Dateline ACT

South & south east Asia/Thailand - 05/05

By Eva Berglund, Church of Sweden/ACT International

Editor’s note: The Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT), whose response to the needs of tsunami survivors is mentioned in this feature, is currently not a member of ACT International and is not included in ACT’s appeal for the tsunami. CCT is, however, a member of the World Council of Churches. This feature is provided as an update on CCT’s tsunami response at this one-year mark as it was active in the first days and weeks following the tsunami as part of the ecumenical family’s response to survivors.

By Eva Berglund, ACT International

Tung Wa, Thailand, December 16, 2005--Three months after the tsunami, reconstruction of Tung Wa village began. A few houses were built, and there was a lot of activity in the new village. Villagers and volunteers from Thailand and overseas were involved in the house construction.

Almost a year after the tsunami, 71 houses have been reconstructed. It appears that life is back to normal, but it is not the same as before. People are working, but life is more hectic than it used to be. Instead of being one, united body, individualism has entered the village.

Tung Wa is where 228 Moken people live. The village was located closer to the sea before the tsunami, and was completely destroyed. Forty-three villagers died that morning late last year. The authorities wanted to move the village 50 kilometers away, but the people refused. After intensive lobbying work in Bangkok, with assistance from the Church of Christ in Thailand and others, they got the land and were able to start rebuilding their houses close to the former village.

Now Tung Wa is well organized. The main work is done in three groups: fishing, basket making and brick making. Acom Samarn is the chair of the fishing group. “The first months, we were concentrating on rebuilding our homes. Three months ago, we started fishing again. We have got 30 new boats - nine of them we built ourselves - and the others are donations,” he says.

There are 60 men in the fishing group. They stay five to ten days at sea and return with a good catch of fish, clams, shrimp and lobsters for their own consumption and to sell at the market. They still have to go some distance to reach the market, but they expect their own market to be ready soon for selling fish and other products to the village.

The fishing group has also started a credit-union cooperative to get funds to buy new nets, repair boats and carry out their work. Each family saves 200 Thai baht (almost US$5) a month. In two months, they have already saved 10,000 baht (US$243). The fishermen can borrow from the union without interest.

“Some people introduced the idea to us, and it is good because poor people don’t have easy access to credit,” explains Acom.

In the basket group, ten women are making baskets, most of them in the form of handbags. They received some material from an organization to get started and to sell their products in Bangkok and Phuket. Their products provide them a fairly good income.

“Before, it was better,” says Ar-Rom Pol Saeng, 28. “I was busy working in a tailor shop and could get money easily. Now I need to work much more to get the same money. The shop was destroyed by the tsunami, and the shop owner moved to Bangkok. The situation has changed. Now I have started with baskets. I don’t know if a tailor shop will open again. So I continue to do this in my own house now.”

The women could easily make more baskets, but they cannot get enough material and are not familiar with how to market their products. If they could get more support, it would not take them too long to become self-reliant.

The new houses in Tung Wa are all the same, constructed strongly with bricks on the ground floor and wood upstairs. Under the houses is space for sitting and storing goods. Each house has two traditional water tanks for storing mainly rainwater. At this time of year, the containers are filled easily, but during the dry season, villagers need to buy water to fill the tanks.

In the old village, each house had a well. The new village has a large well for the whole village, but the pump is broken and needs to be replaced by a better one. Another problem is that the water in the well is salty. Sea water most likely got into the ground water after the tsunami. The government built a large dam that is full of water near the village, but the people in Tung Wa have received no information yet about how it is supposed to be used.

As life slowly returns to some form of normalcy, the children attend school three kilometers away, where a playground is being built for them. A new nursery will also be opened nearby. After the construction of the market is finished, they plan to build a museum to show the Moken lifestyle. But the lifestyle has changed.

“We used to be like one body, with one opinion. Now it is more selfish,” says the village leader, Hong Kla Thale. “We would like to be one again.”

On December 26 this year, the village’s leaders will call for a meeting to discuss the future and how things can be better again. They also want to find new ways of earning an income because they know that after this year of relief and support from outside organizations will leave.

In addition to facing individualism in their village, another challenge residents face is the exposure to the society around them. Before the tsunami, they lived without having too much contact with outsiders. They had what they needed and didn’t have to work too hard to support themselves. Now they are living close to the main road and have many visitors in the village. Not all of them are honest.

“We used to have many things in our houses and no problems with thieves. Now we have bigger houses with less things but a problem with stealing. We need to look after our properties,” explains Acom.

The villagers say they have also heard many empty promises. At the entrance to the village a big signpost declares that a company has donated 7 million baht to the village, money they have never seen.

It is almost a year since the tsunami destroyed their village and took the lives of 43 of its residents. To honor them on December 26, they will walk from the sea to the village, all dressed in black and carrying the photos of their loved ones. Before this, there will be a three-day memorial event with movies, music, exhibitions and sales of products made in the village. They expect 3,000 people to come.

Life changed that morning a year ago – and it will never be the same. But there is movement forward in Tung Wa. People are working, they are well organized and have pride in their culture and traditions. There are still problems to be solved, but with committed leaders and villagers, it will be possible.

Eva Berglund is a writer for the Church of Sweden.