Fig. 1. Some children of the Dutch Bar refugee camp.

Fig. 2. This gentleman lost both his wife and his daughter. He is shown here with his niece. Kids love digital cameras because they can see their pictures right away. Most had never seen a digital camera before and were excited to have their picture taken. I spent most of the evening taking and then showing their pictures. This man took every opportunity to have his niece's picture taken and he clearly dotes on her at every opportunity.

Fig. 5. Three little girls of the Dutch Bar camp. The girl on the right is 7 years old. She was ill and needed surgery on her legs when she was younger but never received it so her growth is stunted. The other girls are 4 and 3 years old.

Fig. 9. Tsunami Boy's temporary shelter. Vasantha gave the family money to pour a cement floor. Every time it rained, the sand floor just washed away. Vasantha also let the father know that he shouldn't be drinking. :)

Fig.10. Some live in tents rather than in temporary shelters or camps.

Fig.11. A Hindu temple that had the sand underneath swept away and is now tilting.

After we handed out nets, barber equipment, boats, and sewing machines, we headed to the Dutch Bar refugee camp. This is one of the best camps in the area for they got an old school to use. There, 3 or 4 families sectioned off classrooms with tarps. That became their own home. Later in the evening, we gave out mattresses for those people who were over 55. Up until then, they had been sleeping on the floor. Some asked about beds but there was no room for beds in the shelter. With mattresses, they could just lean them against the wall during the day.

Outdoor toilets were made out back along with tarped rooms for showers. The area was fenced in by barb wire and there were soldiers assigned for protection. They had experienced none of the violence or rape that some other camps had experienced.

One camp was in a rice plant that was nothing more than a large aluminum building with no ventalation. Others were just small wood frame shelters with thatched roofs.

Some more children of the Dutch Bar camp.

Once Desmond and Marvin are back to work, we would like to move to another camp to make sure that others are working as well.

Slowly, the government and (more quickly) the NGO's are getting things rebuilt. The damaged bridges in the area have been replaced and the houses are slowly getting rebuilt. Because the Dutch Bar camp is so good, they'll likely be the last to receive houses. They know that and are fine with that for they realize that houses should go to those in circumstances worse than theirs.

Water tanks such as these are everywhere. An NGO comes daily to fill the water tanks with drinkable water.

Before the sun set, we were given a tour of the Dutch Bar area to see some of the devestation. All of their stories are the same: many friends and family lost and all of their homes and possessions are gone. Most do not want to return to the area because of two reasons. One, they are deathly afraid of another tsunami. In fact, many asked us if we knew if another would strike again. And two, after the tsunami they had to walk through their neighborhood and the rubble looking for the bodies of family members or friends. Too many bad memories.

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