I talked to one woman from church this morning, Shanika. On her way home – she lives fairly close to the ocean, perhaps a kilometer or two away – she passed by people who were maimed, lying on the road. Others who were begging because they’d lost everything. Others, still in shock, asking for help finding their family members.
I read one news report that said Colombo was not affected. It’s hogwash. Colombo is not as bad as the east and south, that is true. But there’s still flooding and devastation here as well.
Our branch presidencies and district presidencies, along with the humanitarian missionaries, have been out and about this morning, visiting aid agencies to assess need. Locally, we need to donate clothing and dry rations – rice, flour, sugar, lentils, milk powder, and the like. Fresh food has been donated, so for today anyway – and in Colombo, I ain’t talking about the rest of the country – the food situation is okay. We only have branches in Colombo (2), Negombo (further north along the west coast), and Kandy (centre of the country). We have no church members on the east coast.
Already, India, Japan, the US, and other countries have sent aid in the form of money, food, helicopters, and more.
We need doctors and medicine. Very badly. Many areas in the east where the worst damage is have no doctors. Warnings have also been issued that, if the medical infrastructure isn’t set up and medical care issued to people who need it, and basic sanitation set up, we could also be facing epidemics. This is, however, more of a concern for Thailand and Indonesia than Sri Lanka from what I’m reading.
