Does Tsunami relief mean just rebuilding homes and amenities...or is it much more

Rita Sutcliffe on Apr 2, 2005

On April 2nd a small group of westerners and grief therapists visited the Srayikkaad refugee camp. Our group was led by Dr. Sharada Sree Devi, a clinical psychologist and stress management expert. Dr. Sharada has been coming here since the first days after the tsunami as part of a team of grief counselors, requested by Amma,and organized by AIMS.
Everyone here knows her and western therapist Prema, who also was requested by Amma to work with the refugees.

When we arrived at the camp I noticed a poster with pictures of two children pasted on a concrete pillar above where we were sitting. I asked a woman sitting beneath the picture about the children. She told me
they were her grandchildren, drowned in the tsunami and looked down at the ground. Another woman asked us to photograph the picture of her daughter, an 8x10 color photo in a blue frame. She is lucky to have a photo as many of the survivors have no photo left of their dead ones. If there were photos, the sea took the photos also. Another woman told us the story of her 13 and 16 year old children who were like her friends. They died in the tsunami. She is known as a good cook but she has no one to cook for now. Today she was a little happier as she was cooking fish curry for some visitors she was expecting. The stories went on and on as the sun rose higher and beat relentlessly on the tin roofs of the shelters.

A number of children and adults had gathered in a temporary classroom and began talking to Dr. Sharada and her assistant Kala. They were very worried due to the evacuation which had happened 4 days ago. All the fears, sadness and terrifying memories had resurfaced and they were feeling very insecure.

Dr. Sharada began discussing their fears and drew the Japanese photo- grapher Kevala into the discussion. She asked her about the translation of the Japanese word tsunami and if she was afraid of tsunami. Kevala
admitted that the tsunami was frightening. Sarada asked her if she could save herself from the wave and Kevala said that she could escape by leaving when warned and running to a safe place.

Dr. Sharada calmed their fears by telling them that before they didn't
understand what tsunami is but now they know how to save themselves.

For example, many people died because when the sea receded they went out to investigate what could be lying in the sand. Now they know
that if the sea is behaving strangely they should leave at once. Then they began to sing some of the songs that Dr. Sharada had composed for them, using their own words and images.

As the adults and children sang they visibly relaxed and began to smile and clap to the rhythm of the songs. The songs clearly had a powerful effect on them.

Back at the ashram I asked Dr. Sharada how these songs came about. She said that she had learned how to make music a pathway to negotiate anger and agression, to alleviate sadness and fear and to arouse, awaken and activate those victims who are paralyzed by depression
and fear. Using simple tunes and the images expressed by the villagers themselves, the songs are both poetic and powerful.

One song was composed for a grieving father from a dream he had after his twelve year old daughter's death.

"Dad, why are you just lying there numb?
Listen to me. I am not dead. I am alive in your
heart.
Dad, many children are dead, but many children are
still living.
Dad, get up! Care for the living children.
Dad, get up! Care for the living children.

Songs were created expressing all the different situations and feelings of the refugees. At first the victims were incapable of singing. They couldn't
express their feelings. They were silenced by the profound and overwhelming nature of their tsunami experience. The therapists began singing to them, one line at a time, and slowly they became capable of
joining in.

Now they are eager to sing and compose new songs. This singing therapy is a very simple technique, but very powerful and healing. Since time immemorial humans have used music to express their
deepest feelings.

In the past village life revolved around communal songs and dances. With the advent of mass media this has been largely lost. Here, on the tsunami ravaged seashore, the survivors are reclaiming this ancient way of communicating and healing as a
community.

Gujarat Video