Tsunami

Tsunami - Islands of Hope (2005)

Genre Duration Format Station Air Date Producer

Humanitarian
44.30 minutes (Six Segments)
16:9 (Widescreen) SDTV
Network Ten Australia
17th December, 2005
AusAID in conjunction with ABYSS PICTURES and the Ten Network (written by Deborah Knight).

"Tsunami - Islands of Hope" is a 44.30 minute humanitarian documentary about the work Australians are doing in countries such as Sri Lanka and the Maldives post the Tsunami Disaster. Boxing Day two-thousand-and-four started calmly in South East Asia. A regular day for locals. A tropical beachside holiday for tourists. But that morning, the ocean's edge was the worst place to be. A frightening force of nature struck without warning, shattering communities and forever changing lives. A series of Tsunami's were unleashed triggered by the largest undersea earthquake in forty years. The walls of water surged up to four kilometres inland and tore at vegetation more than 20 metres high. Hit first - Indonesia and Thailand, they bore the brunt of the devastation, and captured the bulk of the world's aid and attention. But the toll was felt across the region, and the immense task of re-building is equally as challenging for the often forgotten victims, in countries like Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Tsunami smashing the shoreline

Sri Lanka - woman with her child

Sri Lanka - boat washed up on land

Hundreds of thousands were left destitute, with more than forty-thousand killed. Shocked Australians opened their hearts and wallets like never before, raising an unprecedented three-hundred-and-sixty-six million dollars in donations, on top of sixty six million dollars in emergency relief from the Federal Government, and a record billion dollar aid package for Indonesia. Thousands of volunteers rushed to the region, and many remain, working to help the islands re-build, re-capture crucial tourist dollars, and start again. All along Sri Lanka's East coast, the Tsunami's victims were already in a long-term state of despair, living on the front-line of the ongoing conflict between Tamil fighters and the Sri Lankan government. Alex Knox is a field officer for Ausaid - Australia's overseas aid agency helping developing countries. It's not a charity, but plays a coordinating role for the Federal Government, planning how Australian taxes are spent responding to disasters and overcoming long term poverty.

Sri Lanka - An AusAID officer explaining the sky juice system

Sri Lanka - A sign made by the locals in a devastated area

And after the Tsunami, Ausaid's 50 years of experience in humanitarian work in countries like Sri Lanka and the Maldives was critical, overseeing the relief effort using staff on the ground and charities like World Vision and the Red Cross. And Australian ingenuity is helping in the recovery. A new filtration system, known as Sky Juice, is overcoming one of the major problems that emerged after the Tsunami - securing safe drinking water after most wells were destroyed. A single unit produces ten thousand litres of pristine water a day, and Sky juice, which is solar powered, is far more economical and compact than most current filtration systems. But for the reconstruction to have any benefit, Sri Lanka's tenuous peace must hold. A cease-fire has been in place officially for three years, but exists only on paper. Young Tamil girls like these, forced to become child soldiers at the age of eight, fear they'll be recruited and made to fight again. It's a terrifying prospect threatening the new skills she's just starting to build through an Australian funded sewing course. If the conflict does flare up across the country again, the clearing and destruction of the countries estimated one and a half million land mines could also be in vain. While ending the conflict is key to improving people's lives and Sri Lanka's stability, it's hoped the Tsunami will unite the country for a common cause.

Sri Lanka - more boats washed up on shore

Sri Lanka - girl soldiers

Sri Lanka - a demining site

An hour after battering Sri Lanka, the Tsunami closed in on an easy target - the collection of twelve hundred tiny islands that make up the Maldives. And the effect of the waves here was uniquely devastating. One third of the country was hit, and with no land mass more than a metre- and- a- half above sea level, some islands remained underwater for up to five minutes. And it's on the islands where tourists are rarely allowed that the Tsunami caused the worst damage. Precious underground water supplies were contaminated by the saltwater. The rubble from destroyed homes also left the islands with enough rubbish to fill 90 thousand Olympic sized swimming pools - a challenge being tackled by the Red Cross. Australian volunteers have been welcomed to the Maldives after a direct appeal by the Maldivian President to Prime Minister John Howard.

Maldives - A woman looks on with her daughter concerned

Maldives - a child is back at school listening to an Australian teacher

Carmen Beaton is one of 15 volunteer teachers making the most of what they now call home. Fellow Australian Doug Gilmore teaches the islands youngest. Their living conditions are tough, and re-building on the islands is slower than most expected. But they're confident they are making a difference. Apart from repairing lives, the island nation's greatest challenge is re-building homes and communities. And unlike other Tsunami effected countries, the Maldives has the added problem of needing to import almost everything, and transport it long distances by sea. Ted McDonnell is part of a team of four Australian volunteer engineers testing the safety of existing structures and building thousands of homes. Along with teachers and engineers, the Maldivian Government requested a team of Australian marine scientists to urgently assess the damage done to reefs.

Maldives - a devastated island

Maldives - men on a broken fishing vessel

Maldives - the magnificent underwater world

Much of the coral took the full force of the waves, but luckily that stripped the Tsunami of energy before hitting the shore - a life-saver for many atolls. The study found some silting over from dumped sand, but it was of no major concern. But the Maldives other key industry - fishing - has suffered. For months fisherman were left with no way of making a living, but the boats are being re-built and the fishing industry is gradually recovering, along with the Maldives prime economic driver - tourism. A quarter of all resorts were damaged by the Tsunami, but the Maldivian government is now tempting tourists with new advertising campaigns promoting an island paradise that's back on track. For the Maldives and Sri Lanka, the process of recovery will take a very lng time. But with the help of the Australian Government's foreign aid agency, AusAID and the Australian volunteers that continue to help in these countries, the process is getting quicker and quicker. The aid money does get through and it does help. If you really want to help these countries recover from the Tsunami, plan your next holiday there and experience the unique beauty of each island nation. The tourism dollars spent in these countries is the best help for the locals to recover and create hope for the future.

Sri Lanak - elephants are a major source for tourists

Sri Lanka - One of many amazing giant buddah statues