Toys for Thailand is a voluntary grassroots team of Palomar College associates who collect toys and monetary donations to deliver to tsunami zone and abandoned children. Four months after the tsunami hit Thailand Judy Eberhart and Sasha Bilar left for their first mission trip. They took 22 boxes of donated toys collected with the help of Maria Miller and Elaine Armstrong from Palomar College. Judy and Sasha spent two weeks driving through the tsunami affected with staff from Childline, Thailand delivering toys and making small monetary donations.
Mission Trip April 2005 |
Copyright © photography by Judy Eberhart
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With twenty two boxes and two duffels Sasha and I left on a mission trip to Thailand to bring little fuzzy stuffed toys to the tsunami zone children to hug in the night when they felt afraid--that was the beginning.
Judy Eberhart, April 2005 |
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After arriving in Phuket, the first sight of the devastation of the luxury resort beaches took our breath away. It looked like a war zone. We saw a military ship still on the side of the hill as a reminder of how far the wave went, about 3 kilometers. Much as been cleared away but there still remains mangled and twisted buildings.
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Sasha gave granny (pictured above) $120 so that she could also get a new hut. Two counselors from Palomar College, Tere Egkan and Jose Fernandez also gave money specifically for a new house for Tapla village.
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The numbers we read in the newspaper--5,000 lost or missing, 2,500 unidentified bodies let us know it was a tragedy, but it was the people we met who have made these numbers meaningful. The lady on the beach who used to massage tourists for a living and now cannot support her three kids, the fellow whose wife was killed and now he must take care of his two children and recover his life as a fisherman, the child who lost her mother and father who is destined for an orphanage because her auntie cannot care for her because she lost her job as a worker in the hotel and has 4 of her own kids to support and no husband--these are some of the stories and people we wanted to help.
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| One day on our tour of a resettlement camp we passed the "Dead Bodies Recovery", a makeshift morgue and nearby "Wall of Remembrance" where countries were listed which had lost people. On the wall were pictures of people who had perished or were still missing. There were still 2,500 bodies still unclaimed. At one time 180 people were working with this center. Now it was a very small crew of folks mostly resting. There was also a monk in residence and a temporary place for folks to come by and receive blessings (pictured above). Whether you are Buddhist or not, it was a comforting blessing. At the wall we all were overcome with tears. |
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| Ning Nong is a 4 year old elephant who gives rides to kids on the beach. She is a heroine these days having saved two kids riding her before the Tsunami wave came. She sensed something, screamed and ran off into the hills saving the girls from the Tusnami. When we visited, the trainer took the chain off Ning Nong's leg and she performed a few tricks for us. The best was when she put her trunk around our neck and made kissing sounds on our cheek. I think I am in love! |
The sights of walls blown out in classrooms and water still on the floor, villagers living in resettlement camps under tin roofs that make the one room oven-like, the courage of people who have helped, the international community and tourists who helped clean up their hotel if it had anything left, the passion of local Thai's who have committed to help...there are so many impressions, some heartwarming, others very difficult.
As Khun Ying Supinda, our Thai contact said, "we are all changed since the Tsunami. Thailand will not be the same," and neither will we.
Judy Eberhart, April 2005
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Copyright © photography by Judy Eberhart, April, 2005 |
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