interests, the complexion of law seems incapable of overcoming its own intrinsic and
solipsistic complexity. Combining a British common law system with various modes of
ethnically derived customary law, the regulation of bodies and actions in Sri Lanka is
managed by a largely ineffectual police force and local community leaders. The government
military is ubiquitous in the capital, central and southern districts, while the LTTE military
constitutes a strong enforcement agency in the north and east.
In Arugam Bay, government and LTTE forces mingle through a generally silent though
distinctly strained distance. The presence of tourists in the district adds a further complexity
to the processes of law and social management with hoteliers and bar owners managing their
own security systems and personnel. During the period of this research, there were several
inter-ethnic incidents, including the shooting of three intelligence officers in a neighbouring
village, a grenade attack, and violence between visiting Israelis and local youths. Equally
disturbing was the sexual assault and attempted rape of two young western women, from
Britain and Australia. According to several reports, these events are not uncommon. Eliza an
ex-patriot woman who has married a local Tamil Hindu, claimed that these crimes are often
the result of a clash of cultures:
A?a??E?Western women think they can act like they do at home. Wear bikinis on the beach, get
pissed and wander around on the beach by themselves. They think the local guys are
like the guys at home and that everyone obeys the law. Well, itA?a??E?s not like that here. A lot
of the guys think that western girls are sluts and so you can treat them like that.A?a??E?
In the post-tsunami world, with a flood of young western women working for aid agencies,
the problem appears to have been exacerbated according to Eliza:
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Pearson Education, Melbourne.
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A?a??E?The laws here are governed by the particular communities. ItA?a??E?s very patriarchal. The aid
workers, the women, come along expecting to let their hair down in Arugam and they
do. But sometimes it has dire consequences. There was a group of them went skinny-
dipping after a full moon party run by one of the hotels. Three of them were bashed and
raped. It happens a lot. More than anyone is prepared to admit.A?a??E?
The man accused of the attempted rapes was incarcerated for two weeks without trial and
then released once the victims had left town. Some of the more responsible ex-patriot women
placed signs up around Arugam Bay and the beach warning young women to take
precautions. Ted, the German ex-patriot hotelier, was philosophical about these crimes:
A?a??E?The police wonA?a??E?t do anything unless there is a major theft or someone has been
seriously hurt. The aid workers need to learn about these places before they come. It
may look modern on the outside, but itA?a??a??s an extremely sexist and chauvinistic
environment. This kind of behaviour [referring to the attempted rapes] is totally
unacceptable. But, I mean, the young men are confused. Sexually frustrated males, they
see a nice girl coming inA?a??A? and for them its like a pin up come true… And some girls
come out here on a kind of sex tour. They never admit theyA?a??a??re a sex tourist because they
donA?a??a??t have to pay. But it has the same intent as for men. I think people need to
understand a lot more about the local context.A?a??E?
The different ethnic and religious communities in Arugam Bay are struggling to resolve these
issues of law and order in the context of a recovery which depends on their engagement with a
modern and cosmopolitan tourist industry:
A?a??E?The regular police down here are just not respected. Corrupt, violent. But I mean, if
you are a low paid policeman in a dodgy area, what are you going to do? A?a??A? They live
here, they know whatA?a??a??s going to happen to the local economy if these stories get out.
SoA?a??A?there will be a closing of the ranks. ItA?a??a??s purely an economic issueA?a??a??. (James, aid
worker)
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Pearson Education, Melbourne.
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Ra, a local Tamil Hindu, believes that the answer to these problems is to have a genuine
authority and law enforcement agency in the town:
A?a??E?The Tamil Tigers could fill this role very well. I donA?a??E?t agree with their tactics during the
war, but they are well known for their discipline in the north. They are not corrupt. They
are not looking to make money or drink arak on the job. They have a strong community
up there. They would bring some security to this place – and peace. This is what appeals
to tourists. They want to come here without being harassed or attacked. They want to
feel safe. Arugam Bay will not recover from this disaster until we have a decent police
force.A?a??E?
Conclusion
On the east coast of Sri Lanka, the health of people living in tsunami-affected areas continues
to be compromised by the convergent crises of political violence and natural disaster. After a
long and bloody civil war in which tens of thousands of people were killed, the processes of
peace-building and reconciliation are inevitably strained. Community health and well-being
remain besieged by poverty, an underdeveloped public infrastructure and ongoing ethnic-
religious tensions which have been exacerbated by poorly coordinated and inequitable aid
programs. The tsunami has placed further strain on the processes of development, especially
on tourism which had been showing signs of restored growth in the two years prior to the
disaster.
In the wake of the tsunami, government ineptitude and self-interest, continues to frustrate the
recovery efforts. In particular, the campaign by the Sri Lankan Tourism Board to reinvigorate
development along the two hundred metre coastal strip is causing enormous confusion and
unrest in the recovery areas (Gerber 2004). Couched in the rhetoric of economic development
and an opportunity to A?a??E?clean upA?a??a?? the coastal zone, the new strategy involves partnerships with
multi-national hotel chains to A?a??E?moderniseA?a??a?? tourism in tsunami-affected areas. The most poor
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Pearson Education, Melbourne.
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and disadvantaged families have, for decades, built light framed dwellings on these low-lying
coastal zones A?a??a?? and these were largely obliterated by the tsunami. This policy has seen
thousands of impoverished families further marginalised as they find themselves displaced,
landless and now in a state of profound anxiety about their futures.
This research demonstrates that the tsunami recovery process is linked critically to
community sustainability and peace-building in communities on the east coast of Sri Lanka.
There are several clear lessons to be learned:
1. Strategies are required to foster coordination between aid organisations to reduce
duplication and misappropriation of aid.
2. Short term relief projects may foster aid dependency rather than capacity building.
Short term assistance should be weighed up against the long term issues of
community sustainability which include the provision of basic infrastructure for
health, management of social tensions, local governance and security.
3. The importance of understanding the local context must be emphasised, particularly
in relation to pre-existing inequalities and ethnic-political tensions.
4. Participatory approaches are required to create opportunities for the various groups
within local communities to determine their own needs and make choices about
how these needs may be met in the short and long term.
5. Strategies should be identified for enhancing community sustainability, including
building peopleA?a??a??s capacity to mobilise the resources and expertise needed to
implement these strategies.
6. The Sri Lankan government needs to adopt a more proactive approach to peace-
building and reconciliation in this region.
Arugam Bay-Pottuwil is a complex locality which is home to multiple communities A?a??a?? each
marginalised from the mainstream but in different ways. The negative effects on health
resulting from poverty, lack of basic infrastructure, remote location, cultural and religious
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Pearson Education, Melbourne.
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difference and uneven political participation have been further intensified by the tsunami.
Nonetheless, while the tsunami recovery process has clearly exacerbated existing social
tensions and community divisions, it may also have provided new opportunities. Some
members of the community describe the tsunami as a A?a??E?blessing in disguiseA?a??E?, providing the
opportunity to rethink the regionA?a??a??s development priorities and reflect on the sources of
proliferating social problems. The tourism-led recovery may provide an important source of
income for the people of Arugam Bay-Pottuwil. However, if there is to be a genuine process
of restoration, a determined commitment is needed to support each of the various
ethnic/religious communities in working collaboratively to take greater control over the
regionA?a??a??s governance, security, development and economic prosperity.
In conclusion, this study provides insights into the tensions associated with recovery,
development and modernisation for people living in tsunami affected communities. Our
analysis sheds further light on some of the challenges and opportunities for sustaining and
strengthening community in the aftermath of the tragedy. If the international community is to
make a genuine contribution to the restoration process, they need to be alert to these issues.
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