Sue's favorite images from the ELCA delegation to India after the 12/26/05 tsunami. 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--21, 2005. Album by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA. Photos by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA. 1 - 100 of 100 Total.
enlarge 91KB, 640x426 1 DSC 0442 Chennai, India (1/15/05). Anchor. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
This is a demonstration.
enlarge 114KB, 640x426 2 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 110KB, 640x426 3 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 40KB, 640x426 4 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 Pongal, the Harvest Festival. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 45KB, 640x426 5 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 38KB, 640x426 6 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 42KB, 640x426 7 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 85KB, 426x640 8 DSC 0574 Chithrapettai, India. Constructing a temporary home. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 64KB, 426x640 9 DSC 0575 Chithrapettai, India. Constructing a temporary home. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 66KB, 426x640 10 DSC 0576 Chithrapettai, India. Constructing a temporary home.
enlarge 69KB, 426x640 11 DSC 0577 Chithrapettai, India. Constructing a temporary home.
enlarge 60KB, 640x427 12 DSC 0586 Chithrapettai, India. This family lost their possessions to the tsunami: "What was inside our four walls was lost." They work around the house during the day, but sleep on higher ground. "If a tsunami comes at night, what would we do?" Names: Mani Mazi (mother), Abida (daughter), Abinesh (son), Suder (Dad). Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 92KB, 640x426 13 DSC 0587 Chithrapettai, India. Constructing a temporary home. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 52KB, 427x640 14 DSC 0589b Chithrapettai, India. Priyanka. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 56KB, 427x640 15 DSC 0590a Chithrapettai, India. Nithya. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 53KB, 640x427 16 DSC 0601 Chithrapettai, India. Usha and Sridhar lost their home to the tsunami. "We love this place, we hate this place. We want to go away [further from the coast] but we don't know where to go." Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 67KB, 639x426 17 DSC 0608 Chithrapettai, India. "We love this place, we hate this place. We want to go away, but we don't know where to go." Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 67KB, 640x426 18 DSC 0620 Chithrapettai, India, 1/16/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 62KB, 640x426 19 DSC 0621 Chithrapettai, India, 1/16/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 41KB, 426x639 20 DSC 0623 Chithrapettai, India, 1/16/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 101KB, 426x640 21 DSC 0625 Chithrapettai, India. "Come and see my house!" the man communicated. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 84KB, 426x640 22 DSC 0630 Chithrapettai, India. Erecting a temporary shelter. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 62KB, 640x426 23 DSC 0633b Chithrapettai, India. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 64KB, 640x426 24 DSC 0649 Chithrapettai, India, 1/16/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 64KB, 640x426 25 DSC 0651 Chithrapettai, India, 1/16/05. Pasapathi's wife was the only person in this village to die in the tsunami, although eight other bodies washed up on shore. Shown with his youngest daughter, Jivitha. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 47KB, 640x426 26 DSC 0652 Chithrapettai, India, 1/16/05. Kartikeyan, age 14. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 56KB, 426x640 27 DSC 0666 Ayyampettai, India, 1/16/05. Arumugam, 50, is a good example of someone who does not fish, but whose livelihood depends on fishing. Since he buys and sells fish, the fact that no one is fishing and no one is eating fish means he has no income. Since he's not an official resident of Ayyampettai, and his home village did not have tsunami damage, he's not entitled to government restitution. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 56KB, 427x640 28 DSC 0667b Ayyampettai, India, 1/16/05. Arumugam, 50, "has nothing to eat." He buys fish on this beach and sells them in his village about eight kilometers inland. He was here in Ayyampettai on 12/26. He kept his life by holding on to a coconut tree, but lost the money he used to make change and the basket he used to carry fish. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 79KB, 426x640 29 DSC 0668 Ayyampettai, India, 1/16/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 51KB, 426x640 30 DSC 0669 Ayyampettai, India, 1/16/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 37KB, 640x426 31 DSC 0680 Cuddalore, India, 1/16/05. These are two of the doctors volunteering at the medical camp/clinic. The 150 to 200 patients they see here a day come for infections, asthma, dizziness, shivering, sleeplessness, etc. Dr. Issac Rajesh says the government did a good job inoculating against many infections immediately after the tsunami, although there is still a potential for Typhoid fever, Japanese encephalitis, cholera, dysentary, and other diseases. The medical camp makes good use of a former Arcot Lutheran Church college. The dormitories can house all staff, including the 40 at a time who are coming for a week of training to offer psycho-social counseling back in their home villages. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 62KB, 427x640 32 DSC 0683 Cuddalore, India, 1/16/05. Priya is being treated at the Arcot Lutheran Church disaster medical camp/clinic for a burn on her leg. "It wasn't tsunami-related," said the doctor, "but we treat everyone who comes." Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 49KB, 640x426 33 DSC 0684 Cuddalore, India, 1/16/05. Arcot Lutheran Church medical camp/clinic. "We have plenty of medicine/supplies," the doctors tell us. "Everyone who comes is treated for free." Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 90KB, 640x426 34 DSC 0695 Samiyarpettai, India 1/17/05. The temporary homes here are made out of traditional materials and will last three- to six-months. Of the 1850 people in the village, 17 children and six adults died. Total number of houses in the village: 560. Total number of families: 700. Destroyed homes: 129. Severly damaged homes: 128. Partially damaged homes: 55. Number of families who have lost all possessions: 51. Number of families not needing help: 50. Hand pumps to be replaced: 10. Electricity posts to be erected: 40. High school students to be helped: 350. Elementary students to be helped: 175. College students to be helped: 100. Pre-kindergarden students to be helped: 200. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift.
enlarge 57KB, 426x640 35 DSC 0701 Samiyarpettai, India 1/17/05. J. Basha, a tailor and a Muslim (left) and Ramadoss, a fisherman and a Hindu, were walking on the beach separately; we called them together to talk with us. J. Basha lives elsewhere, he is here visiting relatives. He wants to see the place of the destruction. Ramadoss and his family have fished here for generations. He wasn't here on 12/26, but lost his boat, nets, and home possesions. We asked, "How has the tsunami affected your faith in God?" Both answered that it led to "more faith in God." Photo by Sue Edison-Swift.
enlarge 46KB, 426x640 36 DSC 0704 Samiyarpettai, India 1/17/05. Ramadoss, a 48-year-old fisherman, is Hindu. He's "confused" over what he assumes are official reports of another tsunami predicted for January 21 or 26. "It was on TV news," he said. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift.
enlarge 49KB, 640x427 37 DSC 0706 Samiyarpettai, India 1/17/05. "How beautiful are the feet that bring good news." Photo by Sue Edison-Swift.
enlarge 64KB, 640x426 38 DSC 0756 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 75KB, 640x426 39 DSC 0761 1 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 82KB, 640x426 40 DSC 0765 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 45KB, 640x426 41 DSC 0766 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 54KB, 640x426 42 DSC 0774 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. The tsunami caused incredible destruction in this urban fish market: 500 bodies recovered, more than 200 children. The 40' to 60' fishing vessels were tossed like bath toys by the 20' high waves, thrown over two-story buildings. Note the water mark on the building. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 72KB, 640x426 43 DSC 0778 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Women who have lost their home and possesions wait outside their shelter. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 76KB, 426x640 44 DSC 0780 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 73KB, 640x426 45 DSC 0781 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 48KB, 426x640 46 DSC 0782 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 72KB, 640x426 47 DSC 0783 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 65KB, 640x426 48 DSC 0787 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 75KB, 640x426 49 DSC 0788 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 61KB, 640x426 50 DSC 0789 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 73KB, 640x426 51 DSC 0790 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 59KB, 427x640 52 DSC 0794 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 62KB, 426x640 53 DSC 0795 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 51KB, 640x426 54 DSC 0797 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Waiting in another line. The lines we observed were amazingly orderly. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 73KB, 426x639 55 DSC 0798 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 44KB, 426x640 56 DSC 0799 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 62KB, 640x426 57 DSC 0801 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 41KB, 426x640 58 DSC 0805 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 61KB, 426x640 59 DSC 0809 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 43KB, 426x640 60 DSC 0814 Nagapattinam, India, 1/18/05. Sarela, a Roman Catholic and nursery school worker, tells that nine children from the school died in the tsusami, although she says "all the children are affected" by death and destruction. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 62KB, 639x426 61 DSC 0827 Vailankanni (Velankanni), India, 1/18/05. Shrine Basilica of Mary. Pilgrims scan the photos of the identified tsunami victims. Some pilgrims, like one pictured here, shave their heads in recognition of answered prayer. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 42KB, 640x426 62 DSC 0834 Vailankanni (Velankanni), India, 1/18/05. Shrine Basilica of Mary. Pictures of the unidentied victims are posted on boards under a simple canopy at the enterance of the Basilica mall. It makes for a grizzly shrine. Pilgrims came from far away to celebrate Christmas at the Basilica; no one local would have known them by name. Six hundred bodies were recovered here, but hundreds, maybe thousands more were killed on 12/26. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 51KB, 640x427 63 DSC 0862 Vailankanni (Velankanni), India, 1/18/05. Shrine Basilica of Mary. Grita, a pilgrim from Badalore, "came to pray and to see this place." Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 49KB, 426x640 64 DSC 0870b Vailankanni (Velankanni), India, 1/18/05. S.C. Dsouza, a railway worker from Bombay, is here again, three weeks after his last visit, "to give thanks to God for saving me and my family." Dsouza and his family were here the morning of the 26th. At 8:30 a.m. he took a picture of the crowd of people on the beach. They left the beach about a half-hour before the tsunami struck. Shrine Basilica of Mary. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 69KB, 640x426 65 DSC 0879 Vailankanni (Velankanni), India, 1/18/05. Shrine Basilica of Mary. Leftovers. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 63KB, 426x640 66 DSC 0895 Vailankanni (Velankanni), India, 1/18/05. Shrine Basilica of Mary. D. Julius Vijayakumari, lecturer in history at TBML College, Poraryar (Tranquebar Bishop Manickam Lutheran College, Porayar--a college of the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church) is a hero in his church and community for his efforts leading 30 to 40 youth and young adults of the church recovering the bodies of those killed in the days following the tsunami. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 44KB, 640x426 67 DSC 0915 Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church school, near Karaikal/Pondicherry. The Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church and the UELCI had books to distribute to the students, many of them suffered suffer losses to the tsunami. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 73KB, 426x640 68 DSC 0924 Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church school, near Karaikal/Pondicherry. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 60KB, 640x426 69 DSC 0925 Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church school, near Karaikal/Pondicherry. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 56KB, 640x426 70 DSC 0926 Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church school, near Karaikal/Pondicherry. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 71KB, 640x426 71 DSC 0939 Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church school, near Karaikal/Pondicherry. Kids saying goodbye. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 48KB, 426x640 72 DSC 0943 Tranquebar/Tarangambadi, India; 1/18/2005. Kamudavalli Peter is a college professor of Tamil Studies at the TBMLC College (a Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church college). She volunteered to be the administrator at the Tranquebar orphanage caring for 90-some girls ages five to 15 who are orphaned by the tsunami. "It's very important to protect the girls for being sexually exploited," she said. Peter showed us how each girl's file contains her picture stapled to a picture of her home, or what is left of her home--which is sometime just the ground it stood on. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 58KB, 640x426 73 DSC 0944 Tranquebar/Tarangambadi, India; 1/18/2005. Tsunami Relief and Rehabilitation office across the street from the New Jerusalem Lutheran Church in the Ziegenbalg Spiritual Center. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 76KB, 640x426 74 DSC 0961 Tranquebar/Tarangambadi, India; 1/18/2005. Across the street from the New Jerusalem Lutheran Church, the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church has set up its tsuanmi recovery office at the Ziegenbalg Spiritual Center. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 46KB, 426x640 75 DSC 0962 Tranquebar/Tarangambadi, India; 1/18/2005. New Jerusalem Lutheran church, built in 1718, was founded in 1706--the first protestant church in Asia. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 59KB, 426x640 76 DSC 0974 Tsunami Response and Rehabilitation Center, Tranquebar, India; 1/18/2005. Sewing school uniforms. S. Arputham, front. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 54KB, 640x427 77 DSC 0980 Tsunami Response and Rehabilitation Center, Tranquebar, India; 1/18/2005. Young women helping with the hand sewing of school uniforms. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 53KB, 639x426 78 DSC 0992 Tranquebar/Tarangambadi, India; 1/18/2005. Waiting to receive the relief (household) supplies offered by UELCI/ACT. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 57KB, 640x427 79 DSC 0993 Tranquebar/Tarangambadi, India; 1/18/2005. Queue forming to receiving the relief (household) supplies offered by UELCI/ACT. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 48KB, 426x640 80 DSC 0999 Tranquebar/Tarangambadi, India; 1/18/2005. Queue forming to receiving the relief (household) supplies offered by UELCI/ACT. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 50KB, 640x426 81 DSC 1001 Tranquebar/Tarangambadi, India; 1/18/2005. Queue forming to receiving the relief (household) supplies offered by UELCI/ACT. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 42KB, 640x426 82 DSC 1002 Tranquebar/Tarangambadi, India; 1/18/2005. Relief offered from UELCI/ACT began as prepared food distribution and quickly moved into the distribution of cooking vessels and utensils and food basics so the families could prepare their own food. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 56KB, 640x426 83 DSC 1004 Tranquebar/Tarangambadi, India; 1/18/2005. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 56KB, 640x426 84 DSC 1008 Tranquebar/Tarangambadi, India; 1/18/2005. Queue forming to receiving the relief (household) supplies offered by UELCI/ACT. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 61KB, 426x640 85 DSC 1009 Tranquebar/Tarangambadi, India; 1/18/2005. Tsunami Relief and Rehabilitation Center. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA
enlarge 71KB, 426x640 86 DSC 1022 Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church elementary school in Tranquebar, India; 1/18/2005. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 72KB, 640x426 87 DSC 1022a Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church elementary school in Tranquebar, India; 1/18/2005. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 69KB, 640x427 88 DSC 1023
enlarge 60KB, 426x640 89 DSC 1024 Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church elementary school in Tranquebar, India; 1/18/2005. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 60KB, 640x426 90 DSC 1029 Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church elementary school in Tranquebar, India; 1/18/2005. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 51KB, 640x426 91 DSC 1031 Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church elementary school in Tranquebar, India; 1/18/2005. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 64KB, 426x640 92 DSC 1032 Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church elementary school in Tranquebar, India; 1/18/2005. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 56KB, 426x640 93 DSC 1034 Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church elementary school in Tranquebar, India; 1/18/2005. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 68KB, 640x426 94 DSC 1034a
enlarge 61KB, 640x426 95 DSC 1038 Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church elementary school in Tranquebar, India; 1/18/2005. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 41KB, 640x426 96 DSC 1039
enlarge 60KB, 640x426 97 DSC 1042 Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church elementary school in Tranquebar, India; 1/18/2005. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 64KB, 426x640 98 DSC 1051 Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church elementary school in Tranquebar, India; 1/18/2005. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 66KB, 426x640 99 DSC 1052 Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church elementary school in Tranquebar, India; 1/18/2005. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
enlarge 52KB, 640x426 100 DSC 1060 Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church elementary school in Tranquebar, India; 1/18/2005. Photo by Sue Edison-Swift/ELCA.
