 OBI
India Brings Tsunami Relief to Thousands
Several gigantic tsunami waves pummeled the coast of southern India on
December 26th -- survivors still shake with fear. Shock grips their minds.
Fathers and mothers are still searching for their lost children. Sons and
daughters are looking for missing parents. Thousands of families who have
lost everything are trying to survive day to day in temporary shelters.
Many are suffering from bruises, cuts, exhaustion and broken bones.
Within hours of the tsunami’s destruction, OBI India began deploying
disaster relief teams to provide medical care as well as distribute medicine,
food and other supplies. After seeing the devastation and hearing some
of the survivors’ horrific stories, OBI India’s Kumar Perisamy
shared, “I could not hold back my tears.”
Tsunami Survivors Need Your Help
It’s been estimated that more than 500,000 people living in
six affected Asian countries have been injured and need medical
attention. Tens of thousands are still missing. Millions are homeless.
Please help us bring these survivors the clean water, food, shelter,
clothes and medical care they need to live.
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A Mother’s Nightmare
Letchmi recently received medical assistance from our caring medical team.
Her body is still scarred and she struggles to lift her hands. The brave
woman remembers all too well what happened on that fateful day. “I
was out buying fish and all of a sudden I saw the waves rising,”
the mother and wife said. “It was as high as 10 meters. I could
not run but shout.
“The next thing I knew I was washed away and I saw my husband struggling.
My husband is weak and mute. I carried him on my shoulder and started
looking for my four daughters. My house and the entire village were completely
destroyed. There was no sign of my children.
“I started calling them but the waves were too strong to stay close
to the banks of the sea. Cries of people searching for loved ones could
be heard for miles. Bodies were floating; some of [our] neighbors’
children were buried underneath their homes. I saw people struggling to
save themselves. The worst fear that my four daughters were dead was consoled
when my neighbors said that they were safe.”
In spite of challenges including washed out roads, OBI India has been
able to provide health care to thousands of survivors like Letchmi. Our
medical team is currently south of Chennai at a Catholic Convent run by
The Sisters of Mary Immaculate. In addition to helping the injured there,
nuns are leading the team to small remote villages desperately needing
medical assistance.
Volunteers are also serving three meals to 1,500 survivors every day.
More than 1,000 blankets have been given to these homeless people fighting
to keep warm during the night. Families have also been given cooking utensils,
and basic hygiene kits.
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