Tsunami survivors share stories of rebuilding
A story in the New Orleans City Business Newspaper
July 9, 2007

Survivors' Dialogue

NEW ORLEANS — A small group of villagers from Thailand and Indonesia gathered in the middle of Chartres Street in the Holy Cross neighborhood.  They stared at the red “X” spray painted on the front of a boarded-up home as activist Sam Jackson explained the meaning behind the numbers next to the symbol.  “This is the date the rescue workers came,” Jackson said.  “And this is the number of bodies found inside the home.”

Afrizal, 34, stared at the house, then proceeded down the block where empty homes outnumbered occupied ones by at least six to one.  On Dec. 21, 2004, a tsunami decimated much of Thailand and Indonesia.  The storm killed all but 80 of the 800 villagers in Afrizal’s Indonesian home of Lam Manyang, including his entire family.  “It was horrible and came very suddenly,” he said through an interpreter.  “We went through the tsunami and the people of New Orleans went through Katrina.  We have the same story and the same sadness and the same spirit to rebuild.  The only resources we have left are our spirits.”

The delegation came to New Orleans as part of a cooperative effort between the National Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness (NPACH), the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR) and the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI).  Over the past year, two groups of New Orleanians traveled to the tsunami-devastated region while two groups from Thailand and Indonesia came to the Crescent City.

Tom Carton, NPACH New Orleans director, said the council is drawing on the knowledge the Thai and Indonesian people gained in organizing community groups during the post-tsunami rebuilding process.  “The way they’ve structured and organized communities is so strong because they’ve brought so many people into the process by forming linkages between the different groups, within the system and between the villages,” Carton said.  “It gives them a strong voice when negotiating policy with government officials and the ability to create large numbers, whether to demonstrate or write letter campaigns.  We’re trying to take that model and reproduce it in New Orleans.”

"This is our land"

In December 2004, the most devastating tsunami in recorded history hit Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia, according to the National Institute of Oceanography.  The giant wave, caused by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean with a magnitude of 9, killed 350,000 people and destroyed 2.5 million homes.

Maitree Jongkraijug, 34, lives in the village of Ban Nam Khem in Thailand where the tsunami killed 1,500 of 4,200 villagers, including his father.  Jongkraijug’s bloodshot eyes betray the memories of that terrible day.  He whispers as he describes the devastation but grows louder when talking about the people’s fight to protect their land from the Thai government and encroaching developers.  “This is our land,” he said.  “Everyone in Thailand has fought the government for their right to stay on their land.”

Each member of the Asian delegation expressed the same sentiment, which is why they do not comprehend why hundreds of thousands of New Orleanians have not returned home.  Jongkraijug said 2,000 of the 2,700 survivors are back in his village and have rebuilt 1,200 of the 1,500 homes with the help of private and nonprofit donations and government aid.

Saiful, 46, lost his entire family to the tsunami, which spared only 140 of the 1,400 people who lived in his Indonesian village of Cot Lamkuweh.  Yet the survivors refused to relocate and are dedicated to rebuilding.  “It is surprising,” he said when asked about his impressions of the New Orleans recovery.  “We know this is a big expensive task.  But it seems like in America, money is not the problem; governmental policies are the problem.  We encourage the people of New Orleans to band together and fight for their rights and their ability to come back to their individual homes as quickly as possible.”

Taking risks

Jamnong Jitnirat, 48, works for a Thai non-profit organization dedicated to helping tsunami victims rebuild and fight any attempts by the government to appropriate their land.  The best way for the people to prevent this from happening is to refuse offers to relocate, he said.  People who live on their land make it extremely difficult for outsiders to encroach. 

This is the mistake too many people of New Orleans have made, Jitnirat said.  “Because so many people didn’t stay around their place of origin, the rehabilitation is slow. 

When you leave, the further you go the chances of returning and rebuilding your community is less and it’s confirmed in the communities we’ve seen here in New Orleans,” Jitnirat said.  “We realize the government here and the Thai government have the same mentality.  They want to implement big redevelopment plans and chase away the poor.  But the difference is if you don’t fight or you move away, the chance of returning is gone.”

Carton said the Asian ability to remain on their tsunami-devastated land is the difference between First and Third World countries.  “It’s the coping mechanisms of the developed and developing countries,” he said.  “Our living standards are higher.  We have higher demands.  Those folks, they can do that, stay on their land right after the tsunami.  Their educational system and health care system were probably vastly underdeveloped before the tsunami, so there wasn’t too much of a change.  But they believe the people of New Orleans still need to be here and take that risk.”

Sitting in the lobby of the Ambassador Hotel on Tchoupitoulas Street, thousands of miles from his small Indonesian village, Afrizal watched as tourists filled paper cups with free coffee, shuffling in and out of the front doors with shopping bags, backpacks and digital cameras.

“It’s very surprising,” he said of the slow recovery of New Orleans.  “America is a big country, a strong country and yet this isn’t being dealt with properly.  The only way it’s going to get fixed is through the efforts of the people themselves.  So we encourage the people of New Orleans to get together and push the government to fix the situation.  “We know that when there’s a huge disaster in a country far away, America sends aid and they come in and they help.  But then when it’s right here, things don’t seem to be happening.”

 

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