India decides that reconstruction is not feasible on six islands. Young and old pray together the rosary in the ripening fields, says a missionary.

Port Blair (AsiaNews) – In an announcement made by General Adita Singh, head of relief operations command, the Indian government has decided to stop reconstruction on six tsunami-stricken islands. "Three words inform our task: rehabilitation, reconstruction and rebirth," General Singh said. "But the task on these islands goes beyond the imagination."

Officially, the death toll stands at 1,386 with 5,764 people still missing. However, eyewitness accounts put the real death toll on Car Nicobar alone at 18,000 with an additional 8,000 on Katchal.

Local residents say that the underreporting of casualties is due to the fact that many of the thousands of victims had not registered with the authorities.

If the authorities seem to have given up on reconstructing what the tsunami has taken away, locals are drawing strength and hope from what happened in its wake.

Fr Franklin Rodrigues, provincial superior with the Indian missionaries of St Francis Xavier (aka Pilar Fathers), has just come back from the Andamans archipelago.

"The tsunami has led many back towards God," Father Rodrigues said." "Survivors who now live in refugee camps kneel to pray, the rosary in their hands, young and old, heedless to caste or religion."

Part of the funds raised by the PIME tsunami victims campaign will go to Pilar Fathers to help survivors and rebuild PIME hostels and schools.

"On Little Andaman Island," Father Rodrigues explains, "nothing was spared. Only the Catholic Church and the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes stand out among the ruins."
Other small things also stand out, daily occurrences which have given survivors courage.

"A certain Rajendra, when the waves hit the shores, was able to spirit away his very pregnant wife. She later gave birth to a boy in the forests without any assistance," says the missionary.

"For the couple, the little babe was like a ray of hope come brighten their lives. They named him Tsunami. Many came to see the newly-born infant and started calling him tsunami's son." (LF)

• india
• andamana
• tsunami
• seaquake
• destruction
• catholic
• church
• mission
• evangelisation
• hope