Louisiana writes about what she saw and did while in Sri Lanka, helping out the tsunami/earthquake victims. She is now back home safe and sound in her Tennessee home, and she is very glad to be back.
I am a changed person, ever since I went to Sri Lanka to help out with the tsunami/earthquake victims last week. I just got back this past Wednesday, and I am STILL tired; I still feel like I am on that darn airplane...I am also feeling it in my body; my body is so stiff and sore right now it isn't a BIT funny!
I am glad I went to Sri Lanka to help, but I saw and heard things that I never imagined. I saw entire towns and villages just decimated to nothingness by the killer wave and quake, and I saw millions of people whose lives were changed in an instant; and I saw more death and destruction in seven short days than I have in all the five years that I have been employed at Nsahville Memorial Hospital as a nurse! We tried hard to save people, but they ended up dying anyway, and we tried to save people, and some lived; but they now face a terribly long recovery period, and I don't know whether they will ever have normal lives again, as in the case of Adhita Roy. Adhita Roy was this woman from India who was on holiday in Sri Lanka, visiting friends with her family, when the killer waves struck; and she and her family were separated. The waves ripped her youngest son out of her arms, and it also swept away her husband and their older son; and now her boys are both dead, and her husband was finally found, alive, three weeks after the disaster took place. It also left her very sick, with a raging case of pneumonia, and she suffered an injured leg. She eventually developed the beginning signs of necrotizing fasciitis--flesh-eating disease--, and it resulted in the emergency amputation of her leg; but now she seems to be recovering slowly, according to the last emails I have gotten from some of my fellow workers who are still there in Sri Lanka.
The smell of death and disease was unbelievable, and I got very little in the way of sleep; I didn't get any decent sleep until I was back on the airplane, heading towards the United States; and now I feel (somewhat) rested. But now I have a problem that I need to get taken care of: I have a pinched nerve in my back, and it is acting up; and my sciatica has been rearing its ugly head too. I have had to resort to using my forearm crutches again because it is so painful and difficult for me to get around. I know I may eventually need surgery, but the very thought of maybe becoming paralyzed again scares the living hell out of me, and I don't know if I could face living out the rest of my life in a wheelchair or using crutches when walking.
The weather was hot and sticky there, and it was hard to sleep, especially knowing that bugs and rats were rampant everywhere (I had the unnerving, unpleasant experience of nearly eating a huge beetle while I was asleep; he had crawled into my mouth while I was sleeping, and I also had a huge millipede crawling around my face; I about became unglued!), and I also had a rat run across my foot while I was tending to some of my patients; it was about as big as a small kitten, and it scared the living hell out of me. Ever since, I have had the willies, and now whenever I see a bug, I freak out!
I also don't know whether Rani will live without the possiblility of disability or brain damage; she was still sluggish in her responses; but at least she was now finally awake from her coma. As for little Arjun, the baby I met there, he is too little to know the enormity of the scope of the disaster, and he doesn't know that his family is dead. All the time I was with him, he smiled and cooed as I held him in my arms; and now I am toying with the possibility of trying to adopt both children.
Being in Sri Lanka has definitely changed me, and it has given me an entirely new appreciation for all the blessings that I have in my life, and how fortunate I really am to be living in a country like the United States of America. Sure, we may have our problems, but compared to a place like Sri Lanka or any of the other countries that were hit by this mounmental calamity, we are richer than many people, and we have the resources to get help out while people in these poor, developing nations have absolutely NOTHING. Millions are homeless, hundreds of thousands are dead, many more are unaccounted for, and they have lost what little they already had. They are past desperate, and it is up to the generosity and caring of other countries to help these people in their time of great need. This is why I am thinking of adopting two of the little ones I met there, and this is why I went there to help as best as I possibly could. But what I saw will probably remain with me for the rest of my life, and I will never forget the people I met. I have made some beautiful and lasting friendships, and they have allowed me to see their world; and they have been allowed to experience some of mine; and it has been an eye-opening, powerful learning experience that will probably never go away anytime soon.
If I had to do it all over again, I would, in a heartbeat. That is how much I was affected by my experiences in Sri Lanka, and I will never forget the kindness of these dear people as long as I shall live!
God bless those people in Sri Lanka, and God bless all who were affected by the tsunami disaster!
As always Karen your stories touch the heart and soul with the compassion of your characters. All of your heart and concern
comes through them and makes reading you special. Congrats on
the phenomonal #1500! An accomplishment to be very proud of!
Reviewed by Tracey L. O' Very
1/21/2005
I hope that she does adopt those children and it's people like her that really makes life a whole lot nicer. This is a wonderful story and glad that you wrote it for me. I sit here and can only imagine the devastation of the Natural Disaster. She says she will never forget it well neither will the ones she generously helped. Thank you Louisiana and get some good rest. You're a beautiful person and you too Karen for taking the time to write this for us. Both, Gems in this world.
Love Tracey xoxo to you both
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I am a changed person, ever since I went to Sri Lanka to help out with the tsunami/earthquake victims last week. I just got back this past Wednesday, and I am STILL tired; I still feel like I am on that darn airplane...I am also feeling it in my body; my body is so stiff and sore right now it isn't a BIT funny!
