By MaryHelen Swanson
If she learned anything from her volunteer work in Sri Lanka, while assisting the victims of last December's tsunami, Andrea Meyer learned to live in the moment and "smile with your eyes."

Meyer, a resident of Stanchfield, was part of a group of Minnesotans who went to Sri Lanka for a month to help rebuild a community devastated by the tsunami wave.

Like many volunteers, she took away more than she gave. She has been home about a month now, but the experience has left her in a state of wonder.

She wonders how a people who lost so much can be so happy. She wonders how a people who sleep on cardboard or concrete slabs, out under the night sky, can smile and say thank you every waking moment.

Meyer is trying to make sense of it all - of how Americans who have so much are always complaining and how the people of Deewara Village have so little and are so full of joy.

The trip begins Jan. 27
Meyer joined a group led by Twin City resident, and native of Sri Lankan, Evan Balasuriya. Not knowing what she'd find there, Meyer prepared for a lot of hard work expecting she would be able to deal with whatever she encountered.

She never expected to find such grateful, happy people in the midst of terrible tragedy. The first week in Sri Lanka, an island off the southern coast of India, the group toured the area and talked about what they hoped to accomplish.

They learned that money given to Sri Lanka for relief did not seem to be getting to the people.

The group Meyer went with brought about $45,000 and she knows where that went - for medical supplies, uniforms and books for the children, tools and supplied and wages for the native people who helped them as they worked in the village.

The villagers were paid $4 -$6/day depending on the job.

It was hot, really hot, especially for a Minnesotan, 90 degrees to 100 degrees each day and humid. Meyer said the temperature didn't bother the native people, and she figured in due time she'd probably come to terms with the heat, too.

Mulling around
When the team from Minnesota arrived the people were sort of mulling around, Meyer said. The devastation was so overwhelming the people didn't appear to know where to start. They weren't clearing debris because they didn't want to pick up someone else's stuff, she said.

Her group stayed at an orphanage a two-hour drive from the village, one way. They returned to the orphanage every night after working.

The village residents would greet them at the bus every day and soon started working along with the team.

Some of the people had collected scrap lumber from the storm debris and put together makeshift housing. Others had nothing and were sleeping on cement slabs where there homes used to stand. The team put up some plastic sheeting for protection.

Community life
Everyone in the village got water from one spigot. All laundry was done at this spigot also. It served about 1,000 people.

Meyer said the people are amazing. They were never in a hurry. They went to sleep when it got dark and woke when it gets light. They live by the sun, she said.

The children attend school, but only if they have uniforms. They are not allowed in school without them and they must have shoes, not sandals, that cover their feet.

The teachers that were in Meyer's group were astounded that the children went on with their work quietly with or without a teacher in the room.

The majority of the people are Buddhists, and are very happy. They also believe that it was a gift from Buddha if their children were taken away by the tsunami. Although they grieve, they still are able to be reconciled in that thought. There is a group in the country called Tammels, rebels, who are hostile and who have not received any assistance due to their behavior. They got hit hard, too, Meyer said.

The world responds
Meyer said there were people from all over the world in Sri Lanka helping out. Many independent groups raised their own money to come and help.

The group she was with did not have to pay taxes on the supplies they brought in, but many of the other groups did, and weren't too happy about it.

Meyer's team wore their bright yellow "Help Sri Lanka" t-shirts everyday which identified them. The shirts had to be hand washed each night because of the hard work in the heat every day.

Recognized as a team member by the yellow shirt, Meyer said people would come up to them and profusely thank them, "thank you" being one of the few English phrases they knew.

The accomplishments
The Minnesotans helped build a soup kitchen where 1,000-2,000 people came to eat for lunch. It was actually sanitary enough, Meyer said, that the team members could eat there. There was lots of rice, every day.

Before the soup kitchen was built, some of the people would go one to two days without eating. At least now they would have one meal a day.

Meyer found the people to be sharing and hospitable, always inviting her in for tea. Tea she could accept as it was boiled.
Alongside a railroad track, the team also put in a playground, something the children had never had before.

It was hard work clearing the debris and laying in a sand foundation. Playground equipment and a volleyball net was ordered and installed.

Nearby was a community center, which now sports toilets, toilets also being new to the people. Many of the people of this village lived off the sea which was nearby.

Meyer said you could stand looking out at the beautiful sunset while behind you was the ugly devastation of the first tsunami ever to hit the island.

Because they had never before experienced a tsunami, they did not know what to do. During the rage of the ocean, the people of this particular village survived by crawling on roofs or running to the Buddhist temple. A few were killed. Meyer said there are now drills and the homes are being made of cement block instead of just wood.

The island inland was not touched by the tsunami.

Reflections
It really looked like a war zone, Meyer said. She wouldn't be surprised of more bodies were found under the rubble. The people, she said, are so pleasant in spite of what they have been through. They seem to be so much more connected to themselves.

They always walked around with a "lightness" and always a smile, Meyer said.

They are so happy with what they have, and to Americans, that would seem like noting, she said. One lady who lost everything told Meyer she already had everything she wanted, she had her family. A lot of people are still displaced, and some children still have not found their families.

Most people have no electricity and there is no refrigeration. They own the land where their homes stood, but now there is nothing but rubble. They have no beds, no pillows, and are lucky if they have a piece of cardboard to sleep on.

Still, there was joy in their lives. When the people felt like dancing, they danced. The team shared the "Chicken Dance" and "Hokey Pokey" with them and they sang songs like "You are My Sunshine," "London Bridges," and had the children doing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes."

The children also learned from the team about cleaning up the river. When the team saw some boys throwing debris in the river, as was the custom, the team told them "no, you'll get sick."

Later, when a woman came to throw stuff in the river, the boys told her "no." There is no sanitation in the village, but the people are clean and shower regularly.

It's a simpler life, Meyer said, they simply don't know any better.

Meyer said she's so glad she went, and might like to go back again. Another team is forming and will be going soon.
She learned that the volunteer work wasn't about the devastation, it was about the people. It was easy to look beyond the rubble when you met the people, she said.

She loves so much the fact that the people of Sri Lanka live from their heart. It was fascinating to see a whole new way of living, she went on, and become aware of all that we have and they don't.

She looks at the experience as a gift. "We got so much," she said.

If you want to learn more
Meyer will be putting together a power point presentation, she has 16 CDs of pictures. She would like to share this experience with area school children, probably one class at a time. She is also willing to make presentations for groups and organizations.

She thanks the local community and individuals who helped her fund the trip, including John Hirsch from Cambridge.

If you are interested in a presentation, call her at (651) 485-1414.

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