Double click on the image to get the full resolution for download. Please sign the guestbook at the end of each album. Permission is granted to use the photos, with photo credit, for Evangelical Lutheran Church in America purposes, or in conjunction with an ELCA reference. For the trip blog, plus links to articles, news releases, video interviews, and more, go to www.walkingletter.blogspot.com Questions? Contact Sue Edison-Swift at sue.edisonswift@elca.org
Date(s): January 15, 2005. Album by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA. Photos by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA. 1 - 55 of 55 Total.
enlarge 64KB, 640x426 1 DSC 0433 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Catamarans (used by the poorest fisher folk) and fiber-glass boats (missing their motors), now sit on a sea of sand. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 53KB, 640x426 2 DSC 0434 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Catamarans are used by the poor fisher folk, middle/upper class fisher folk use fiber glass boats with motors, and the wealthiest fisher folk own the large fishing vessels (not shown here). Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 42KB, 426x640 3 DSC 0435 Chennai, India (1/15/05). David Miller. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 95KB, 426x640 4 DSC 0436 Chennai, India (1/15/05). These nets made useless by tsunami waves represent the fisher folk's loss of livelihood. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 60KB, 640x426 5 DSC 0437 Chennai, India (1/15/05). What's left from one of the hundreds of kiosks that lined this beach. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 59KB, 640x426 6 DSC 0438 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Catamarans and nets washed up after the tsunami dot the beach. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 55KB, 640x426 7 DSC 0441 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Feral dogs find a home under a catamaran. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 91KB, 640x426 8 DSC 0442 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Anchor. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 114KB, 640x426 9 DSC 0443 Chennai, India (1/15/05). A sandal here and there remain on the beach. There is a suprising absence of shells. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 60KB, 640x426 10 DSC 0444 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Indian Ocean. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 59KB, 640x426 11 DSC 0445 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Indian Ocean. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 33KB, 640x426 12 DSC 0447 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Note where the tide usually ends. The expanse of sand you see here between tide line and road was filled with kiosks, homes, and shops. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 110KB, 640x426 13 DSC 0448 Chennai, India (1/15/05). This footprint left in the sand seemed a good image for our "walking letter" group. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 37KB, 640x426 14 DSC 0449 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 38KB, 640x426 15 DSC 0450 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 40KB, 640x426 16 DSC 0451 Chennai, India (1/15/05). A handful of people walk the beach, cleared now of shops, homes, and crowds. The women wear flowers in their hair in celebration of Pongul, the Harvest Festival. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 39KB, 640x426 17 DSC 0453 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Some 500 people died on this beach when the tsunami hit. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 46KB, 640x426 18 DSC 0456 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 57KB, 640x426 19 DSC 0457 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 48KB, 640x426 20 DSC 0458 Chennai, India (1/15/05). This couple would have been one of hundreds (thousands?) on the beach celebrating the last day of Pongul, the Harvest Festival. This holiday they have most of the beach to themselves. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 93KB, 640x426 21 DSC 0459 Chennai, India (1/15/05). We considered the items on the beach as reminders of lives, not trash. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 49KB, 426x640 22 DSC 0461 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 41KB, 640x426 23 DSC 0463 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Even though the poor fisher folk found fiber glass boats washed up to their doors (they would use cattamarans), they will use the fiber-glass boats for storage and other household use, not fishing. It's unclear whether this is because all tsunami-affected boats are considered unsafe or unlucky, or whether its because the fiber-glass boats are for use by wealthier fisher folk. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 64KB, 426x640 24 DSC 0464 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 83KB, 640x426 25 DSC 0465 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 63KB, 640x426 26 DSC 0466 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 74KB, 640x426 27 DSC 0467 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 51KB, 640x426 28 DSC 0468 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 46KB, 426x640 29 DSC 0469 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 46KB, 640x426 30 DSC 0470 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Three weeks after the tsunami. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 61KB, 640x427 31 DSC 0472 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Anitha with her family. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 73KB, 640x426 32 DSC 0473 Chennai, India (1/15/05). The fiber-glass boat washed up to their door is being used as a family bed. It's considered unseemly, unsafe, or unlucky to try to use these boats on the water. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 52KB, 640x426 33 DSC 0474 Chennai, India (1/15/05). People wanted to tell us their story, and have their picture taken. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 48KB, 640x427 34 DSC 0475 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 53KB, 426x640 35 DSC 0478 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Iswrea (purple dress) and Vanephe. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 53KB, 640x426 36 DSC 0479 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Iswrea (purple dress), Vanephe (orange dress), Anitha (white and blue checked dress). Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 63KB, 640x426 37 DSC 0481 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Many home fronts were decorated with chalk drawings for Pongau, the harvest festival. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 73KB, 640x426 38 DSC 0483 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 51KB, 640x426 39 DSC 0484 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Veereamana (stripped shirt, plaid dhoti) and his fellow fisherman have received compensation from the Indian government for the loss of their boats and nets. They have not returned to fishing, however, both believing that the government has banned fishing for two- or three-months, and knowing that there is no market for fish now. People are afraid to eat fish that could have consumed dead bodies. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 45KB, 640x426 40 DSC 0485 Chennai, India (1/15/05). These fisherfolk believe what seems to be a "tsunami myth" that the government has banned fishing for three months. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 48KB, 426x640 41 DSC 0486 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Veereamana, fisherman, age 30, lost his boat and his livelihood after the tsunami. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 52KB, 640x426 42 DSC 0487 Chennai, India (1/15/05). This home suddenly became "beach front," as the homes closer to the beach were washed away. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 48KB, 426x640 43 DSC 0488 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 48KB, 426x640 44 DSC 0489 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 48KB, 640x426 45 DSC 0490 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Life goes on. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 76KB, 640x426 46 DSC 0492 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Three weeks after the tsunami washed away much of their ocean side fishing community--and washed up unusable fishing boats and nets to the remaining doors--the fisher folk wait for normal life to return. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 44KB, 426x640 47 DSC 0494 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Ashoke, age 14, was playing cricket when the tsunami hit. He ran to a church for safety. Most of the people in this ocean-front fishing community ran to a church or a temple for safety. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 39KB, 640x426 48 DSC 0495 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Ashoke, age 14 was playing cricket when the tsunami wave came. He ran to a church for safety. Sudhkar, age 20, "lost everything" in the waves--boat, nets, home. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 34KB, 426x640 49 DSC 0496 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Sudhkar, age 20, waits on the beach with other fisher folk; he wonders when he'll fish again. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 38KB, 640x426 50 DSC 0497 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Panchanedh is one of the fisher folk who lost everything in the tsunami waves. He's received compensation for his lost boat and nets, but his livelihood is in ruins. He believes the government has banned fishing for three months. He knows that even if he went fishing there would not be a market for his catch--people are afraid to eat fish from the same sea that swallowed so many bodies. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 55KB, 426x640 51 DSC 0499 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Elavarsi (foreground) was among those from the fishing community that came out to tell us their stories. We heard "I lost everything," again and again. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 56KB, 426x640 52 DSC 0501 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Elavarsi lives in the urban, ocean front fishing community hit by the tsunami. "Take my picture, too," she said. Like many we encountered, she wanted to tell her story. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 49KB, 640x426 53 DSC 0503 Chennai, India (1/15/05). "We lost everything." Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 42KB, 640x426 54 DSC 0506 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Celisea's fishing community, very close to the beach, was hit hard by the tsunami. Many found safety by running to the church or temple. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 53KB, 640x427 55 DSC 0509 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
