|
Last Updated: 01/21/2005
The Rockbridge Report is produced
under the supervision of the Dept. of Journalism and Mass Communications
at Washington and Lee University. |
Local tsunami relief efforts
multiply, survivors tell story By Rob Armstrong
David Harbor Timothy Lubin The devastation is more than 10,000 miles away, but the Lexington area has not overlooked the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia. Many churches and charities are collecting donations to be rushed to victims. Charity efforts at Washington and Lee University have raised more than $9,000, well above the initial goal of $5,000. “I’m really, really happy with the overwhelming support we’ve received,” said senior Jenny Lu, who headed the project. W&L's International Student and Scholar Advisor Amy Richwine helped launch the relief effort, and says the fundraising groups plan to ask Washington and Lee to match the donations. Two Lexington families are happy to be alive after narrowly avoiding the tidal waves in Sri Lanka. Professors Timothy Lubin and David Harbor of W&L were on vacation with their families in Mirissa, on the coast of Sri Lanka. They had planned to stay on the coast through Dec. 26, but decided to head to the mountains a day early. “We had been in rooms facing the sea, and no more than 20 feet from the water’s edge,” said Lubin, a religion professor and Lexington resident for seven years. The following day, Lubin ran into a couple from the same hotel who hadn’t left the coast. “[They] had been sitting by the pool of the hotel where we had eaten Christmas dinner the night before and watched the surge of water coming,” he said. “Within 30 seconds they were up to their waists in water, and might not have gotten out except that the wall in front of them came down.” According to Lubin, the surges of water came slowly at first, but then several powerful surges took those at the hotel by surprise. “Our friends who were there suddenly found themselves up to their necks and getting banged and cut up by debris," he said. "More than one person reported being saved by the perimeter wall that fell.” In an e-mail to his family and friends, Lubin assured them of his safety, but he said, “We have all been very, very lucky.” As for the rest of the Lexington area, many residents and college students have dipped into their pockets to help those who weren’t as lucky as professors Lubin and Harbor. Most churches and congregations report having linked up with fellow congregations around the world in efforts to reach victims. Grace Presbyterian, which is a denomination of the Presbyterian Church of America, sent a donation to the PCA to help fund a Disaster Response Ministry. According to a representative from Grace Presbyterian, a relief team was in place “within two or three days” after the disaster. Likewise, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church is coordinating with Catholic Relief Services to bring aid to victims. The group is working on rebuilding shelter areas to help bring children back to school and to provide for those who have been displaced. Two student groups at W&L, Club Asia and the Student Association for International Learning (SAIL), sponsored a fund-raising campaign. All donations from that drive will go to Habitat for Humanity, an international organization that rebuilds homes. Each house will cost approximately $100 to rebuild. Lu originally hoped to sponsor 50 houses at the end of the fund-raiser, but will now be able to fund the construction of 85 homes. “We had a really good response from the W&L community,” she said.
|
MORE INFORMATION Read W&L graduate Mehul Srivastava's first-person account
Map of Sri Lanka, with Mirissa circled in red. (Courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin) |
