'It is like the scene of a world war'

By Damian Jones
BBC News website

Charles Badenoch surveys the destruction caused by the tsunami

Charles Badenoch, UK chief executive of aid agency World Vision, recently returned from the Indian region of Tamil Nadu where he witnessed the devastating scenes of destruction left in the wake of the tsunami.

During his three-day stay in the districts of Nagapatinan, Cuddalore and Pondychery, he saw villages that resembled a war-torn wasteland.

"It is quite amazing. There is a real contrast between the holiday resorts which were untouched by the tsunami and villages further down by the water's edge on the south east coast," he said.

"It is like the scene of a world war in front of you. There is rubble everywhere you look. Fishing boats are snapped in two and floating on the villages, trawlers have been thrown on houses and power cables have been torn down."

Sense of hope

Despite the devastation, Mr Badenoch has been amazed by the determination of the victims.

"The devastation stuck with me but this great sense of hope did as well.

"In terms of the resilience of the people living in India, it is really quite incredible how they are coping with the tsunami.

They have picked up the pieces and started to rebuild their lives again

"The fact that people over there are not just sitting back and are actually going out and helping themselves in this situation is marvellous.

"It is very much a case of people helping their neighbours out.

"They have picked up the pieces and started to rebuild their lives again."

Since the tsunami struck on Boxing Day in the Indian Ocean region, more than 150,000 people have been killed.

In mainland India itself 8,800 people have died, 7,923 of them in the region where Mr Badenoch was based. Up to 97 are still missing.

But relief workers on the ground were quick to act in the wake of the destruction and the logistics of the operation were put into effect immediately, according to Mr Badenoch.

A fishing boat lies beached in the wreck of a house

"It is difficult to co-ordinate at all levels from the UN to the national governments to local governments.

"Aid agencies have to work actively with these organisations to get aid through but in India in particular it has been co-ordinated very well.

"The good thing is when something like this happens there are people on the ground and that is really important.

"The process starts with getting food and drinking water to the people that need it.

"Getting clean water to people was difficult and Unicef worked very hard to get it through.

Remote

"We were bringing in sacks of rice and lentils along with cooking utensils and stoves. We were also providing clothing, sleeping mats, and medicines.

"The idea was to get people back to a sense of normality and ensure they were as safe as possible.

"The logistics in some parts were very difficult because there were some remote areas.

"Many roads had been cut off by the devastation with boats blocking the way and many trucks had great difficulty getting through.

"There were also difficulties with electricity after dark because there was no lighting.

This is not a hopeless situation. This is one where people can be restored to a proper livelihood again

"But the good thing is that since then the bulldozers have been in to restore the power cables and there has been a lot of activity to try and restore people's livelihoods."

Mr Badenoch says the next stage in the rebuilding process is to introduce a level of education for children again and ensure that the 140,000 Indians living in relief centres return to their homes.

"We also need to ensure the fishermen return to their livelihood again and repair their boats.

"The difficulty is people fear the sea now so getting them away from that fear is something that is going to be difficult," he added.

The long term plan is to rebuild the whole infrastructure of the affected areas, particularly roads and permanent housing.

Mr Badenoch believes the UK Government needs to continue making contributions in order to make this happen.

"We are grateful for what the government has pledged so far but this is a long term problem. It is a marathon not a sprint.

World Vision relief workers distribute aid to locals

"There has been a tremendous response from the Disaster Emergency Committee and the public in the UK and I think the British public and people around the world are leading their governments in terms of the aid and donations they have contributed."

Despite concerted efforts on all sides to assist many of the areas hit by the tsunami in the region, Mr Badenoch believes that more work still needs to be done.

"India has managed to cope very well on its own but places like Indonesia need help.

"The governments need to work really hard and get the aid through. Everything is being done to get aid in. Nobody is being overlooked.

"We also have to ensure that the government does not take aid from other budgets and it keeps contributing.

"This is not a hopeless situation. This is one where people can be restored to a proper livelihood again."