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Rocco’s Blog “Musings”

Arugam Bay 2007/2008 Musings

IA?a??a??m sitting in the restaurant at RoccoA?a??a??s admiring the gracefulness of the sea eagles flight, as they cruise looking for a fish to swoop down on. Contemplation on the year past and the year ahead, 2 months before the A?a??a??seasonA?a??a?? kicks off. Arugam Bay or ABay is operating in its normal lethargic hive of activity. Fishermen out to sea, hotelierA?a??a??s repairs & maintenance after the monsoon.Last season was a very quiet affair; some say the A?a??E?worstA?a??a?? yet, certainly the quietest since 2004.

Those that did visit enjoyed appreciative welcomes, shared in the relaxed atmosphere without hassle or danger. We had visitors from Europe, Dubai, UAE, Maldives and Australia.

Special mention to the Irish contingent; Magz & co for drinking us dry on a few occasions (bad planning, my fault) along with a future famous artist, Zayo. The painting outside room 4 adds to the style of Where can i buy motrin platinum Buy furosemide online RoccoA?a??a??s a complete contrast to the graffiti wall on the beach rooms (Banksy it ainA?a??a??t, although if he wants to pay us a visitA?a??A?A?a??A?.. Plenty of political material here for him!). I have resisted putting the room rate up on the soon to become an artists pilgrimage but will charge for photos once Zayo is a name all art buffs are talking about, funds will go to stocking the bar in case Magz & co descend on us again!

Once again the road A?a??E?curfewA?a??a?? is back, 6pm – 7am, the political situation has worsened, security is high, many more check points around the Island, Colombo especially.

I have spent time in Tangalle helping to open a scuba diving centre; www.tangalledivingcentre.com with my friend Rohana, Tangalle suffers in a similar way from lack of tourists as we do here Arugam Bay. Both effected by the political situation, closure of Yala and not being on the west coast.

Driving around I found it to be no different even with the extra checkpoints, foreigners treated with courtesy, papers checked a few A?a??A?which country?A?a??A? & A?a??A?whatA?a??a??s your nameA?a??A? A?a??A?you like Sri Lanka?A?a??A? A smile then on your way.

Living here is way different to visiting here; living here you are drawn into conversations about the politics, the conflict, peace coming, most are quite negative for the immediate future, optimistically we hope for a long peaceful future if only the powers that be on all sides would put the country and its people first.

This season? Who knows? Negumbo is packed; first time ever I had to look around for a bed as my normal haunts full?! Few venture outside of Negumbo to see the real Sri Lanka or Negumbo A?a??E?trapsA?a??a?? visitors with how dangerous the rest of the Island is, good propaganda & business sense in lean times but not so good for the country as a whole, me thinks.

For those that do venture Arugam Bay is still open, still considered safe, still the most relaxed natural place in Sri Lanka, little hard to get to, we like it that way, little basic compared to A?a??E?developedA?a??a?? areas, we like it that way too, most of all it has, surf, wild elephants, nature all around, quiet, relaxed, laid back, friendly, beach, sand, ocean, good food & plenty of places to stay, RoccoA?a??a??s first choice of course!

Steve A?a??A?The MuseA?a??A? Jones
Arugam Bay
East Coast
Sri Lanka
21/02/08

#50 Siam View Hotel

Good Morning Friends!

Today we have Good News!
(for a change…!?, but Why?)

Because this is our last Newsletter from Arugam Bay Emsam sale !
Why? Who is giving up?
Nobody!
It’s because you now have you very own, daily, Newsletter from AbaY
It is:

www.arugam.info
Local news, as well as reviews, are already published on our new look, interactive home page.
Anyone can now add photos, comments, questions!
Please take a look and help to develop Greg’s brain child by participating. Just a little bit!
Contents are already changing EVERY day on our new style web pages, simply click link above and take a quick preview.

Feedback required
Folks, remember we are just simple guys trying to help ourselves and promote our area.
Your comments, suggestions, ideas are most welcome and very valuable to us.
Please tell us what you like to see, what you want, what you would like us to include.

What has happened since June 2006?
As this might be our final, direct message to you we take this opportunity to report on some results and developments since we contacted you with our June Newsletter. And we can tie up some old ends in that way.

Season:
The 2006 Surfing Season went actually much better than feared. Given the situation in the rest of the island we have done quite well.
We had a good crowd in town, great surf conditions and a very peaceful time here at Arugam Bay.
Sadly it was a very much shorter season; strange it seems to be over so early.
Because the swell is actually best right now….at the end September.
All NGO’s, our last year’s only customers, have largely gone home as well. Just as well. No great loss for us or the Bay. See “Attitudes 2006” below.

N.s.s. Simon
Due to his local popularity Simon’s present predicament was at once known and was already widely discussed even before any publication, anywhere. We are still observing an unexpected, international interest judging by the flood of emails on this very subject.
Relax. Everything possible is being done.
Sadly this is uncoordinated as usual; because many guys trying to help, but they don’t know of each other’s efforts …..

SVH Holiday Homes Idea:
There has been some interest in our offer to construct a few dream homes/offices/studios by the sea, but no firm takers so far.
Understandable, with the ongoing civil unrest not many wish to invest in Sri Lanka at this point in time.
However, we are convinced that once peace is settled, any early investment into property will prove to be a very wise one.
Rich Middle Eastern Property Speculators already keenly monitor our area; read the link below.
Please form your own opinion what top guns in the Arab Emirates think of Eastern Sri Lanka:
http://www.forumromanum.de/member/forum/forum.php?action=ubb_tindex&USER=user_338742&threadid=1136005235

Actually time is near perfect right now to make a real bargain.
Whilst prices are equally as depressed as potential vendors ….

New, for the SVH is the fact that we now work on a new design study by a disciple and former student of Sri Lanka’s greatest ever Architect, Geoffrey Bawa. The entire concept also benefits from my own, highly advanced civil engineering techniques.
As a result the new Siam View will not only be beautiful, right on the Eastern Sea but of course it will be 100% Earthquake, Tsu/Flood and Typhoon resistant.
Please drop us a line or call my number if you are interested in further details.
My personal phone number is mentioned right below together with a summary and link to background info about Bawa’s great visions, in case you haven’t heard of this great visionary as yet.
SVH’s unique location:
We are aware, but only now, that we are sitting on a beautiful, still very rough diamond.
Only experts will be allowed to cut and improve it in future.

There is NO doubt the SVH will go far one day. We just have to take our time. And chose our partners carefully.
And we must prevent to fall into the common trap of cluttering our beautiful beachfront with dangerous sheds and silly cabanas like everyone else has to do, just to earn a quick buck.
But the locals are here to earn money, many try to get rich. We were rich and are only here to live and retire.
Income and money only concerns us when we can’t afford to pay local staff or bills.

Right now we possess everything else, including a brilliant reputation and the best position near surf point, all with a good view and a vision.
We even have potential guests and good bookings; if had the rooms….they would be full.
All we need is just a bit of financial help, that’s all.
And a dream will come true. Not just for us, but our friends as well.

“Enjoy” NGO’s
Good News! At last we have succumbed, we have actually given up and hope that we will not mention them anymore
Our daily observations simply are too depressing. Let us not spoil what is left of a fine day.

World Cup Coverage and our June Projector appeal
Thanks Folks! We really had a great time.
With our BIG screen, open air cinema setting overlooking the open sea and perfect surround sound from our huge Party systems it was almost like being back there in Germany.
Our June appeal for help resulted in just one single contribution of 65$ from Aussie Dan, but we still managed to find an old projector and the rest of the cash from our own resources.
Even the Italian NGO’s loved it; see yourself on the link right below.
We have created a popular Gallery specially for you:
http://picasaweb.google.com/arugamsurf/WorldcupCoverageLiveAtArugamBay

Photo Album:
The entire, new photo gallery has been so popular that we decided to incorporate the whole concept into our new home Page
www.arugam.info
In addition we hope, with Markus’s super expert’s help will soon offer online ratings and voting facilities.
To make it more democratic than ever.

Best Surf Photo/ Most romantic Photo competition
To stimulate even more interest, to show the nice side of Sri Lanka life and promote the peaceful nature of Arugam Bay we decided to offer a price in each selected category. Maybe YOU can win a free holiday in the Bay for two?
We promise to take care and publish YOUR photo! The best shot -with online voting- is the winner! If it is sent to:
ArugamFoto@Gmail.com

Security considerations
Sri Lanka has slipped back into the dark ages.
Outrageous murders of many innocent have taken place, Again
Only in the last few days there are signs that common sense will surface
Sides seem to agree on cordial meetings, in Oslo. Again
Lucky for the Bay, we have been spared and it is still very safe and peaceful here.
Maybe it is even better and more secure than Colombo, London or any other place these days?
Arugam Bay and all its approach roads are perfectly safe!

Loans
Sadly nothing has changed this year as yet.
As mentioned our total (non-self earned-) income since 2005 still comes to about 10,000 Euro .
Most of this are kind loans, only some of it represents a grant to us.
It came from true friends who (still?) trust us. Nothing at all was ever given to us or the Hotel Association from any official source, like Governments, Companies or Organizations.
We are very sad that we still owe loan cash to two of you, and much longer than hoped and agreed.

Unless a proper finance can be arranged, or we see good upturn of income we simply don’t know how we can cope with the present, serious cash flow situation.
As we don’t even earn enough to pay all our staff; what can we do?
The long term future however is still very bright!
Our advice: Buy shares in Siam View Projects (Pvt.) Ltd., back a winning horse and you will part of a great future
(Sorry, this is just another new idea we are working on – if all fails)

Guide Books
We are honoured to have received many very positive entries in new editions of many travel books.
The best on the market at present seems to be the German Loose ” FA?hrer !”
Sorry for this, folks, I believe it is just a Deutsches Wort for “Leader” – but most of you will known this anyhow.
Some relevant author’s comment, in German though, have been scanned and can be inspected below:
http://picasaweb.google.com/arugamsurf/TravelGuideGermanLooseFuehrer

Cash & Business
The SVH Company Inc. & Co this year actually reached record turnover figures.
Each day, Millions pass through our hands.
Sadly all of it just is handled by us in trust representing many huge transactions on behalf of others
The main volume of transaction originates from the Oil rich Arab States destined for this poor Muslim area….

Throughout this year many wonder why the SVH the only place within a 2- 3 hour drive is which:

Provides cash advances for all Credit cards
Pays out all local Western Union money transfers
Pays out PayPal transactions
Transfers money globally as instructed, with low or even NO charges

Our bank should be impressed. But they don’t assist at all. Rather the opposite.
Fact is that the sad case of Bank of Ceylon rent arrears since Tsu day will now go to Court.
SVH Fred fighting another Goliath …..

The SVH: Suitable for the Disabled and Blind
What happened to the blind man?
We still think he is brilliant & gifted, and he is still welcome
But so far he has not been able to join us.
Any new construction at the SVH, however, is undertaken with disabled people in mind in any event
One never knows when it is needed and by whom.

Attitudes 2006

A nice Swiss family rewarded us with kind words for working honest & hard.
On departure, they actually paid us double the due amount!
Something like this has happened 3 times already this year already; things are looking up!
Some see it as a direct support for guys who don’t want to rely on donations or organisations.

Great! But:
An Italian NGO woman refuses to pay our staff 40Rs./ for one forgotten soft drink she consumed.
The whole issue ended just short of a fist fight ….. you can see how very serious this case was for her….
As a result, and her interaction with our Thai manageress the dear Senorita might not return in a hurry, so Somlak says
After her release from Base Hospital…;-)
If I had not interviewed her colleagues would no doubt still be hanging around waiting for the 10Rs./ change we simply didn’t have in the till…..
I admit, sometimes Somlak often plays a game with such tight guys and lets them wait until the boy returns from the shop, Bank or even from Colombia, Colombo or where ever with a huge stack of change for which a EURO equivalent simply does not even exist and the average German toilet cleaner would reject: And you know what? They actually hang around until they get their last Loopee! Four hours if need be.
If I ever see this show it I am very happy give them my last 100Rs./ note: We are not that poor and we will have to keep a ‘good’ customer happy; specially the humanitarian helpers to this Nation!
They obviously have a complex about spending too much cash on location.
Or being accused of wasting money by some sarcastic clown like me.

Friends
Maybe it’s us, the so called ‘non believers’ – maybe it’s just them, the ‘others’ with hats on?
Due to huge, suddenly surfaced lifestyle differences, locally common two faced attitudes and real bad experiences of selfish behaviour we do not consider some locals as our close friends anymore.
We are happy to report, however, that during 2006 a much better understanding and mutual respect has developed between all but one of the Expats in town and also between most other modern thinking residents.
It is a sheer pleasure to have a dialogue with people who can actually tolerate each other’ opinion…
But even our German Holy Father had to be careful these days; it’s far too easy to upset intolerant guys these days
Believe it of Not!

Cheers & continue to E.N.J.O.Y. your life!
Just as everybody else, here on holiday, here seems to do!

SVH Team
& AbHa
Arugam Bay
Eastern Sri Lanka
0094 – 773 200 201

Ps.: Prolific Geoffrey BAWA (1919 – 2003) believed to let NATURE into each home he designed.
Modern developments seem to exclude nature with multiple walls, doors and windows
Part of the new SVH concept is:
From every new room,
From every bed if you wish
The first thing you will see when you open your eyes each morning will be:
The deep, blue, tropical sea right in front of you.
Dotted with hunky surfers, and hopefully also decorated with the odd bikini girl.
Could this not be a brilliant beginning for a days work or play?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Bawa

To finish this letter we have just only one single request:
Once a month, please take at least one quick look at
www.arugam.info


Have you looked at our new Home page?
Our Picasa Web Gallery is also worth a visit.
Please support us by leaving a Comment!
www.arugam.info

source:

http://www.sri-lanka-board.de/archive/index.php?t-2334.html Flagyl price ireland

Sri Lankan defence secretary menaces newspaper editor

By Nanda Wickremesinghe
24 April 2007

In a further attack on democratic rights, Sri Lankaa??s defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse last week threatened the editor of the English language Cheap zofran Daily Mirror Renagel 800 price over two articles in its April 16 and 17 editionsa??the first dealing the activities of a pro-government militia, known as the Karuna group, and the second with the appalling conditions facing Tamil refugees in the East.

The threat is the latest in a long line of steps by the government to suppress any criticism of the military and its offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The defence secretary is the brother of President Mahinda Rajapakse, who has plunged the island back to war since winning office in November 2005.

After the articles were published, an enraged Gotabhaya Rajapakse telephoned the newspapera??s editor Champika Liyanarachchi, who reported him as saying: a??Dona??t be surprised if the Karuna faction turns violent against you. If that happens dona??t expect any security from the government to protect yourself.a??

Rajapakse then demanded that the editor resign or he would force management to dismiss her on the grounds of preventing a reprisal against the newspaper. Referring to journalist Uditha Jayasinghe, who wrote one of the articles, the defence secretary bluntly told Liyanarachchi: a??Ia??ll exterminate hera??.

In Sri Lanka, such comments cannot be regarded as idle threats. Over the past year, nine media workers, mostly Tamil journalists, have been murdered in circumstances that strongly suggest the involvement of the military or associated paramilitaries such as the Karuna group. Rajapaksea??s refusal to provide protection is tantamount to an invitation for a physical attack on the newspaper and its editor.

The article on April 16 entitled a??Armed Karuna faction running its writ in Pottuvila?? graphically exposed the governmenta??s lie that the security forces are not cooperating with the Karuna group. Muslims in the eastern town of Pottuvil angrily told the Daily Mirror that Karunaa??s armed thugs move around freely, threatening people and extorting money. A coalition known as the Peace Secretariat for Muslims (PSM) had protested to the government and the international co-chairs of the peace process to no avail.

a??Maintaining law and order is the duty of the police, and in special cases the army has a role to play. But in Pottuvil the police, including the STF (police commandos) and the army have become mere bystanders while the Karuna group is running the writ through the town,a?? a PSM spokesman told the newspaper.

The Rajapakse government has repeatedly rejected the LTTEa??s demands to disarm paramilitaries such as the Karuna group as required by the 2002 ceasefire agreement, claiming that they were not operating in areas under government control. The Daily Mirror confirmed the security forces are allowing the Karuna group and other militias to openly threaten and extort. Behind the scenes, they undoubtedly operate with sections of the military in carrying out far greater crimes, including abduction and murder.

The second article, written on April 17 by Uditha Jayasinghe, was titled a??Muttur IDPs [Internally Displaced Persons]: Battling a man-made tsunami in the guise of wara??. It explained the appalling conditions confronting refugees as a result of the militarya??s offensives in the Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts. Its interviews and comments undermined the governmenta??s claims to be conducting a??humanitarian missionsa?? to assist people a??trappeda?? in LTTE-areas.

The reality is that since last July the army has conducted a series of aggressive operations to seize LTTE territory in open breach of the 2002 ceasefire. To stampede the local population, the military has deliberately shelled and bombed civilian areas, resulting in hundreds of deaths and driving hundreds of thousands to flee. These refugees are now living from hand to mouth without adequate food, shelter and medicine in camps throughout the East. Those displaced from Muttur have been living in such conditions since last August.

After the Daily Mirror made his comments public, the defence secretary lamely denied threatening the newspapera??s editor, saying all that was involved was a a??frank exchange of ideasa??. Writing on the defence ministry web site, Rajapakse claimed he had told Liyanarachchi the two articles were a??detrimental to the national securitya??. One article, he stated, promoted a??racial hatreda??, while a??the other was trying to damage the good image of the Security Forcesa??.

What is clear from Rajapaksea??s comments is that, in the name of a??national security,a?? the government and the military are demanding an end to all, even the most limited, criticism of the war. The threats against the Daily Mirror are a further warning of the methods being used. Under the current state of emergency, President Rajapakse has extensive powers to muzzle the media, but has refrained from using them to avoid provoking further political opposition.

The Editors Guild of Sri Lanka issued a statement, declaring: a??We consider this a serious threat to media freedom and also to editorial independence…. The Guild totally condemns the behaviour of a senior government official.a?? The Free Media Movement (FMM) also criticised the remarks, stating: a??Given the volatile situation in the country, the FMM also fears that this threat sends a chilling message to the media community at large in Sri Lanka.a??

President Rajapakse has attempted to repair the political damage. According to the newspaper, he telephoned Liyanarachchi and a??promised an investigationa?? into the threats. The Daily Mirror responded by hailing the initiative and promoting the illusion that the president, unlike his brother and other officials, was seriously interested in peace.

a??At a time when President Rajapakse is engaged in the arduous task of uniting the country to bring much desired peace, the behaviour of this nature on the part of his trusted lieutenants, could be condemned as attempts at cutting ground from under his feet,a?? the editorial stated. It has also noted that Karuna had informed Liyanarachchi that his group would not harm her.

Like Rajapaksea??s claims to be a??a man of peacea??, his efforts to parade as a champion of media rights are simply window dressing. A statement by the governmenta??s Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) continued the campaign against the Daily Mirror, provocatively declaring: a??The government believes that the latest allegation against the defence secretary is part of a wide plan to remove him from office to satisfy the aims of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.a??

The governmenta??s assault on the media is in fact intensifying. Just one day before Liyanarachchi was threatened, Subash Chandrabose, editor of the magazine Nilam and a contributor to other Tamil news media, was killed in the northern border town of Vavuniya.

Standard Newspapers, which published a leading Sinhalese-language weekly Mawbima and the English-language weekly Sunday Standard, was forced to cease operations on March 29 after the government froze the companya??s assets. The Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the police arrested the companya??s spokesman and financial director, Dushyantha Basnayake, under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and has detained him without charge since February 27.

During the past year, Mawbima reported on government corruption and human rights violations. Its journalists questioned the governmenta??s role in the spiralling number of abductions and a??disappearancesa?? as fighting between the military and the LTTE escalated. The media group belongs to a friend of former senior minister Mangala Samaraweera who was sacked in February after falling out with the President Rajapakse. Both the president and the defence secretary accused Mawbima of supporting the LTTE and undermining a??national securitya??.

These measures against the media are part of a wider attack on the democratic rights of ordinary working people. As it intensifies the war and the accompanying assault on living standards, the Rajapakse government cannot tolerate any criticism or exposure of its lies.

source:

http://www3.wsws.org/articles/2007/apr2007/sri-a24.shtml

Triple delight for tsunami father

Triple delight for tsunami father

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Triplets checked by a midwife at a hospital in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on 28 February 2007

The three girls will remain in hospital until they gain weight

A man who lost his three daughters in the Indian Ocean tsunami has become a father again – to female triplets. Darmi Ali, who had remarried after also losing his wife when the huge waves hit the Indonesian province of Aceh in 2004, said he was “overjoyed”.

“I lost my three daughters, and now they have been replaced by three other girls,” he said.

Aceh was nearest to the earthquake’s epicentre and lost 130,000 people, with half a million people made homeless.

Order keftab antibiotic Mr Ali, a 43-year-old police officer from Banda Aceh, described trying to save one of his daughters when the tsunami hit.

“I gripped onto one of my daughters but the tsunami took her away. I was also knocked over,” he was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.

“I tried to grab her, but I was not successful.”

The three babies were to remain in hospital until they gain weight.

“They can be taken home when they weigh 2kg (4.4lb) because with that weight they can adapt to the outside environment,” midwife Asma Sulaiman said.

She said the triplets’ 29-year-old mother, Maryati, was also doing well.

“After my female triplets were born, all the worries have gone and turned to happiness,” Mr Ali said.

source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6411085.stm

Stardust, Arugam Bay

Starsalad Cheap apcalis sx 20mg jelly Where to buy retin-a cream in uk StarsaladSaturday, December 30, 2006

Chicken Salad


Chicken Salad
Originally uploaded by pradeep jeganathan.

I had lunch at the Star Dust, Arugam bay on the 14th of December It was quite amazing. The chicken salad is dressed in yogurt, which is really well complemented by soft, succulent stalks of asparagus, and sautA?A?ed mushrooms. It is attractively plated, as you can see, with a topping of julienned Tomatoes. I only had one dish here on this visit, but I look forward to more.

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Glaube, Liebe, Hoffnung Von Volker KlinkmA?ller

Sri Lanka – ein Jahr nach dem Tsunami
Sri Lanka
Glaube, Liebe,A?A?Hoffnung
Von Volker KlinkmA?ller und Martin H. Petrich


21.A?NovemberA?2005A?Wer in diesen Wochen zum Urlaub nach Sri Lanka fliegt, wird A?berrascht sein. Fast ein Jahr nach der Tsunami-Katastrophe vom 26. Dezember ist die touristische Infrastruktur in den meisten Regionen weitgehend wiederhergestellt.

Vielerorts sogar mit hA?herwertigen UnterkA?nften und deshalb – wider Erwarten – auch nicht unbedingt preiswerter. Die ersten Pauschaltouristen sind in die groAYen Strandhotels der KA?stenregion zurA?ckgekehrt. Und A?berall lassen sich die AuslA?nder wieder mit den begehrten, fA?r die Insel typischen Ayurveda-Kuren verwA?hnen. Auch der Indische Ozean zeigt sich mit sauberen SandstrA?nden, glasklaren Wellen und fischreichen Korallenriffen von seiner besten Seite.

Schock und Schmerz der Naturkatastrophe indes sitzen natA?rlich tief. Mancherorts zieht sich – mit Ruinen, Schutt, Baumwurzeln oder den letzten Schiffswracks – noch ein GA?rtel der ZerstA?rung an der KA?ste entlang, wA?hrend es die Einheimischen immer wieder dazu drA?ngt, von ihren Verlusten, seien es geliebte Verwandte oder das Dach A?ber dem Kopf, zu berichten. Doch auch sie kA?nnen schon wieder lA?cheln, zeigen sich stets als freundlich und A?beraus bemA?ht. Vielleicht, um sich auf ihre Weise fA?r die SolidaritA?t der zurA?ckkehrenden Besucher zu bedanken.

Das Landesinnere Sri Lankas – mit all seinen kulturhistorischen SehenswA?rdigkeiten und faszinierenden Nationalparks – war in keiner Weise betroffen. In den KA?stengebieten zeigt sich die Lage wie folgt:

Die WestkA?ste

Colombo, Mount Lavinia, Negombo

Nur noch selten erinnern an den StrA?nden Wracks und TrA?mmer, wie hier in Tangalla, an die Katastrophe

Colombo war, wie auch der nA?rdlich gelegene Badeort Negombo, kaum vom Tsunami betroffen. Unmittelbar am Strand der Hauptstadt findet sich nach wie vor das rund dreiAYig Jahre alte, auf der Welt einzigartige Seafood-Restaurant a?zBeach Wadiyaa??, das zwar WasserschA?den erlitten hat, aber exakt in seiner bewuAYt schlichten Form wiederhergestellt worden ist.

Im sA?dlich benachbarten, traditionellen Badeort Mount Lavinia haben die Flutwellen zwar einige SchA?den angerichtet, doch hatten alle touristischen Betriebe – bis auf ein einziges kleines Strandrestaurant – schon wenige Wochen nach dem Tsunami wieder geA?ffnet. Auch das legendA?re Kolonialhotel a?zMount Laviniaa?? thront in altem Glanz trotzig auf seinem Felsvorsprung in der tosenden Brandung.

Bentota, Beruwala und Kosgoda

Mancherorts sind die Hotels jetzt besser – und teurer – als vor der Flutwelle

Im Vergleich zur SA?d- und OstkA?ste hat es im Westen Sri Lankas nur relativ wenige Tsunami-Tote gegeben. Zumal der GroAYteil der Region vorgewarnt werden konnte. Bis hinunter nach Galle sind fast alle Hotels, Pensionen und Restaurants lA?ngst zum Normalbetrieb zurA?ckgekehrt.

Die groAYen, vor allem am traumhaft schA?nen Palmenstrand von Bentota konzentrierten Pauschalhotels haben ihre Gartenanlagen weitgehend entsalzen kA?nnen. Die Beseitigung der Tsunami-SchA?den haben sie zumeist fA?r vielversprechende Updates und Upgrades ihrer Zimmer oder Suiten genutzt, was zum Teil sogar schon mit Belegungsquoten bis zu siebzig Prozent belohnt wird.

Trotz einem immer freundlichen LA?cheln – der Tsunami-Schock sitzt bei den Einwohnern noch tief

In Kalutara A?berzeugt das Hotel a?zKani Lanka Resort & Spaa??, das erst 48 Stunden vor dem Tsunami erA?ffnet und schwer verwA?stet worden war, als neues, innovatives Designer-Hotel. Noch nicht wieder buchbar ist das beliebte a?zTritona??- Hotel in Ahungalla, dessen Reparatur mit einer attraktiven Neugestaltung verbunden wird.

Schwere ZerstA?rungen sind vor allem noch in der Region Beruwala und Kosgoda zu sehen. Die KA?stenstraAYe, die nun vielerorts mit steinernen FlutschutzwA?llen versehen wurde, bietet neuerdings, durch die weitgehend verschwundene Bebauung der FischerhA?tten und die noch umstrittene 100-Meter-Regelung der Nichtbebauung, oft einen bestechend freien Ausblick auf das Meer.

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Angler am indischen Ozean

Vereinzelt finden sich noch Schiffswracks, die aber nur aus VersicherungsgrA?nden noch nicht geborgen wurden. Alle frA?heren Touristenattraktionen sind intakt oder haben – wie die a?zTurtle Hatcheriesa?? – einen Neuanfang gemacht. Sie brauchen dringend mehr Besucher, denn ohne die Eintrittsgelder fehlen die Mittel, um die SchildkrA?teneier vor dem Marktverkauf oder dem Verzehr zu retten. Auf den groAYen Lagunen werden wie frA?her reizvolle BootsausflA?ge in das Landesinnere angeboten.

Die SA?dkA?ste

Hikkaduwa

A?berraschende 95 Prozent der frA?heren touristischen Infrastruktur des beliebten, von der KA?stenstraAYe zerschnittenen Urlaubsorts sind wiederhergestellt. Bis auf das Hotel a?zHikkaduwa Beacha?? am Ortseingang haben alle UnterkA?nfte und Gastronomiebetriebe lA?ngst wieder geA?ffnet. Die vorgelagerten Korallenriffe haben durch den Tsunami keinerlei Schaden erlitten. In der Stadt streifen A?berraschend viele SolidaritA?tstouristen umher.

Schulalltag auf Sri Lanka

Drei Waggons des berA?hmt-berA?chtigten Eisenbahnzuges, der kurz vor Hikkaduwa in den Flutwellen umgekippt war, was ungeheuer vielen Menschen das Leben gekostet hat, sind am UnglA?cksort belassen worden und sollen Bestandteil eines Tsunami-Mahnmals werden. Schon jetzt wird dieser Ort als schaurige SehenswA?rdigkeit von Scharen in- und auslA?ndischer Touristen heimgesucht. Genau wie beim an Land gespA?lten Polizeimarineboot im thailA?ndischen Khao Lak.

Galle

Obwohl es vor allem am A?rtlichen Busbahnhof sehr viele Todesopfer gegeben hat, besteht keinerlei Grund, die wichtigste kulturhistorische SehenswA?rdigkeit im SA?den des Landes zu meiden. Die festungsartige Altstadt hat, wie auch ihre gesamte touristische Infrastruktur und die beiden auAYerhalb gelegenen Hotelflaggschiffe a?zLighthousea?? und a?zClosenberga??, die Katastrophe heil A?berstanden.

HibiskusblA?ten

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Trotz Besucherflaute hat sich der Trend fortgesetzt, immer mehr historische GemA?uer in stilvolle UnterkA?nfte zu verwandeln. Davon zeugen unter anderem das neue Hotel a?zThe Fort Printersa?? in einem ehemaligen DruckereigebA?ude und das erst im Dezember erA?ffnete, exklusive a?zAmangallaa??-Resort in den ehrwA?rdigen Mauern des einstigen a?zNew Oriental Hotelsa??, das zur Aman-Gruppe gehA?rt. Auch neue Boutiquen und SchmuckgeschA?fte lassen sich hier nieder.

Unawatuna

Obwohl es hier schwere ZerstA?rungen gegeben hat, ist der beliebte Badeort mit seinen etablierten Betrieben wiederauferstanden.Es gibt keine sichtbaren Ruinen mehr, doch weisen einige FreiflA?chen noch auf den Verlust von kleineren Restaurants und Pensionen hin.

Auch die “SchildkrA?ten Burtanstalt” hat einen Neuanfang gewagt

Es herrscht kein Mangel an guten UnterkA?nften und hervorragenden Restaurants. Die wunderschA?ne Bucht, in der ganzjA?hrig gebadet werden kann, ist A?berraschend gut besucht. Vor allem von etlichen europA?ischen Familienurlaubern, die in den tA?rkisfarbenen Meeresfluten schwimmen. Die AtmosphA?re ist erfreulich ausgelassen. Das hat auch die gigantische WiedererA?ffnungsparty der beliebten groAYen Stranddiskothek a?zHappy Bananaa?? am 1. Oktober dieses Jahres gezeigt.

Koggala, Weligama und Mirissa

Das groAYe, an einem atemberaubend breiten Sandstrand gelegene a?zKoggala Beach Hotela?? ist rund elf Monate nach dem Tsunami oft komplett ausgebucht. Auch das als Badeziel beliebte, wegen seiner Stelzenfischer berA?hmte Weligama ist mit seiner touristischen Infrastruktur schon lA?ngst zum Normalbetrieb zurA?ckgekehrt.

Hotel in Arugam Bay, wo wieder die Internationalen Surfweltmeisterschaften stattfinden

Die zum Schnorcheln und Tauchen beliebten vorgelagerten Korallenriffe haben den Tsunami ohne Schaden A?berstanden. In Mirissa wird – bis auf den zerstA?rten a?zParadise Beach Cluba?? – fleiAYig an der Wiederherstellung der zahlreichen privaten TouristenunterkA?nfte gearbeitet. Manchmal aber auch nur an Verfeinerungen: Das a?zPalace Mirissa Hotela?? zum Beispiel erhA?lt gerade ein romantisch am Hang gelegenes Schwimmbad.

Matara und Dikwella

Die meisten UnterkA?nfte und alle SehenswA?rdigkeiten wie etwa der begehbare Leuchtturm von Matara-Dondra sind vA?llig intakt. Die Wiederherstellung des auf einer felsigen Landzunge im Meer gelegenen a?zDikwella Village Resortsa?? wird wohl noch bis Anfang Dezember dauern. Und auch hier verbindet der EigentA?mer den Wiederaufbau mit einem stilvollen Upgrade der Zimmer. Das Ayurveda-Resort a?zVattersgardena??, das sich A?ber einen HA?gel am Meer erstreckt und von der deutschen Familie Vatter gegrA?ndet wurde, ist nach der Reparatur zum Normalbetrieb zurA?ckgekehrt.

Tangalla

Freier Blick auf den glitzernden Ozean

Die UnterkA?nfte im Westen der Stadt sind weitgehend unbeschA?digt geblieben oder inzwischen wiederhergestellt. Hier hat nun auch direkt am Strand das exklusive a?zAmanwellaa??-Resort erA?ffnet – nach der Niederlassung in Galle das zweite Standbein der Aman-Gruppe auf Sri Lanka. Obwohl seine Bunkerarchitektur eher gewA?hnungsbedA?rftig ist und A?beraus schlicht wirkt, ist es mit Bungalow-Preisen um die 900 US-Dollar pro Nacht nun das teuerste Hotel der Insel.

Das a?zTangalla Bay Hotela??, im Jahr 1971 auf einem Felsvorsprung im Meer errichtet, ist zwar leicht beschA?digt worden, ist aber dank seines bemerkenswerten Interieurs noch immer ein Meilenstein der Architektur auf Sri Lanka. Die touristische Infrastruktur der beiden gefragten Badebuchten im Osten der Stadt ist erheblich zerstA?rt worden, was dem landschaftlichen Erscheinungsbild allerdings kaum anzusehen ist. Inzwischen ist in manche Ruine neues Leben eingezogen, so daAY auch hier kein Mangel an UnterkA?nften zu verzeichnen ist. Die beste Traveller-Unterkunft der Region ist mit dem a?zBlue Horizona?? schon wieder aufgebaut.

Die OstkA?ste

Hambantota

Die Stadt gehA?rt wie auch die gesamte OstkA?ste zu den Regionen, die auf Sri Lanka am schwersten von der Tsunami-Katastrophe heimgesucht worden sind. Jedoch ist das Hotel a?zThe Oasisa?? als bestes und grA?AYtes Resort durch vorgelagerte SanddA?nen vA?llig unbeschA?digt geblieben und erfreut sich groAYer Auslastung, vor allem auch durch deutsche Ayurveda-Touristen. Das zweitgrA?AYte Hotel a?zPeacock Beacha?? ist schwer beschA?digt worden, will aber auf jeden Fall bis Ende November wieder erA?ffnen.

Somit dA?rfte Hambantota auch weiterhin als wichtigster Ausgangspunkt fA?r AusflA?ge in die legendA?ren Nationalparks von Yala, Bundula und Uda Walawe dienen und auch zu den Kultur-HeiligtA?mern von Kataragama. WA?hrend die a?zYala Safari Game Lodgea?? im gleichnamigen Nationalpark komplett zerstA?rt worden ist, aber wiederaufgebaut werden soll, hat das gediegene a?zYala Village Resorta?? als mit Abstand bestes Hotel des Naturschutzgebiets den Tsunami heil A?berstanden. Nur seine Strandvillen hat die Lodge verloren.

Arugam Bay

Nach dem Tsunami sind hier schon wieder die dritten Internationalen Surfmeisterschaften veranstaltet worden. Denn gewiAY zA?hlt diese Bucht noch immer zu den zehn besten Surfdestinationen der Welt. Wer hier Urlaub macht, gehA?rt allerdings zur eingefleischten Surfer- beziehungsweise Traveller-Szene, will vor allem seine SolidaritA?t zeigen. Und muAY besonders hartgesotten sein. Vielerorts sind die ZerstA?rungen sichtbar, als Brachlandschaften zum Beispiel. Und auch etliche Ruinen sind noch zu sehen. Dennoch haben rund um das legendA?re a?zSiam Bayview Hotela?? – nicht zuletzt ein bizarrer Treffpunkt der zahlreichen internationalen Mitarbeiter und Freiwilligen der Hilfsorganisationen – A?ber zwei Drittel aller touristischen Betriebe wieder geA?ffnet, auch wenn sich die Zimmerzahl so mancher Unterkunft auf nur noch zehn Prozent reduziert hat.

Am Strand ist eine neue, ansehnliche Generation von zweistA?ckigen Romantikrestaurants aus Naturmaterialien entstanden. Das a?zTri Star Beach Hotela??, das frA?her A?ber die besten Zimmer und den bisher einzigen Pool der Bucht verfA?gte, wurde in seiner alten Form wieder erA?ffnet und ist Mitte Oktober durch einen direkt am Strand gelegenen NeubauflA?gel ergA?nzt worden. Zudem steht die ErA?ffnung mehrerer neuer, fA?r die Region bisher noch ungewA?hnlich komfortabler Bungalow-Anlagen, wie das a?zBombardi Resorta?? oder das a?zRoyal Garden Beach Hotela??, unmittelbar bevor.

Trincomalee, Uppuveli, Nilaveli

WA?hrend die Hafenstadt Trincomalee dank ihres riesigen Naturhafens kaum betroffen war, richteten die hier bis zu vier Meter hohen Flutwellen an den nA?rdlichen StrA?nden Uppuveli und Nilaveli groAYe SchA?den an. Elf Monate danach sind jedoch fast alle UnterkA?nfte wieder erA?ffnet. Und sie befinden sich nach umfassender Renovierung teils in besserem Zustand als zuvor. Das schwer beschA?digte a?zNilaveli Beach Hotela?? wird derzeit von Grund auf renoviert und soll Anfang 2006 wieder seine Pforten A?ffnen.

Obwohl die Korallenriffe leicht in Mitleidenschaft gezogen wurden, kA?nnen sich Taucher wie eh und je an der SchA?nheit der fischreichen Unterwasserwelt erfreuen. Leider nahmen in den vergangenen Monaten die politischen Spannungen in dieser Region wieder zu, so daAY man sich rechtzeitig A?ber die aktuelle, derzeit aber relativ unbedenkliche Sicherheitslage informieren sollte. Die eher geringe touristische Infrastruktur von Batticaloa, der grA?AYten Stadt der OstkA?ste und bekannt vor allem wegen ihres PhA?nomens der a?zSingenden Fischea??, ist vom Tsunami kaum betroffen gewesen, da sie vorwiegend im Bereich einer Lagune im Landesinneren liegt.
Text: Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, 20.11.2005
Bildmaterial: F.A.Z. – Volker KlinikmA?ller, F.A.Z., F.A.Z. – Volker KlinkmA?ller

Arugam and PottuVille: Abandoned by the ‘Socialist’ Government

31/01/2005

“The grotesque picture of devastation is slowly emerging and haunting us. The real brunt of the tsunami was taken by the eastern part of the island. The principal town, Pottuvil, has seen the worst disaster in its living memory”.

Pictures: Clare Doyle, cwi

Siritunga Jayasuriya, General Secretary United Socialist Party (cwi, Sri Lanka) and Jagadish Chandra, Socialist Alternative (cwi, India).

pictures

These words which began the last article we wrote from Sri Lanka are an all too accurate description. As we arrived again in the eastern part of Sri Lanka, a graveyard silence greeted us – scores of eyes tired of crying for their kith and kin who were taken by the killer Tsunami.

Arugambay early 2005

There are “families” who have lost everybody except one male member who had gone to the town or who was safely fishing in the deep sea. There is not a single household which has not been devastated by death and destruction in the world famous Arugambay surfing village. Now streets of debris are all that is left to see of what was once a booming tourist spot as well as busy fishing community.

No notable help was forthcoming to the poor affected at Ullai (Arugam)

The relief team of the United Socialist Party (USP, CWI in Sri Lanka) visited the Pottuvil area again on the week-end 22 to 24 January and visited all the villages and hamlets where the USP already has a base. Apart from the Pottuvil town, the villages such as Ullai, Sinnaullai and Komari have seen the dancing of death in their own eyes. The team could see the fear of the sea still instilled in the helpless eyes of the villagers of Pottuvil district.

Government lies

Though a lot of claims are being made by the government agencies and the sycophantic electronic media, that fast relief is being meted out to the victims of the tsunami and most of them are rehabilitated, the USP team could see for itself that it was a big white lie concocted to show to the western world and the donor countries.

On the hot sands of Arugambay, there once stood a lively town mostly of Tamil-speaking Muslims. But today the only reminder of that scene is the debris and some concrete floors which had little houses on them with lots of children. The claims of the government that they have set up pukka relief camps is a travesty of justice to these poor people, who have had to build their own thatched shelter with whatever was salvaged from the disaster.

The government is treating the victims of tsunami as some sort of beggars by giving just a weekly ration of rice, lentils, sugar, flour etc. and wash their hands of responsibility for anything else. The paltry sum of five thousand rupees for the funeral of the victims is the only cash that the affected have seen and received from the government.

To rub salt on the wounds of the surviving disaster victims, the government expects them to queue up to register in order to receive the promised five thousand rupees as a start up grant. You cannot imagine the scores of bruised, sick, fearful and dejected people queuing up for this so-called help from the government. Even the distribution of relief material such as temporary shelters and household goods smacks of partiality along ruling coalition lines.

Class Bias

The tsunami has washed away many things such as houses, boats, catamarans, fishing nets and other livelihood articles, but the devil of Class Bias stands firmly rooted in society.

The government has suddenly woken up to the fact that there is a rule that nobody should build anything within 100 metres of the sea. While it wants to apply this rule stringently now, the most adversely affected would be the poor fishermen folk. Some of the rich and foreigners are already flouting the law and building dwellings and businesses

within the stipulated areas.

The communal Janata Vimukthi Perumuna (JVP) is taking advantage of the post-tsunami situation and has set its own agenda. In the Pottuvil area for example it has tried to communalise the whole town by making false claims on a piece of land in a predominantly Muslim area to put up a Buddhist statue.

Socialist crisis management center

The USP district centre at Pottuvil town has become a sort of socialist crisis management centre for the tsunami affected people; it has become an ongoing meeting spot for them to discuss everything that is worrying them. The USP has tried to meet the challenge of organizing its own relief operation to help some of the disaster affected people who are directly linked to the party in one way or the other.

It has distributed some essential items such as cement, bricks, cycles, household utensils and kerosene stoves to some of the comrades who were affected. But doing relief work here is like a cat saying that it would drink all the water in the ocean; it was a daunting task for all the comrades to decide how to manage on the resources available.

The fantastic work done by the comrades in Pottuvil must be saluted. It has stretched the comrades physically to the maximum, but this sacrifice has its own rewards. Most of the adult population have turned up at the meetings when the USP team was there, and most of them said that they are going to join the USP – the only party which came there to help at the hour (if not the minute!) of need.

Further work of USP

This week-end (29 and 30 January) the USP team is going to the south of the country to carry on the party sponsored relief for the comrades and supporters of the USP. A special broadsheet is being planned with the name a??Tsunami Janahandaa?? (Voice of the Tsunami Victims) to expose the government and to put forward a socialist programme for the fight-back. Later, in the month of February, a mass poster campaign is planned.

source:

http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/1549

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Post Tsunami Chat SVH Focus

Zeige EintrA?ge 1 – 20 von 27 A?ltere EintrA?ge A?
Name Kommentar
Wolfgang erstellt am 27-03-2005 um 09:36 Uhr Email an Wolfgang Homepage von Wolfgang


We arrived in arugam yesterday morning. The power is working. The telephone not yet. We are working on that but please may expect another full week.
At the moment I do reports about each single place in arugam bay.
We spoke to officials at the Sri Lankan Government in Colombo. To get results needs plans such as business plans for the entire region. As soon as possible we publish all at the homepage. Please be sorry, everything is very difficult. We try to hurry for all. So far I give you some infos at the forum only. I check daily. Tommkorrow more.
Kind regards
Wolfgang
Anne-Marie LEURION erstellt am 21-03-2005 um 09:09 Uhr Email an Anne-Marie LEURION


Hello from France to you all in Germany
This forum is a great idea but please ! think to the poor people who can't speak german (and couldn't have seen the report on focus tv either).
We were in Arugam bay last summer and follow since the tsunami all the huge and selfless efforts of the SVH Team (thank you Wolfgang).
And if we don't know Fred and his friends, we feel close to them and to the people in A BAY. You can help them in any way, send money of course, they need it. But you can also for you next trip think to go or come back there : fill up the guest houses and hotels is also a good way to give work to everybody and enable them to start again…
And thank you to write in english from time to time.
Anne-Marie
Wolfgang erstellt am 21-03-2005 um 08:33 Uhr Email an Wolfgang Homepage von Wolfgang


Back in the tropics. Its my second day. We been at the German embassy already and hopefully there will be some support for our projects to serve whole Arugam Bay for a better future. The next few days we have more appointments with officials in Colombo.
As soon as we are in Arugam Bay and connected to the internet you may expect detailed reports about everybody and everything.
So far I do not yet answer any mails. We are in a hurry to get connected to serve all information to you. Please do not hesitate to let us know about your meaning and thanks a lot to all for your assistance in the past.
Yours truly

Wolfgang

Wolfgang erstellt am 17-03-2005 um 17:10 Uhr Email an Wolfgang Homepage von Wolfgang


Sowie ich in der Bay bin werde ich mich mit anderen um diese Frage kA?mmern. Die interessiert mich besonders. Bitte rechnet mit bis zu 10 Tagen bis Ihr darauf eine genaue Antwort bekommt.
Meines Wissens gibt es im Moment in Arugam keine Tauchschule. Vor der Bay liegen verschiedene Wracks in Tauchtiefe von bis zu 30 metern. A?ber die Korallen weiss ich noch nicht Bescheid und will das selbst sehen.
Setze mich dafA?r ein eine Tauchschule zu etablieren. Investoren gesucht!
Also in KA?rze alle Antworten zu dieser Frage.
Bin vorA?bergend nicht erreichbar. Bei wichtigen Fragen zur Arugam Bay kA?nnt Ihr Euch auch telefonisch an Monika Kahrs wenden. Tel: 0174 211 55 78
robert erstellt am 17-03-2005 um 13:38 Uhr Email an robert


sind vorort taucher nA?tig um riffe zu sA?ubern oder einige vermisste gegenstA?nde aus dem meer zu bergen? wenn ja wieviele fA?r wie lange und sind kompressoren vorort? wer ist ansprechpartner?
Moni Kahrs erstellt am 16-03-2005 um 20:13 Uhr Email an Moni Kahrs


Lieber Franz,
dein Posting auf arugam.bay lA?sst uns hoffen:
Also, da gibt es verschiedene MA?glichkeiten, Geld fA?r Fred zu A?berweisen, alle Bankverbindungen finden sich auch auf https://www.arugam.info/tsunami-help.htm

Falls jemand wirklich einen Riesenbatzen spenden mA?chte, sozusagen Fred wieder richtig heftig auf die FA?sse helfen, aber dafA?r eine Spendenquittung fA?rs Finanzamt braucht, kann er auch gerne seine Fred-Sprende auf das Konto des Rotary Club A?berweisen:

Rotary Club of Capital City
HATTON NATIONAL BANK
CINNAMON GARDENS BRANCH
COLOMBO 7
ACCOUNT NUMBER/Konto-Nr. : 0760121479CU
Verwendungszweck: ARUGAMBAY TSUNAMI RELIEF – C/O DR. FRED MILLER

WofA?r Geld gebraucht wird?
Das steht hier: https://www.arugam.info/tsunami-future.htm
Liebe GrA?sse & vielen Dank

franz gehrold erstellt am 16-03-2005 um 19:21 Uhr Email an franz gehrold


ich bin der tonmann der auf sri lanka an dem focus tv bericht mitgewirkt hat. ich wA?rde gerne versuchen ein bisschen geld bei meinen freunden fA?r das “siam view” hotel und fred netzkamp aufzutreiben. hierfA?r wA?re es wichtig
genauere hinweise bezA?glich einer bankverbindung vom SVH zu haben. wie kann man schnell helfen, fA?r was wird wieviel geld gebraucht?
gut wA?re vielleicht auch die kommunikation A?ber das focus tv forum auf der www.arugam.info seite. damit die leute hier und dort merken das etwas passiert. wie ich das ganze verstehe ist die sache ja ziemlich eilig.
mit freundlichen grA?ssen
franz
Wolfgang erstellt am 15-03-2005 um 22:37 Uhr Email an Wolfgang Homepage von Wolfgang


Habe das Video als DVD in DVD QualitA?t. Leider aber habe ich weder Zeit, noch richtige Software um das ins Web zu bringen. Das mA?sste geschnitten werden et.. Sorry kann das im Moment nicht.
Kenne aber noch weitere Leute. Werde mal fragen?
Bert und Sylvia erstellt am 15-03-2005 um 22:03 Uhr Email an Bert und Sylvia


Hallo Wolfgang, wir hatten die News zu Arugam sehr vermisst und jetzt wiedergefunden. Klasse und Danke!
Wir sind im Juli in SL und kommen auch nach Arugambay. Wir melden uns bei Fred.
Axel Goerke erstellt am 15-03-2005 um 21:33 Uhr Email an Axel Goerke Homepage von Axel Goerke


FOCUS-Bericht!Auch ich hA?tte groAYes Interesse an dem Bericht! Meine Klasse hat innerhalb kA?rzester Zeit a?? 1000.- aufgetrieben – 'Kinder helfen Kindern' und sie wA?rden sehr gerne mal Bilder aus ABAy sehen. A?ber eine Mail oder andere Infos wA?re ich sehr dankbar!

ALLES GUTE, FRED!

chris + betty erstellt am 15-03-2005 um 21:13 Uhr


Hi Fred,wir haben am Sonntag auch die Reportage von Focus TV gesehen und waren schockiert das bei euch immer noch keine Hilfe ankam… Verdammt, wir kommen aus Deutschland, eines der LA?nder aus denen am meisten gespendet wurde! Die Flut ist 2,5 Monate her, aber wohin ist nun das ganze Geld geflossen?!?
Wir waren im August 2003 fA?r zwei Wochen in Arugam Bay und hatten eine tolle Zeit, deswegen sind wir auch sehr betroffen A?ber die schlimmen Bilder + Nachrichten. Wir A?bernachteten allerdings nicht bei euch im Siam View sondern in Sooriyas Beach Hut. Kannst du uns was A?ber den Besitzer sagen? Gehts ihm gut? Kann mich nicht mehr genau erinnern, aber ich glaube er heiAYt Sunil.
Alles Gute fA?r eure Zukunft und hoffentlich bis demnA?chst!

Viele GrA?AYe
Chris + Betty

SVH Team, Arugam Bay erstellt am 15-03-2005 um 10:34 Uhr Email an SVH Team, Arugam Bay Homepage von SVH Team, Arugam Bay


Frage:
Wie kann man am Besten helfen? Wenn so etwas schreckliches noch mal passiert?

Antwort :
Gelernt ist gelernt!
Leute, wir wissen zwar nicht alles; das tun ja immer nur die oft unweitgereisten grossen Organisationen vor Ort; allerdings haben wir keinen Zweifel das die Antwort denkbar einfach ist.
Glaubt uns, wir haben beste Erfahrungen!
Trotz Globaltourismus noch nie im Notstandgebiet gewesen? Dann bleibt besser erstmal zu Hause
Spendet nichts and die Organisationen; das kann der Staat machen und kontrollieren
Mit IT kann man viel erreichen, deshalb koennt Ihr eventuell mit euren Faehigkeiten mehr erreichen als zu reisen
Wenn Ihr das Land kennt und Ihr glaubt das Ihr Faehigkeiten – egal welcher Art – besitzt die am Ort des Geschehens nuetzlich sein koennten:
Packt nur Sachen ein die Euch allein helfen werden, das Beste aus Euch hervorzuholen: Und dann bucht den naechsten Flieger direkt dahin wo es am Noetigsten erscheint
Wenn Ihr durch fruehere Reisen ein paar Leute oder Gesaefte kennt die betroffen sind, fahrt da hin; Ihr kennt Euch ja schon
Analysiert die Lage und setzt Eure Faehigkeiten und Erfahrungen sofort ein:
Das kann handwerklich sein, medizinisch, oder einfach nur um gut zuzuhoeren, zu troesten, den Leuten zu zeigen das die Welt sie nicht vergessen hat
Wenn ihr nichts besser machen koennt als Andere bereits vor Ort, zieht weiter. Bis Ihr jemand seht der Euch echt brauchen kann
Ganz automatisch verbindet sich dann euer alter Freundeskeis mit Erfahrungen, und eine neue, tiefe Verbindung wird aufgebaut.
Da man Euch zu Hause seit dem Schulalter kennt, tun Eure alten Freunde bestimmt das was Ihr empfehlt.
Setze alle Deine ganzen Verbindungen ein und helft direkt, jedem dem Ihr irgendwie helfen koennt
Vergesst nicht, auch oder sogar: hauptsaechlich den verbleibenen Geschaeften zu helfen, denn die beleben fast immer die gesamte loakle Wirtschaft und viele Familien leben dann wieder vom Einkommen allein
Das oben ist das Resultat unserer eigenen Erfahrungen.
Die Selbsthilfe eines Freundeskreises ist viel besser als jede grosse Organisation es jemals sein kann.
Eure Gegenwart am Ort des Desasters ist wichtig; Eurer Reisegeld hilft allen sofort und direkt.

Was auch immer passiert, Euer Leben wird danach um viele Erfahrungen und Eindruecke reicher sein und Ihr habt durch diese Art des Desaster Tourismus echt was erreichen koennen.
Ihr lernt Land & Leute kennen wie sonst nicht anders moeglich.

Gruss
SVH Team
Arugam Bay

SurferboyUlm erstellt am 15-03-2005 um 06:16 Uhr Email an SurferboyUlm


Hallo,ich habe auch den Bericht gesehen via Fokus – TV und denke Mal es wA?re wohl nicht verkehrt den Link auf allen mA?glichen Surfer und anderen vielbesuchten Foren- Web-Sites zu verbreiten.
Der Wiederaufbau des Hotels sowie anderer Einrichtungen sollte unter allen UmstA?nden weitergefA?hrt werden, da Solches mit den wiederkehrenden GA?sten A?berhaupt erst wieder Lebensgrundlage fA?r die Menschen dort schaffen kann.

Believe in the power of surfer's spirit,
Namaste

Surferboy

Alex erstellt am 14-03-2005 um 15:51 Uhr


Hat jemand den Focus Beitrag vielleicht aufgenommen und kA?nnte den Beitrag als File im Internet zur VerfA?gung stellen? Ich war im Oktober 2004 in ABAY fA?r ein paar Tage, auf der Durchreise zu meinem Arbeitsplatz in Thailand, Khao Lak, wo ich auch am 26ten 04 war. Ich wA?rde den Beitrag gerne sehen, habe aber nur MA?glichkeiten A?ber das Internet… Oder wenn jemand mir ne DVD schicken kA?nnte? Ich bin immer noch in Khao Lak. 🙂
Alex

To Fred:
Hi there,
I struggle with my plan to open a hospitality training center here, nobody there to train in Service Industries anymore. But I see you guys have taken a very bad strike as well…
This is not a joke: Look out for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the next couple of weeks, for a lot of people the real problems are beginning just now.
Good Luck, keep up, I will try to visit you in May
Alex


www.siam-interact.com
www.similantour.co m

Sabine erstellt am 14-03-2005 um 15:48 Uhr Email an Sabine Homepage von Sabine


Hallo liebe Forumleser,ich habe seit 6 Jahren ein GA?sthouse in der NA?he von Unawatuna(Mihiripenna).Ich wir wurden am 26.12.weggeschwemmt.GA?ste kamen gottseidank nicht zu Schaden.Im Moment sind wir wieder soweit hergestellt das eigentlich vermietet werden kann.Aber wo sind die GA?ste ?Von staatlicher Seite oder von Organisationen kam keine Hilfe.Viele meiner GA?ste und Bekannten haben gespendet.Hier habe ich auch eine Spendenaktion laufen ,die versch. Schulen im Umkreis von Galle zugute kommen wird.Essenstisch,Toiletten etc.
Das Geld werde ich aber nicht aus der Hand geben und alles selbst organisieren,man weis ja wie es in Sri Lanka lA?uft!Wir sind direkt am Strand und haben groAYes Interesse an dem FrA?hwarnsystem per SMS ,wer kann mir nA?heres mitteilen ?Ich bin zur Zeit in Deutschland und fliege in ca.4 Wochen zurA?ck.Wenn ich irgendjemanden unten behilflich sein kann,bitte bei mir melden.
Gruss Sabine
Wolfgang erstellt am 14-03-2005 um 08:46 Uhr Email an Wolfgang Homepage von Wolfgang


Spendenquittungen werden selbstverstA?ndlich, auf Anfrage, seit dem ersten Tag nach der Katastrophe ausgestellt ebenso wie Nachweise A?ber den Verwendungszweck!!
Monika Kahrs erstellt am 14-03-2005 um 08:24 Uhr Email an Monika Kahrs


Ich hatte schon ziemlich unmittelbar nach dem Tsunami zu Spenden fA?r Arugam Bay und das SVH Project aufgerufen, bekam jedoch oftmals zu hA?ren, dass man nur gegen eine entsprechende Spendenquittung etwas geben wolle.Inzwischen gibt es ein entsprechendes Wiederaufbauprojekt und Spendenquittungen kA?nnen ausgestellt werden! Dieses Projekt ist allerdings auch nur arbeitsfA?hig, wenn es finanziell unterstA?tzt wird und in den Genuss von Spendengeldern kommt.

FA?r Details, bitte e-mail an mich! Melde mich umgehend zurA?ck.

Wolfgang erstellt am 14-03-2005 um 08:22 Uhr Email an Wolfgang Homepage von Wolfgang


Hi HubertDu hast Recht. Auch private Kredite kA?nnen hier viel helfen. Einzig der A?berwA?ltigenden Hilfe privater Menschen ist es zu verdanken das man jetzt, fast drei Monate nach dem Tsunami A?berhaupt noch existiert.
Das Siam View Hotel ist A?brigens nur ein Beispiel fA?r viele. Die meisten anderen kA?mpfen mit A?hnlichen Problemen.
Wir sind momentan dabei auch detailierte PlA?ne zu erstellen. Es geht hier um den Wiederaufbau der Hotels aber auch um gemeinnA?tzige Projekte wie z.B. KlA?ranlage fA?r die gesamte Hotel Association die gerade neu strukturiert wird, Wellness Center mit kleiner Klinik, Schule fA?r alle BevA?lkerungsgruppen usw.
Sponsoren und Investoren sind dringend nA?tig.
NA?tig ist allerdings auch endlich die Hilfe von offizieller Seite.
Ich gehe in KA?rze, vorA?bergehend, nach Arugam um mich um diese Belange zu kA?mmern. Umfassende Reporte, PlA?ne etc. werden dann in der Homepage verA?ffentlicht.
Meine Mail Adresse: arugam@weltweitweb.net
Man kann mich in den nA?chsten Tagen auch anrufen:A?069-98192631
Meine mail Adresse: arugam@weltweitweb.net
H. R. erstellt am 14-03-2005 um 00:51 Uhr


Sorry,
nicht bis zum Beginn zurA?ck gelesen…
… aber private Kredite wA?ren doch was fA?r die Region. Denke viele ehemalige oder zukA?nftige GA?ste wA?ren dazu bereit.
Hubert R.
Hubert R. erstellt am 14-03-2005 um 00:46 Uhr Email an Hubert R.


Hallo Wolfgang,habe auch gerade den Focus-Bericht gesehen. Finde die Aufbauarbeit die gezeigt wurde sehr gut und unterstA?tzenswert. Und zwar nicht nur mit Spenden. Wenn ich gerade gut bei Kasse wA?re wA?rde ich dem deutschen Hotelbetreiber Netzband-MA?ller gerne fA?r lA?ngere Laufzeit einen privaten Kredit zukommen lassen … das wA?re doch wohl etwas, was dem einen oder anderen in der Region gut helfen kA?nnte sein kleines Paradies wieder fA?r die nA?chste Saison aufzubauen!
Kannst mir u. anderen Interessenten vielleicht eine E-Mail-Adresse ins Netz stellen, dass dem Mann geholfen wird!
Herzliche GrA?sse
Hubert R.

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Red Cross HQ in ‘An Arugam Bay’ Hotel

Reconstruction and invisible scars

From Till Mayer for CNN
Wednesday, January 26, 2005 Posted: 0948 GMT (1748 HKT)

POTTUVIL, Sri Lanka (CNN) — Till Mayer is a journalist working for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Galle, Sri Lanka. He is writing about his experiences as part of the relief effort for CNN.com.

Part 1: Sunday, January 2

Part 2: Monday, January 10

Part 3: Tuesday, January 25

Tuesday, January 25

The crane is straining. The massive fishing boat swings in the air hanging meters above on steel ropes, between golden beach and blue sky.

The tsunami waves tossed heavy wooden vessels ashore on December 26 like paper boats. Now they lie scattered over the whole beach, stranded between palms.

Many of them are only wrecks. Broken wood, where rocks shattered the heavy planks. Maybe one day some of the boats can sail again. The crane starts with the clearing up.

I return to the car and continue the journey south towards Galle. To the left and right are remnants of the disaster.

Sometimes all that remains are heaps of stones, reminding me of the fishing huts that stood there one month ago. The rubble passes me by.

But there is not only destruction to see. Everywhere along the coasts of Sri Lanka people are still clearing up and sometimes even beginning to rebuild.

Fires burn beside the roads: mattresses, splintered timber and broken furniture transformed into ash.

From the debris the tsunami victims collect what is useful for reconstruction: roofing tiles, stones and corrugated sheet. Neighbors help each other.

And the aid workers of the Red Cross lend a hand. At the next stop the sun already beats down from the sky. Sweat runs down of the faces of 25 Red Cross volunteers from Bentota.

“Straight after the tsunami disaster I joined the Red Cross. Now I clear up the rubble with my friends”, says a 23-year old.

In the background a wrecked house rises up into the sky. The tidal wave shattered the timber roofs like matches, tearing away furniture, windows, doors, everything.

Red Cross workers, many young, push squeaking wheelbarrows along the affected coastline.

They provide first aid, clean salted wells, distribute humanitarian goods or transport clean drinking water.

The disaster has tapped into the humanitarian spirit and the number of Red Cross volunteers has increased, a fact Vpali Sirimanne is proud of.

Sirimanne is the honorary Red Cross chairman of the district of Bentota. He used to work as a full-time diving instructor. Before the tsunami he ran his own equipment and boat rental business. The wave destroyed everything.

Not far away a Red Cross truck stands next to the road delivering water. The pump is roaring, filling up a black plastic tank. The village inhabitants line up with cans and buckets. Clean drinking water is essential to avoid the outbreak of diseases and epidemics.

I think of my German Red Cross friends in Pottuvil. They prepare 120,000 liters of drinking water daily, supplying camps for the homeless. Then there are the two basic health care centers run by the Finnish and French Red Cross societies.

The tsunami has brought me back in touch with colleagues from other missions. Dieter Mathes is the German Red Cross ERU team leader, an aid-worker with decades of experience, and Konrad Kerpa, whom I met last year in Bam.

Then an enormous earthquake had transformed the entire Iranian city within seconds into a sea of rubble. Both disasters happened on December 26.

The city of Pottuvil looms — a particularly sad chapter in my Sri Lanka mission. The former paradise for surfers is now only a field of rubble. Thousands died here. I will never forget the sight of numerous corpses floating in the water. It was terrible.

The bridge between the city center and the former tourist area was destroyed. The German Red Cross water team managed to get water over the destroyed bridge using a 728-meter hose.

The German Red Cross is also operating a field hospital in the north of the country and is one of several National Societies working in close cooperation with the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Sri Lanka Red Cross.

My journey continues. The road is hopelessly overcrowded. A railway track runs parallel to the road. Or rather, what remains of it. The waves bent the rails like play dough. Nearby an iron rail hangs over a palm trunk.

I come to the town of Tellwatte. The place looks like it a bomb site. What's left of the train station stands amid the rubble. Walls have been partly washed away. Villagers set up a Buddha statue on a broken roof, lost between the remains.

Behind the station a reddish-brown train appears. Over 1,400 people died when the wave hit the wagons, tearing the carriages apart. Heavy equipment has set the death train again on its track.

The bodies of the dead have been recovered, but still there are sad reminders. In front of the wagon lies a small doll, its legs ripped off. Its painted eyes staring into the sky. The girl, who played with the doll, is dead. The tsunami disaster claimed nearly 40,000 lives in Sri Lanka. An incomprehensible number.

Red Cross and Red Crescent planes and ships have brought tons of goods to the vulnerable. The first new houses are appearing while others are being reconstructed.

“The acute emergency phase is over, reconstruction can start”, says Axel Pawolek, the FACT team leader with the Federation.

One month after, it is still hard for me to comprehend the extent of the disaster.

If it is difficult for me as a visitor to this country, imagine how hard it is for the innocent, bewildered victims such as the children. In a few minutes the world as they knew it, was washed away. Beloved ones will never return again.

There are wounds you cannot see, and they will take a long time to heal. That is a further challenge for the Red Cross/Red Crescent.

Monday, January 10

story.meyer2.jpg

The clean-up operation has begun in Pottuvil.

POTTUVIL, Sri Lanka — The advertising sign is lost in amid the rubble. On it is written “Tsunami Hotel” in big letters, and a giant wave is breaking over it.

A favorite place to stay for surfers from all over the world — until December 26.

Now the sign rises up in the sky like a monument. In a cruel irony, the tsunami has taken the hotel named after it.

Mohammed Ali passes by the remnants with slow steps. The disaster has made an old man out of the 52-year-old. The wave washed away his house like a sand castle, his brother-in-law will never return with his boat from fishing.

Heavy bruises cover the body of the fisherman. Every breath hurts. Deep inside there is a stronger pain. It will stay for a long time. Mohammed Ali knows it too well.

Along both sides of the road there are long rows of destroyed houses. Not long ago they were guest houses, small pubs and shops. Pottuvil was well known as a paradise for holiday makers. For Mohammed Ali that now seems a lifetime away.

“Sometimes I do not know what I should believe. That this sea of rubble is reality? Or that I am just dreaming? When I wake up, will I see again the bustling city with all the tourists and the owners of the restaurants, who are buying my fresh fish”, he says softly.

The leg of a plastic doll juts out of the rubbish that was swept up by the tsunami. Next to it lies a baby bottle. On a wall nearby a painting depicts a surfer riding a wave.

Mohammed tries to walk faster. He tries to avoid thinking about something which he is unable to find an explanation for.

A young man waves from a roof of a destroyed house. “Is everything okay with you?” he asks.

Mohammed Ali nods and the man continues to throw down the roof tiles that are still unbroken to another man who catches them cheerfully.

In Pottuvil like everywhere else alongside the coast of Sri Lanka people start to clean up, sometimes even to rebuild.

Marie Mauret, a psychologist with the French Red Cross basic health care unit in Pottuvil has been impressed with the coping mechanisms of the local community.

“People are really brave here. And there are so many volunteers to help us. Despite the sorrow everybody is working hard to cope with these terrible times. People are proactive. They do not wait until someone comes to help them, she says.

The Red Cross has erected a basic health care post in a hotel. Plastic sheeting covers holes in walls damaged by the tsunami.

Mohammed Ali takes a seat on a rickety chair. Like so many others he is waiting patiently to get treated. Word of the Red Cross health post is being spread by word of mouth. An island of safety in the sea of rubble.

The Red Cross mobile medical team has also been established to cover scattered temporary shelters south of Pottuvil to provide services to patients who would find it difficult to get to the center.

The psychological impact on the community is something that Mauret says cannot be stressed enough.

“Many of them are deeply traumatized. It is especially hard for children to understand what happened”, she says.

Children are finding it difficult to sleep and their rest is blighted by nightmares. They react by crying after the unbelievable things that happened to them and their families, like the girl who is being treated by a doctor at the center. The Red Cross-worker smiles at the girl, speaking calming words.

Where the town of Pottuvil ends, a green paradise stretches as far as the eye can see. In the sunlight lush green rice fields are shining. Between them palms and huge trees grow.

A road winds through the landscape and next to it are a couple of big blue water tanks. Here the German Red Cross emergency response unit is purifying up to 120,000 liters of drinking water a day for more than 15,000 affected people.

“Without our friends from the Sri Lanka Red Cross we would have had great trouble becoming operational. With a group of young Red Cross members we have been able to install everything fast. It is a good feeling to work in a strong team together with our local colleagues and friends”, says Dieter Matthes, the experienced German Red Cross-team leader.

Then he trudges through the mud to the water pump. Heavy rain is affecting the region. Many centers for displaced people are situated around the water-purification unit. Some of the fisher families who escaped from the beach found shelter here and receive water from the unit.

A few kilometers away there are the big white tents of the basic health care center established by the Finnish Red Cross. The unit also makes home visits and together with the center, providing vital health services to affected communities.

“In addition to delivering basic health care, we are promoting hygiene and health education which is vitally important for people who have lost everything”, says Red Cross doctor Ilkka Mikkonen.

Sunday January 2, 2005

GALLE, Sri Lanka — The waves are beating on gray stones, hiding the rubble in the sand. Between broken bricks and mud sticks a silver-colored lady's shoe. Behind it lies a piece of bent metal.

M.K. Ahula kicks a scratched teapot with his toe. Then he pushes his bicycle over the devastated area between the beach and the road, passing the remnants of a wall and a broken palm tree. This is all that is left of his house.

The wave washed everything away on December 26, together with seven members of his family, among them two babies, his mother and his eldest son.

It is hard to recover from such a disaster. Ahula gives the sea a quick glance. “I hate it,” the 34-year-old fisherman says softly.

He used to enjoy sailing in his boat, far out into the sea until the beach was only a tiny small yellow strip with the palm trees as a gray background. At night, he would see the lights of his hometown, Galle, reflected in the water.

Now, the sea has taken his boat and nets. If he still had his wooden craft, he would sell it for sure.

Ahula pushes his pedals. The rainy season has created large puddles in the bumpy street. Water splashes all around. But Ahula does not care about it. To his left and right, the street looks as if it has been bombarded.

The flood took anything that was not attached to the ground with concrete, flushing the rubble through the narrow alleys with terrible violence. Broken wooden beams and bent steel roofs are all that remain of the fishing huts along the coast.

In the center of the city. the old Portuguese fortress rises up against the sea. On the green lawn in front of it, people are gathering around a small lorry. They keep handkerchiefs against their noses and faces. When the breeze stops, the smell is unbearable.

Ahula stands against his bike. The four dead bodies are so heavenly swollen that relatives hardly recognize them. Today he will not find out anything about his three missing relatives.

The Buddhist Mahagoda temple is at a safe distance from the devastating sea. It seems like an idyllic picture for a postcard: Old walls surrounded by lush greenery. High trees protect against sun and rain. In the shadow stands an old Minor Morris.

The temple offers no clues that the city was struck by the tsunami. At first sight. nothing reminds of the death toll — believed to be 140,000 — among them about 30,000 in Sri Lanka alone.

But the harmony of the temple is misleading. Between its walls, 100 people left bereft of everything by the tsunami are looking for shelter.

A mini van rolls through the temple gate, carrying a team of young Red Cross volunteers. The pebbles crunch under their feet. Like so many other volunteers, these youngsters — aged 18 and 25 — are on the road providing first aid treatment. There are 2,500 volunteers on duty, cleaning wells, distributing goods and searching for the missing.

They also try to dispense some hope, to people like L.P. Seteen. The 72-year-old carpenter clutches his umbrella. There is no handle anymore. But it was the only thing he could get a hold on when he was running out of his house.

He describes in a soft voice to Red Cross leader Nandana Wickamanyake how he was able to save his own life.

“Thanks to God nobody of my family got killed. I am so thankful for this,” says the old man to the volunteer.

Meanwhile, some Red Cross volunteers put on bandages and disinfect wounds. Many of the homeless were injured when they escaped the wave.

Wickamanyake is proud of his group. “We have been on duty for days. Everybody is contributing all their energy. We must set an example. Now is the time for everyone to start cleaning up and rebuilding,” explains the 35-year-old.

Gradually, all traces of the destruction in Galle will disappear. In the lush green hills close to the city, the heavy sound of traffic roars among the palms and trees. Heavy Caterpillar machines are digging mass graves.

About 4,000 people have perished in the district of Galle. The last mass graves have already been filled up. Close by, Buddhist monks pray for the victims.

But the grief is touchable and will remain for a long time, long after the damage from the tsunami has been repaired.

source:

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/01/02/srilanka.redcross/index.html

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Arugam Bay: Goodwill alive and well after disaster

For years, this bohemian beach town on scenic Arugam Bay was a colorful stamping ground for surfing fanatics, backpackers and pot-smoking Rastafarians in dreadlocks and Bob Marley T-shirts.

They drank at bars alongside local fishermen and rice farmers. About 60 thatch-roofed resorts and eateries such as the Aloha, Hang Loose Hotel and Cool Spot restaurant a?? run mostly by Sri Lankans a?? lined a busy thoroughfare where motorcycles buzzed past ox carts appearing like holdovers from another time.

Goodwill alive and well after disaster

photo taken 25/Dec./ 2004 -The night before. Showing The Bank of Ceylon branch at the Siam View Hotel.



JOHN M. GLIONNA

ULLE, SRI lANKA, JANUARY 14 For years, this bohemian beach town on scenic Arugam Bay was a colourful stamping ground for surfing fanatics, backpackers and pot-smoking Rastafarians in dreadlocks and Bob Marley T-shirts.
They drank at bars alongside local fishermen and rice farmers. About 60 thatch-roofed resorts and eateries such as the Aloha, Hang Loose Hotel and Cool Spot restaurant a?? run mostly by Sri Lankans a?? lined a busy thoroughfare where motorcycles buzzed past ox carts appearing like holdovers from another time.

Then the tsunami struck, turning this hip little resort into a rubble-strewn wasteland. More than 1,000 of the villagea??s 6,000 residents are dead along with many tourists. A thousand residents are missing a?? a??a??taken by the sea,a??a?? as the locals say.

Only three hotels remain a?? The Ali, Mermaida??s Village, Deana??s Place and Rustling Palms. The ghostly ruins of the Stardust have been left to sink into the sand. Its owner, a Dane named Peer Goodman, drowned in the water. Amid the adversity that would drive away some less determined entrepreneurs, the few hotel owners whose buildings survived have become the towna??s ambassadors of goodwill.

Places such as the Hideaway, a grand turn-of-the-century house surrounded by several thatched cabanas, have turned themselves into free-of-charge headquarters for foreign doctors and relief workers, journalists and Sri Lankan military men.
At the Siam View Hotel, the French Red Cross has set up a clinic and pharmacy at the site of a former Internet cafe, where each night at the second-floor bar, beers are tapped from warm kegs and relief workers, reporters and others anxiously keep up with the developments of the international relief effort on cable TV.

As the relief workers and physicians arrive from around the globe, those Sri Lankans who have the means to do so a?? natives as well as transplants a?? have made the newcomers feel welcome.

At the Hideaway, which has seen its share of damage, two cabanas and acres of gardens were lost to the rush of water. The waves washed up on the grand front porch, turning the once-secluded resort into beachfront property. Now, electricity is scarce and owner Vernon Tissera can afford to run his generator for only a few hours each day.

But rather than gouge visitors, the Hideaway has thrown away the bill. Three times a day, a local chef working for the Tisseras serves up spicy Sri Lankan delicacies and gourmet meals to people who are little more than strangers.

The hotela??s Toyota Land Cruiser is one of the few remaining privately owned vehicles in this town.

Now the vehicle has become a makeshift taxi, and Tissera, his two sons and grandson ferry relief workers and supplies to and from the beachhead. The Tisseras have enlisted a dozen villagers, homeless and unemployed after the tsunami, to help put the hotel back together. a??a??We need to help people a?? you cana??t be material-minded,a??a?? said Marlene Tissera, Vernona??s wife.

Relief workers say such hospitality makes a difficult job more do-able. a??a??It makes it a pleasure to do this,a??a?? said Mark Stinson, a San Francisco-area doctor working with Relief International who is a guest at the Hideaway.

At the Siam View Hotel, which is playing host to the French Red Cross, agency nurse Jean-Michel Pin likens owner Manfred Netzband-Miller to Mother Teresa. a??a??Without him, wea??d be living in tents, or worse,a??a?? Pin said.

Still, Marlene Tissera has a hard time fathoming how the waves that once drew so many tourists here have transformed the tropical paradise. a??a??Wea??re just shattered, all of us,a??a?? she said. When she talks about the destructive wall of water, Angela Mitchella??s eyes widen. Just before 9 am on December 26, the Hideaway manager recalls, she heard people shouting: a??a??The sea is coming! The sea is coming!a??a?? And the tourists and villagers came too, in droves, fleeing the oncoming wave.

More than 100 stood on the roof of the old hotel. Mitchell, a 54-year-old native, moved the crowd and several vehicles behind the building for more protection. Her plan worked: No one at the Hideaway was killed.

Hotel owners such as Vernon Tissera promise to rebuild both their own land and the town.

Down at the Siam View, owner Netzband-Miller embodies the keep-on-partying spirit of the old Ulle. a?? LAT-

http://www.lankalibrary.com/news/arugambay3.htm

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Healing waters

'Healing waters

Carolyn Fry finds that surfing is helping one Sri Lankan resort to get back on its feet after the tsunami

Tuesday August 2, 2005

Alan Stokes takes on the surf at Arugam Bay. Photograph: Carolyn Fry

On a sweeping stretch of cinnamon sand, a crowd turned its eyes to the rolling ocean surf. Local families, holiday-makers and a throng of photographers, film-makers and journalists were gathering to see the 2005 Champion of Champions surf contest in Arugam Bay, south-east Sri Lanka.
As a new day's sun burned the sand through the fronds of coconut palms, surfers launched themselves into the water to ride the swell in a ballet of curving turns, speeding glides and twists of spray. The Boxing Day tsunami ripped through this sleepy beachside village, but the Indian Ocean's barrelling waves are helping the community get back on its feet.

The legendary 'right-handers' of Arugam Bay have long attracted travelling wave-riders. During the country's 20-year civil war, a dedicated group of Australian surfers regularly risked being bombed, or shot in cross-fire during violent battles between Tamil Tigers and the army. With the end of the conflict in 2002, more adventurers started to make the 10-hour journey along narrow, pitted roads to the famed beach.

Last year, when the British Professional Surfing Association (BPSA) held the first ever Champions surfing competition in the area it seemed things were finally looking up for this dusty, laid-back cluster of low-rise hotels, palm-roofed cabanas and fishermen's shacks.

A message posted on the Siam View Hotel's website at Christmas said: “The 2004 season has been the best the bay has ever seen. Nothing – not even another civil war – can stop the bay's progress now.”

Hours later, the first of eight waves struck, sucking a metre of sand from the base of palms on Arugam Point, plucking cabanas and their inhabitants from the sand and smashing a thickening cargo of debris through the windows of the buses on the main street.

Simon, owner of the unfortunately named Tsunami Hotel, was managing the Siam View that night. He awoke to find himself underwater with his leg trapped. After breaking his ankle to free himself he was swept through several dwellings by the murky, diesel-tainted current before managing to grasp hold of some building blocks. This stopped Simon being swept out to sea as the water receded back to the horizon. Today, his faded superman tattoo has been supplemented by a fresh turquoise inking of a tsunami, along with the date he survived against all odds.

Following the tsunami, the organisers of the surfing contest were in two minds as to whether it should go ahead this year. A third of Arugam Bay's 3,000 inhabitants had been killed in the disaster, money pledged by charities was slow in reaching the village and the bridge carrying the main road into Arugam Bay had been breached by the waves, cutting the community off for a short period.

However, when the bridge reopened in April the organisers decided the competition should take place. They felt that bringing 100 people into the village would serve as an impetus to get hotels rebuilt as soon as possible as well as injecting much-needed cash into the local economy.

“Everyone worked very, very hard to put it in place,” said Ralph Pereira, managing director of Travel and Tours Anywhere, which developed the contest in conjunction with Sri Lankan Airlines and the BPSA. “We didn't know for sure that it would go ahead or whether there would be sufficient hotel rooms until six weeks beforehand.”

Guesthouse owners had certainly been hurrying to rebuild and reopen rooms damaged by the tsunami. At Hideaway Guesthouse, where I was staying, the front part of the garden was still a building site. But the main building, with its colonial tea plantation feel was homely and clean, with plump pink and orange cushions brightening rattan chairs.

Before the tsunami, surfing had been a mainstay of the tourism economy right around Sri Lanka's southern coastline. The island's south-west has the best waves from November to April, the south-east from May to September.

When Arugam Bay's right-handers tailed off with the onset of the monsoon, surfers simply headed west to Hikkaduwa, where plentiful hotels and beach villas stood among lush gardens of banana and bourganvillia.

Recreating this surfers' paradise in the wake of the tsunami has not been easy; with compensation payments from the government yet to materialise, most tourism enterprises have had to rely on their own funds to rebuild their businesses.

“We lost all our watersports equipment,” explained Thilak Weerasinghe, managing director of Lanka Sportreizen. “I didn't get a cent, but luckily we had built up the business and can afford to rebuild.”

The Travel Foundation and Association of Independent Tour Operators (Aito) are working with the Sri Lankan government, local communities and environmental groups to help people affected by the tsunami regain their livelihoods by developing responsible tourism initiatives.

A number of projects have been earmarked for assistance, including a plan to create a sustainable fishing village. Visitors will see fish being brought to shore and sold, enabling fishermen to benefit from tourism while maintaining their traditional role in society.

Another scheme aims to revegetate land affected by the tsunami, using native plant species. This will include research into using mangroves for coastal protection. Funding for the projects will come from money already pledged by Aito members and donations from customers.

Back in Arugam Bay, there are plans to use money raised by the UK surfing fraternity to build a community surf foundation. Tsunami Surf Relief UK (TSRUK) has so far raised A?A?30,000 through charity auctions and events and has allocated a third of this to building a new surf centre. As well as being a focal point where local surfers can meet, the foundation will help generate cash by offering board hire and surfing lessons to visiting tourists.

“We felt the community would benefit from having a centre offering surf-board hire and perhaps swimming lessons and life-guarding,” explained Phil Williams, national director of Christian Surfers UK and a trustee of TSRUK. “The break at Arugam Point is world famous for its waves and surfers from around the world go specifically to that area. In the three or four years after the ceasefire and before the tsunami, more and more surfers were coming to A-Bay; it was a much more prosperous place than before they came.”

As the surfing contest hotted up there was something of a party atmosphere on the beach. Dozens of coloured flags rippled in the tropical wind along the path to Arugam Point where glassy turquoise waves curled invitingly around the reef.

Judges assessed surfers on their turns, style and risk-taking, while waiting competitors nervously flexed their muscles, waxed their boards and contemplated their chances of winning the A?A?2,000 prize money.

For the Sri Lankan surfers, many of whom lost friends and family in the tsunami, preparing for the contest helped them overcome their fear of the ocean. As each entered the water, the 100 or so villagers seated beneath the palm trees lining the shore cheered and whistled their support.

“The contest has been hugely important for morale after the tsunami,” said Phil Williams. “It's sent out the message that, while Arugam Bay isn't quite yet open for business as usual, it's back on the tourist trail.”

Way to go

Getting there: Sri Lankan Airlines (020-8538 2001), offers 11 flights a week from Heathrow to Colombo. Fares start at A?A?450 return plus taxes

Where to stay: Travel and Tours Anywhere Ltd (0208 8136622) offers surfing holidays to Arugam Bay and Hikkaduwa. A 15-day holiday to Arugam Bay including flights, transfers and B&B accommodation in a guest house costs from A?A?699pp. 14 days in Hikkaduwa costs from A?A?599pp. Hire of boards and surfing lessons can be arranged

When to go: The waves at Arugam Bay are best between May and September during the dry season. During the off-season, Sri Lanka's main surf spot on the south-west coast, Hikkaduwa, has good waves

Further information: Sri Lanka Tourist Board (020-7930 2627), arugambay.com'

http://travel.guardian.co.uk/c…..60,00.html

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What we did at AbaY

Colombo 4Wheel Club: The 1st to reach Arugambay

Hi Angelo,

………Our next effort is directed towards collecting medicines/dry rations to be
taken to Pottuvil a?? a private group is organising a little convoy to go to
the Lahugala nature reserve where evacuees from the arugam bay/Pottuvil
area are being sheltered. At least 10 of us from office will be joining. I
a?? not sure if youa??ve been to Arugam Bay? We have holidayed there ever so
often & apparantly none of the guest houses/the fishing
village/roads/bridges are standing a?? its like a wasteland of mud & debris.
The four wheel club was there yesterday & one of the guys called in with
this infor a?? they a??ve been helping with the evacuvation of people marooned
in the jungles of Panama a?? extreme tip -A? south-east of the island.

Shirani Saunders

Full text here: Continue reading ‘Colombo 4Wheel Club: The 1st to reach Arugambay’

Lonely Planet Thorntree

I just talked to Fred, the owner of the siam view hotel in arugam bay. He told me that almost everything is washed away included the stardust beach hotel and their staff and tourists. only a very small part of the svh is still standing. at that time, where the tsunami was coming about 1500 people have been staying in arugam bay and nearly 1000 are dead. All the people which survived are staying in this small part of the svh. no health organisations came to arugam bay to help the people, just one helicopter came to take out all of the injured tourists. If you want more informations, look at the following website: http://www.arugam.com/help.htm

posted by:

ballroomlizard
Posted: 29-Dec-2004 06:41

Posts: 7
Registered: 25/04/03

Arugam Bay

I'm looking for information about Arugam Bay, especially about Sooriya's Guest House and a Sri Lankan guy called AMIN who used to work there. Does anybody have any information? I've seen some links here but the information is pretty sparse..

———————
IA?A?m not a traveller,
IA?A?m a tourist!
posted by:

wherebodyhow
Posted: 29-Dec-2004 08:21
Posts: 20
Registered: 20/06/03
ARUGAM BAY

From the UN's Reliefweb (www.reliefweb.int)

Airforce finds 3,000 people marooned after tsunami havoc
by Jay Deshmukh

AMPARA, Sri Lanka, Dec 29 (AFP) – Some 3,000 Sri Lankan villagers believed to have perished in the island's tidal wave disaster were found alive Wednesday, giving an early lift to airborne military relief operations.

The airforce base in this eastern district of Ampara, one of the hardest hit by Sunday's natural disaster, was resuming rescue operations to help the villagers marooned on a narrow strip of high ground, but without food or water.

“We have already carried out four sorties to drop food and water to them,” Squadron leader Chaminda Wickramaratna told the first group of journalists to reach Ampara after the tragedy.

“We are now taking doctors because most of the people are suffering from dehydration.”

Local officials estimate about 8,000 people had perished in Sunday's disaster, but most parts of this remote coastal region, 350 kilometres (218 miles) east of the capital by road, is inaccessible even at best of times because of the hostile terrain.

Military personnel here are on a war-footing to carry supplies for thousands of villagers driven out of their homes.

More helicopters are expected to reinforce the effort here once an Indian naval ship carrying its own air transport docks in at the north-eastern port district of Trincomalee, further north of here.

The air base here has already helped with the evacuation of some 200 people, mostly foreign nationals, from the picturesque wind-surfing resort of Arugam Bay, just south-east of this base.

“Since Sunday, we have evacuated around 200 people holidaying at Arugam Bay,” wing commander Aravinda Mirando said. “We are conducting rescue and search operations as and when we get calls or information of people trapped.”

“But since Tuesday, the nature of operations changed to relief sorties to carry supplies to affected people.”

But the welcome news was about the 3,000 people still alive after the tsunami devastated the entire coastline here, as it did to most of the island's beaches.

The air operation is also fraught with dangers for the crew as they cannot land at will because of the dangers of land mines and unexploded ordnance washed out after the massive flooding.

This region has been a hotbed of conflict between government troops and Tamil Tiger guerrillas. The two sides have observing a truce since February 2002, but they have maintained their mine fields.

The military base here located at the edge of a wild life sanctuary for elephants escaped the carnage because it is located several miles inland, but the camps along the coast were badly damaged.

At least 61 security personnel have died and another 250 were injured in the carnage that also claimed the lives of 18,700 people according to official estimates.

At the neighbouring district of Batticaloa, soldiers cleared the wreckage of their camps and salvaged what ever arms and ammunition left after waves rising 25 feet swept over them.

jds/aj/rcw

Copyright (c) 2004 Agence France-Presse
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 12/29/2004 04:30:44

posted by:
Cost of zetia

mvgarceau
Posted: 29-Dec-2004 08:56
Posts: 2
Registered: 06/09/00
source of these extracts:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/message.jspa?messageID=5759537

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