REPORT ONE: First Survey

On Friday night, my dad called from Great Nicobar Island. He has no internet access and limited minutes on the phone, so he spoke quickly, intensely, like a good reporter without time. Below is a transcription of his report to you. See especially: Tsunami Stories from Villagers and Prospects for Rebuilding Lives. Also see links to photographs.

-- Valarie

I am calling you from my satellite phone on a jolly buoy in Sector 30 of Great Nicobar, an area badly devastated from the tsunami. The others in the team are out examining the damage and meeting the native tribe. They would not let me embark, because I don’t have permission in this area as a foreigner. I’ll need to speak quickly. They will return soon and the captain will take us back to base. I have so much to tell you.

JOURNEY TO GREAT NICOBAR

On January 22, I arrived in Chennai, a coastal city in Madras in South India. The other volunteers from UNITED SIKHS met me and we immediately bonded. Josh (Jarover Singh) is a spirited 24-year old from the UK. Navneet Singh is a practical young man from Atlanta. We went to the navy ship that was supposed to take us to the islands, but they wouldn’t let us board because we weren’t Indian citizens. We were very discouraged. But Navneet arranged for our way on a freight and passenger ship a few days later.

We took a ship called the Nancowrey from Chennai to Port Blair, the main port on South Andaman Island of the Andaman Islands. It was a three-day journey. At Port Blair, Josh got very sick from the journey but soon recovered. We met with the rest of the team. Major Santokh Singh came from the PingalWara humanitarian organization from Amritsar, Punjab. Surinder Singh accompanied him. Esher Singh was the first to survey the island and call its attention to UNITED SIKHS. He had sent photographs taken from a helicopter to stress the magnitude of the damage.

We tried to get a helicopter to Great Nicobar on Friday January 29, but there were none available until Monday. On Saturday, we found that the Deputy Commissioner of Shipping and Aviation, Paul James, had arranged for a boat that held 150 people to sail for Great Nicobar. 500 people were on the waiting list. It was a madhouse, people everywhere waiting in line, demanding to get on the boat. Major Santokh Singh went straight to the management office and used his influence to secure seats for our team. On Saturday, we began another three-day journey by ship.

On the way to Great Nicobar, the ship stopped at two small islands, Car Nicobar and Nancowrey (the same name as our ship). At Car Nicobar, we found a bus driver on the island who took us to Moracca Point, the area most devastated by the tsunami. The dock was badly damaged, broken ships lay stranded on the shore, and there were piles of rubble. There must be bodies buried beneath that rubble, but no one yet has looked. One naval commander told us that out of 22,000 of the Andaman Islands, 5,500 were dead or missing. [Recent data estimates 6,000 data.] I have video-taped all parts of the journey. Nobody in the military allowed me to videotape them. They said that official word must come from the government.

We reached Campbell Bay of Great Nicobar Island on Monday, January 31. People from the main gurdwara (Sikh temple) came to receive us and immediately fed us. We met Davinder Singh, a Sikh man from Port Blair who came to stay at Great Nicobar after the tsunami to look after his property. Davinder Singh’s children are grown and live in the UK. Another leader from the gurdwara, Paramjit Singh, arranged for us to stay at Davinder Singh’s house.

GREAT NICOBAR: FIRST SURVEY

“Looking out onto the sea, you can see palm trees in the middle of the ocean. It’s impossible for the ocean to rise so quickly, so it’s the island that has sunk.”

Campbell Bay is the most populated part of Great Nicobar Island, though relatively small. The houses of Indian settlers stretch from Campbell Bay at Sector 0 to Sector 13 where the Punjabi community lives. [The number of the sector defines how many kilometers it lies from Campbell Bay.] The rest of the island is occupied by natives.

The island is beautiful, and the devastation very bad. Much land is under water. The island has sunk 2 meters in a geological shift after the tsunami. Looking out onto the sea, you can see palm trees in the middle of the ocean. It’s impossible for the ocean to rise so quickly, so it’s the island that has sunk. There are aftershocks daily, and the people pass rumors that the island is still sinking. These rumors aren’t true but raise the fear and anxiety on the island.

There are 4,500 people in relief camps in Campbell Bay, where most of the Indian settlers live. I have visited all of the camps. The camps are simply open sheds without walls or large tents. Each has a cooking area or langar (Sikh open kitchen) where they cook rice, potatoes, and chapatis (Indian bread). We noticed that they weren’t cooking efficiently with their ingredients and so showed them how to do it right. They need leadership in these camps.

Most of the settlers here are retired military people and their families who were given land by the government. The Punjabis settled here in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Indian government had first offered free or cheap land to populate the island and keep it as a strategic location for the military. Foreigners are not allowed on the island. I may be the first American citizen to set foot on the island for a very long time.

The Punjabi community here was doing well. They built their lives over decades. They suffered the most material losses because they had the most to lose. There are 300 Sikh families and 70 families are now homeless. The main gurdwara (Sikh temple) is in Gobind Nagar in Campbell Bay. The gurdwara has water lapping onto the complex. I intend to build a retaining wall to protect it. The other gurdwara, in Joginder Nagar 13 km from Campbell Bay, was completely destroyed by the tsunami.

The city in Campbell Bay itself is dirty. There is trash in the ditches and manure in the roads. Cows wander along the streets alongside people, just like the main streets of India. But there is no trash pick-up or sanitary system at all. There is no running water, only cold water brought in large drums. I take my bath using the water from these drums.

I am trying to get in contact with the native communities, but they are difficult to reach; access is restricted. One needs a permit to meet the native tribes. The Shompens are the main native people here. They live in the forests and practice hunting, gathering, and fishing. They have very little contact with the outside world.

Outside of the devastation, the island is beautiful. There are great mountains overlooking the bay. There are groves of all kinds of fruit on the island, bananas, mangoes, papaya, coconuts. Some villagers have given me coconut milk straight from the trees, and the milk is so sweet. Some of the milk even tastes carbonated. I worry about the cultural and ecological impact of tourism, but at the same time, it would be economically advantageous for these villagers to open their island to tourists.

TSUNAMI STORIES FROM VILLAGERS

“Imagine maneuvering around trees, trying to outrun an ocean wave, across one kilometer of flat land before you reach the mountains.”

I’ve heard many stories. Davinder Singh, the man who has opened his house to us, ran a transport service on the island. He managed two buses. One bus was driving in Sector 30, Gandhi Nagar, close to the shore. The bus driver saw the ocean water recede and called all the passengers to get out of the bus and sit on top. The first wave came and swamped the bus, but the people were safe. The driver had great foresight. When the water receded again, before the second wave was about to come, he yelled for the passengers to run to the mountains. From the hills, they saw the second wave envelop the bus. He had saved their lives.

One young boy was out on the shore with his family when the first wave came. His parents called him to climb up onto the trees. They all climbed up the trees. His mother saw a young child still on the shore. She jumped down from the tree to save the child and the wave took her. When the water receded, the boy jumped down and climbed up onto a higher tree. He was saved from the second wave, higher than the first, because he switched trees. Now only his father and sibling are left.

Another man ran through the village, yelling, “The water is coming! Run!” He warned everyone to flee. Although people lived because of him, he was never found. He drowned.

In Sector 13, villagers have taken me to retrace their footsteps. It was not a straight run to the mountains but a circuitous route around palm trees. Imagine maneuvering around trees, trying to outrun an ocean wave, across one kilometer of flat land before you reach the mountains. I’ve seen stone and brick houses with one wall standing. It’s unbelievable and amazing that any people survived this.

On February 2, we heard that nine survivors were found on this island! It was amazing news. I hope to get interviews with them. Read the breaking news from AP:

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/news/020205ap_nw_tsunami_survivors.html

PROSPECTS FOR REBUILDING LIVES

“The day before yesterday, 150-200 villagers led a protest march through Campbell Bay, followed by a hunger strike.”

“But we need experts to come here and survey the agricultural situation to suggest what these people can do for a living. We need an expert to take into account the tide tables, typhoon seasons, everything.”

At this point, the Indian government has not offered any land for the people to develop since the tsunami. One property-owner has donated a one-acre plot of land for the refugees. It is steep land but I believe we can build a sample home on this property. It will take time. It will take three months just to set up a saw mill, which we’ll need to build new homes en masse. The situation has become frustrating. Half of the Punjabi villagers say they want to leave the island and return to Punjab. They threaten to leave unless the government gives them more aid in the form of money or land. The day before yesterday, 150-200 villagers led a protest march through Campbell Bay, followed by a hunger strike. The lieutenant governor from India flew in to the island to pacify the villagers. He promised that the government would show them their plan by February 14. This stopped the hunger strike. But many people are skeptical. They need more help.

I spoke with the people in the march and listened to their fears and needs. They see no future here for them. The single military school here was destroyed. There is no place to educate their children. Even villagers who do not want to leave tell me that they need a reason to rebuild their lives here. Hearing these concerns, I came up with an idea. We could build a computer learning center that offers extension courses. Children and young adults could take online classes. We could hire a teacher for two years to come and manage the center on the island at perhaps $200/month. Others on our team have brainstormed the idea of importing pre-fabricated homes from India, so that we can set up new houses immediately.

Another concern is agriculture. The farmland here is swamped. The rice patties are all gone. People are saying, “The government will give us land in the mountains, but what will we do for a living? There’s only six inches of top-soil up there. We cannot grow coconuts.” I ask them, “Can you grow something else? Coffee? Something that can grow along hillsides?” They just shrug. An Indian agriculturalist sent from the government told them that the land was no good. But we need experts to come here and survey the agricultural situation to suggest what these people can do for a living. We need an expert to take into account the tide tables, typhoon seasons, everything. Rebuilding their lives here is a massive project and will take several years. [If you know experts in the agricultural field who would like to assist with the assessment of the island, contact: valariek@gmail.com]

PERSONAL REFLECTION

Generally, I feel good. I am frustrated by the obstacles to beginning the work, and I’ve watched other people here come up against the same resistance. We cannot build yet. There are too many complications to build right away. It’s not easy. All the supplies must come by boat. It takes six days for supplies to reach us by ship from India and then three more days if from the US. There is limited air transport. Three additional white American Sikhs have just arrived and joined our team, two by the name of Hargobind Singh and one Satvir Singh. I gain encouragement from our team.

Esher Singh leads the gurbani (Sikh prayer) and meditation before every meal. The meditation, Satnam Waheguru, repeated over and over becomes trance-like. This is a new experience for me and I’m coming to enjoy it.

What would you like to say to everyone back home supporting you?

Thank you. Thank you everyone. I promise to put your donations to good use. You have my word. We have many projects in mind, and right now we’re now trying to decide on the best one. Do we pursue a project with immediate relief, such as building pre-fabricated homes? Or do we produce something longer-lasting, such as creating an education center? We have limited resources. I would love to hear input and ideas from back home. [To share your ideas, write: valariek@gmail.com]

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Spread the word. Bring people to this report. Encourage donations. Every bit will go a long way to rebuilding Great Nicobar. And you will see exactly what your donations accomplish.

To support the project, make an online donation on the UNITED SIKHS website and in the column, write “For Judge Brar”. Email his daughter Valarie [valariek@gmail.com] so she can keep track of your donation:

http://www.unitedsikhs.org/reliefproject.html#donate

PHOTOGRAPHS

Up until now, I have taped twelve hours of footage, capturing the journey that began in Chennai and then Port Blair and now here in Great Nicobar. It will take time for these images to reach people in the States. In the mean time, people can see Esher Singh’s photographs. He was the first to come to the island and bring UNITED SIKHS to help.

See the PowerPoint Slide Show (2.37MB) of Great Nicobar taken by Esher Singh. Or see these photographs on the UNITED SIKHS website:

http://www.unitedsikhs.org/ghanaia/gallery/campbell_bay/

MORE BACKGROUND

The political and historical background of the island provides context for my dad’s experience in Great Nicobar thus far. Navneet Singh, another UNITED SIKHS volunteer on the ground with my father, discusses the island's background and what he saw firsthand. Read his report: http://www.unitedsikhs.org/PressReleases/COMVCE-23-01-2005-00.htm

“The survivors informed us that it took almost over 3 days after the Tsunami before any official came down to their island to see if they were alive.”