Thai churches shelter tsunami survivors
Bangkok (AsiaNews) The Thai Catholic Church is on the frontline of providing aid and assistance to the victims of last Sunday's tsunami.
The Thai government announced the death toll "could reach 7,000". Government sources also report that 6,000 people are still missing, "80 per cent presumed dead, whilst the remaining 20 per cent are people with whom all contact has been lost".
Mgr Pratan Sridarunsil, Bishop of Phang Nga (the hardest-hit province), said that what counts now is to bring "compassion and consolation to those who lost everything".
Speaking to villagers he was visiting, the Bishop pledged the help and support of the Suratthani Catholic Foundation "when help from Bangkok is on its way".
"In a situation like this," Bishop Pratan stressed, "God is still with us, working among us. [And] many organisations are co-operating regardless of race or religion" to bring help.
Suratthani Catholic Foundation has in fact joined other organisations in prioritising aid operations: emergency relief first; reconstruction and rehabilitation afterwards.
In the second phase, new schools and bridges in the remote areas will be built; school supplies and uniforms as well fishing equipment and other items will be provided.
Mr Prasit Sathapornjaturawit, director of Banbangsak School in Takuapa district (Phang Nga province), said "nothing is left of my school". It used to have 120 pupils from kindergarten to primary levels.
"When the wave came," he said, "everything was destroyed. The 500 people living near the school, mostly poor, were left homeless".
Currently, they are sheltered in City Hall, the local Buddhist temple and in Khaosok National Park waiting for government assistance.
"Many of them are fishermen," he added, "and they have nothing left to earn a living."
According to Sr Rosa Supa, who accompanied Bishop Pratan on his visit to the affected area, "the victims are feeling better to see us visiting them. They need someone who can listen to them and encourage them."
Fr Pornchai Techapitaktam, rector of St Agnes Church in Krabi, opened the doors of the church compound to homeless Catholics.
A local Catholic recalls that "the Tsunami came when we were attending mass. I rushed back home, 50 kilometres away, but the waves caught up with me. I cried for help to carry my 84-year-old mother, and luckily a friend and a relative whom I had not seen in 30 years were there to help me".
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31/12/2004
