Bishop's letters: March 05 +James

THE LONG HAUL

Having dominated news reports for weeks, the Asian tsunami is no longer making headlines. Problems nearer home and the forthcoming General Election are taking centre stage. But, of course, the devastating effects of the earthquake and tidal wave haven’t faded along with the coverage. That’s why we need a long-term perspective on the relief effort.


This will come in part from the way in which our Diocesan gift is used. Individuals and Churches have been wonderfully generous, and every pound that we have given will go a long way in South India. Five of us spent a fortnight in Madras Diocese shortly after the disaster, and we saw some of the damage that had been caused. Shacks obliterated, houses damaged, boats destroyed, fishing-nets shredded, Refugee Camps being established – it was strange to witness at first hand the sort of scenes we usually associate with television.

We also met many survivors, and heard some extraordinary stories. For instance, there was the little boy at a School for deaf children who spent hours up to his neck in water in a flooded house before being rescued by his distraught father. Then there was Sandhya, a twelve year old girl, who was swept out to sea and eventually washed up unconscious on the shore several miles down the coast. She recovered enough to walk back to her own village – and, to everyone’s amazement, turned up at School five days later as though nothing had happened!

And we will never forget visiting Canaan Church (CSI) and talking to the Sexton, whose prompt action saved the lives of about 60 children. He was opening up the Sunday School Room during Morning Service when he suddenly saw a huge wall of water heading straight for the Church. Sprinting back in to the congregation (about 200 people) he got everyone to hold hands and climb on to the altar, pulpit and pews. Two people drowned but the death toll could easily have been far higher. Had the children been in the Sunday School Room, they would certainly all have been killed.

We were hugely impressed by the courage and resilience of everyone we met. We were also greatly encouraged by the relief work being undertaken by Madras Diocese. Food, Clothing, medicine, accommodation and counselling were all being provided from day one. In the longer term, the aim is to rebuild one or two villages, from scratch, and the money we have given will be used specifically for that purpose. We will be able to keep in touch with progress – and see the eventual result.

But the other part of a long-term perspective comes from the way in which this catastrophe has alerted all of us to the sheer scale of poverty in the world. In South India, those who suffered most were the poorest: the fisher-folk who lost not only their families and homes but also, in many case, their livelihoods. And yet, with poverty claiming a child’s life every three seconds, a man-made and preventable disaster the scale of the tsunami happens every single week.

Hence the new worldwide effort to end extreme poverty called ‘Make Poverty History’. We’ll be hearing much more about that this year, and need to pray that the compassion, generosity and goodwill generated by a natural disaster will extend to this consequence of our human failing.

James Newcome