Inclusion Daily Express -- Relief Agencies Mobilize To Help People With Disabilities Struck By Tsunamis

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Relief Agencies Mobilize To Help People With Disabilities Struck By Tsunamis
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
January 3, 2005

GALLE, SRI LANKA--Humanitarian groups and relief agencies worldwide are beginning to pour aide into the Indian Ocean nations affected by the December 26 tsunami disaster.

News stories of people with disabilities -- particularly children -- caught without warning in the devastating tidal waves have been posted from Australia to California and from Thailand to Sri Lanka.

One Associated Press story from Galle, Sri Lanka, told of a single-story shelter housing 102 children with mental and physical disabilities, that was destroyed by a tidal surge. Sixty-one of those children perished, many floating out to the sea on their mattresses.

On another story, Sri Lanka's Daily News reported that all 71 children and 22 staff at the Home for the Mentally Retarded Children of the Preethipura Home, in Hendala, were alive and accounted for.

"I was carried hither and thither but, fortunately I was able to get hold of a nearby tree since the water was up to my neck," said staff member Sumana Bandara. "Some children were floating in their beds helplessly."

"While we were struggling to save children, people in the neighborhood rushed to our help. Boats and the Police rushed to evacuate the inmates [residents]," she said.

Tsunamis are giant waves caused by undersea earthquakes or volcanoes. The tsunamis caused by the December 26 quake quickly wiped out entire towns and villages along the coasts of several countries in the area.

As of January 3, the national counts of dead and missing in countries hit by the tsunamis totaled about 154,000 people. That count is expected to rise over the next few weeks. An estimated 5 million people have been left homeless while another 1.8 million need food aid, according to the United Nations.

Christian Blind Mission International, Handicap International, and Autism Awareness Campaign Sri Lanka are among the organizations that are arranging for or providing emergency relief for people with disabilities in the affected areas.

[Note: Today's Below The Fold page includes links to several articles related to disabilities and the tsunami disaster.]

Related:
"Tsunami a horror for paralyzed children" (Associated Press via CNN)
"Preethipura Home goes under water, but children, staff saved" (Daily News)

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