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Tsunami Volunteer Center by Seiji Carpenter One Man's experience in Khao Lak, Thailand Article rating: 7.92

Our job was to help with whatever needed doing, and thousands of bodies needed to be moved. Carrying bodies to autopsy and X-Ray was an unforgettable experience, but nothing could prepare me for the rest of my experience volunteering in Thailand after the Tsunami.

The Tsunami was the largest natural disaster in our lifetimes. In a matter of minutes, 310,000 people were killed, 100 times as many deaths as 9/11. It is our responsibility to respond.

When I arrived in Khao Lak, Thailand, I found beaches and homes decimated, and all too often, simply gone. The longer I stayed, the more my responsibilities grew. I began helping translate descriptions of bodies from Thai into English so that foreign families could type in things like "rose tattoo" and hope to find – or hope to not find – their lost loved ones. Over time, I was counseling mothers who lost their daughters, and daughters who lost their mothers, and eventually, responding to floods of volunteers, I helped found the Tsunami Volunteer Center, which has coordinated the work of more than 2,000 volunteers from around the world.

We were volunteers from different cultures. We avoided imposing our Western methods and expectations. We built the houses the locals wanted; we set up activities that they chose and we sold the products that they made. It was hard. Many foreign volunteers wanted to restore a pretend life that they had imagined for the local Thais, but we didn't. Instead, we discussed, we built, we cleaned, we taught, we advised, we followed, and we learned.

Now, housing and boats are being built and some hotels are opening, but much is still rubble, and the families and relationships that were demolished just months ago are still healing. There are fisherman who need boats, children that want to learn English, classrooms to be repaired, and housing that is still being built. We need help from volunteers.

At the end of that road, each of us – every volunteer that I’ve met – returned home a changed person. When I think of volunteering, I remember inspiration, not sadness. I think of creation, not destruction. I recall cooperation, not disaster. For millions of people, the Tsunami was a horrific force of destruction, but for volunteers, and for me, it was an opening for creation and construction. We found a critical purpose in those days, weeks, and  months. I never believed that one experience could have such an impact, but my time in Thailand has changed me.

You can read more about my experience volunteering here, you can read more about the Tsunami Volunteer Center here, and you can get more information by sending an email here.

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