Janet Jensen
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Eric Stowe, of Tacoma's Faith International, crouches on the foundation of a house that until Dec. 26, 2004 stood along Sri Lanka's eastern shore. When waves more than 30 feet high crashed in from the Indian Ocean, only a handful of structures in Thirukkovil failed to crumble. On the beach Stowe was struck by opposing realities. "It's the most beautiful beach I've ever seen and the most horrific beach I've ever seen." Stowe said. Stowe visited the country's most devastated region to install water purification systems in orphanages but also made a point of understanding the degree of devastation. “Taking in the pain gave us that much more resolve to lift spirits.” Stowe said. -
Sewwamdo Shamali lost her father in the tsunami. Her mother, who has no source of income, delivered Sewwamdo and her two younger sisters Erindi, 12, and Madushani, 8, to the Agape orphanage. She stands to the side of the cottage that houses the girls while Dr. Greg Rurik of Gig Harbor, Wash. tends to their medical needs.
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A team of U.S. health care workers and staff from the Tacoma adoption agency, Faith International, traveled to Sri Lanka hoping to improve lives. Almost four weeks after devastating waves crushed the island nation’s eastern shore the volunteers arrived and found fewer life-threatening medical needs than anticipated. The team spent five days improving health conditions by tending to medical needs at refugee camps and installing water systems in orphanages. All the while wishing to communicate their compassion in attempt to let those suffering know the world cared.
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A woman who lost her home to the tsunami pleads for help when she sees western aid workers in her village of Thirukkovil.
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Ayasha 7, retrieves a ball from under the sink of the Agape Home where team members from Faith International installed a water purification system. The ultraviolet light treatment system will provide 360 gallons an hour of clean drinking water killing the pathogens responsible for the cholera and dysentery that claim so many lives in the region.
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Dr. Greg Rurik of Gig Harbor, Wash. finds a willing participant as he exams children at the Agape Home orphanage.
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Brian Combs a therapist from Vaughn, Wash. visits his sixth orphanage in five days along Sri Lanka's eastern and southern shores and plays chase with four-year-old, Sajith. After witnessing lives forever marked by the massive destruction of the tsunami, Combs found playing with the children as therapeutic for himself as for the 4-year-old.
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After giving a health exam, Dr. Greg Rurik of Gig Harbor, Wash. offers a hug at the Agape Home orphanage.
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Dr. Greg Rurik of Gig Harbor, Wash. sits outside the kitchen of a boys' home in Thirukkovil and reflects on his experiences in a nightly letter to his wife. Rurik a pediatrician met about 100 children living in orphanages along Sri Lanka's devastated coast.
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Cory Kohm of Seattle immediately sensed how to make himself useful at the refugee camps the relief workers visited. He organizes the construction of a latrine in a 2-day-old refugee camp near Thirukkovil.
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One month after losing her mother in the tsunami, Ayasha, 7, has a new home at Sri Lanka's Agape Home. Faith International installed a water system at the orphanage that had taken in eight children who lost family in the Tsunumi.
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Girls at the Agape Home orphanage begin their day with morning chores.
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From left, Ayasha, 7; Dilini, 8; and Madushani, 8, play with balls brought by Faith International volunteers in front of the orphanage cottage where they sleep. Ayasha and Madushani lost their families to the tsunami. In addition to water purification systems and medical care the team brought toys, clothes, school supplies and the hope that even for a moment they might be able to brighten someone's day.
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Exactly one month ago Jayababu Selvanayagam, right, was about one mile out from shore with Krishnababu Selvanayagam, center, and Naharasa Mohanarajan, left, when the tsunami hit their fishing village. Almost everyone in the fishing village of Thirukkovil lost someone. Selvanayagam lost six relatives including his mom, and two sisters. He and his cousins have the only boat that isn't torn to pieces but are reluctant to return to their livlihood in the sea.
