Its been 12 years since the 2004 Tsunami that took 260,000 lives, affected 12 countries and over 5 million people. That day, when Hunter and I heard the news, realized that friends of ours were on the ground in Phuket, Thailand, and might not be alive, we made the fateful decision which set us on the path of eventually creating Aid Still Required.
Along the way, we’ve met remarkable people, including nurse and filmmaker Alison Thompson of The Third Wave Volunteers. Alison went to Sri Lanka for two weeks to offer aid and stayed for more than a year. The Community Tsunami Early Warning Center she established is the only one of its kind along the neglected southern Sri Lankan Coast.
Providing a children’s learning center with computer and disaster education, and a museum, the Center remains a focal point for the surrounding villages. Aid Still Required is proud to have provided speakers for the Center, funds for utilities, and computer maintenance and repair.
The Aid Still Required Tsunami CD that we created to support Tsunami survivors is still available for purchase on the Aid Still Required website or for Download on iTunes. Proceeds go towards CTEC and towards funding Women’s Small Business and Handicraft Training, Environmental Education, and Disaster Preparedness in Aceh, Indonesia, the area hardest hit.
Here is a Sri Lankan newspaper article about CTEC. For those of you who don’t read Sinhalese, you can enjoy the photos of Alison and CTEC manager, Roshan Waduthantri!