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April 1, 2005 > News > Rice joins in videoconference with Sri Lankan Distance Learning Center

Rice joins in videoconference with Sri Lankan Distance Learning Center

By Ruth Samuelson | Thresher staff

Sri Lankan tsunami relief workers spoke to students at Rice and five other universities about the tsunami’s damage, recent restoration efforts and the country’s civil conflict in a videoconference Monday.

The conference, ‘Rebuilding After Devastation,’ was second in the Partners for Progress series, which aims to connect Americans with people from the regions hit by the Dec. 26 tsunami.

The videoconference occurred only a few hours after an earthquake hit Indonesia, raising concerns about the possibility of another deadly tidal wave.

About 30 people attended the videoconference, which was open to the public. The event was organized at Rice by Martel freshman Ann Wang, a member of the national student organization Americans for Informed Democracy, which is part of the coalition of groups producing the Partners for Progress series.

Wang joined AID independently in the fall and said she hopes to start a Rice chapter soon. The conference began with short statements from representatives at the six participating universities — Australian National University, Rice, San Francisco State University, St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Stanford University and the University of California-Berkeley.

Panelists at the Sri Lanka Distance Learning Center in Colombo then gave presentations on relief and rebuilding efforts. Sri Lanka has listed 30,900 dead and 10,000 missing from the tsunami — the largest death toll after Indonesia, which has listed 135,000 dead, Lionel Fernando, chair of the Disaster Relief Monitoring Unit of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, said.

A doctor working with relief programs discussed Sri Lanka’s progress since the initial disaster. Immediate food, medical and housing needs have been met, he said. With 450,000 people in refugee camps, Sri Lanka is now beginning to reorganize and rebuild, he said.
‘Phase one of the tsunami disaster is over,’ the panelist said. ‘We are now moving very quickly to the second phase, which is much longer, more complex and more difficult.’

He said the most pressing concern in Sri Lanka is the upcoming monsoon season. The refugee camps cannot handle daily torrential rains, and entire villages within 100 meters of the shore must be evacuated, the panelist said.

The tsunami waves carried away important land titles and other government-issued documents, and flooding has contaminated many wells, panelists said.

Some non-governmental organizations in Sri Lanka need help writing proposals, leading and managing projects, and providing technological assistance, one panelist said.

People who want to get involved should contact policy groups working to pass new government programs in Sri Lanka, another panelist said.

‘Our non-governmental organizations are very weak,’ a panelist said. ‘They have little capacity to exert power in this large, complicated situation.’

With $1 billion in aid pledged, the country is in need of volunteers more than monetary contributions, Fernando said.

‘We will need more manpower and more human resources in order to regain the country and regenerate the resources that we have,’ he said.

Following the Distance Learning Center panelists’ statements, viewers from the different universities took turns asking questions.

Many viewers inquired about the relocation of displaced people, which proved to be a contentious issue for the panelists. One panelist said cleanup efforts in the ‘coastal slums’ are necessary and would enhance eco-tourism. Another panelist argued population removal could destabilize communities.

‘It’s not just about building houses — it’s more about building homes,’ he said. ‘When we rebuild a village, we want new houses, but we also want a new way of organizing power politics in the village.’

Several questions addressed the internal conflict that has persisted in Sri Lanka after the tsunami. The militant group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has been fighting for the Tamil state’s independence since the 1980s. Non-governmental organizations and the Sri Lankan government have exhibited no bias in aiding the victims, a panelist said.

Dilanka Seimon was the first audience member at Rice to participate. Seimon, who is not affiliated with Rice, was traveling in his native Sri Lanka when the tsunami hit.

Since returning to the United States, Seimon has raised funds for victims, spoken at churches and attended local events about the rebuilding process.

Seimon said the speakers were accurate and informative. He said the most pressing concern in Sri Lanka today is the distribution of relief funds.

‘If a billion dollars comes in, that’s a great way to develop the country,’ Seimon said. ‘But there is a huge bureaucracy. [Sri Lanka] is a democracy. … There is no one person directing the country.’

Seimon also said the government’s rebuilding will probably be slow but meticulous.

‘When it is done, it will be done pretty well,’ Seimon said. ‘That’s Sri Lanka’s way. … They take their time.’

Martel College freshman Matt Drwenski said he was impressed by the level of organization in Sri Lanka.

‘I figured that Sri Lanka, with its ethnic conflicts, was a lot more chaotic,’ he said. ‘The people that we talked to painted a picture that the country was really orderly and that people were taking what we had given them and [were] really using it effectively.’

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