Tsunami
I'm fine. I'm on the west coast of India, the beaches of Goa to be exact. We were spared the worst of it, so only a few huts washed away at some beaches and one or two in this state were partially evacuated. Alas, a few people were killed, I think mostly when they went out to collect shells while the "tide" was so low. I still go swimming every morning, but my beach looks different now. The 24/7 outdoor Goa dance parties go on almost without notice that we're so near to such a huge disaster.I'm trying to get information about going to Tamil Nadu or Sri Lanka to volunteer for a few months -- I've got skills and experience that should be valuable, not to mention a broad back and strong shoulers. I was thinking I might go to Sri Lanka next anyway, at least when it still seemed like a viable tourist option. This is just a more meaningful option. I wrote to Oxfam and will consider working for other groups, too, if anyone has any suggestions...
--Update--
Tons of email to aid agencies later, I found that they really have some good reasons for prefering money to bodies, even skilled bodies. They need very specific skills for managing distaster relief, basically requiring a trained professional with this specialty. For everything else, it is better to hire locals -- they need the work, the economy needs the cash, and being active gives people a way to work through the grief and loss. So I have lots of "no thanks" and even an official rejection letter from the UN. One agency expressed interest in taking advantage of my tech skills since their IT is swamped, but my own personal minor disaster (see my post about Surgery In India) has me thinking that volunteering isn't the way to go for me right now.
Also, a friend went to Pondicherry and has been doing some short term volunteering with Auroville, so that's a possibility, but last I heard it was a few hours here and a few hours there in really short projects. He even had experience in the Marines doing disaster relief and didn't seem to have any better luck finding someone to work with.
posted by Dale L. Larson @ 2:32 AM
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