12 - REFLECTIONS AFTER TRAVEL

As a result of my tour of the southwestern and eastern coastline area I came to realize that the numbers of traumatized people is so great that the visiting short term counseling teams do not reach the people who are literally lost in mind and space.

The note on "Should a man cry?"[Blog 11] reveals that we have to find a way to actively search for the traumatized. Otherwise they will suffer longer and in silence. Eventually their problems will surface in ways that could be harmful to them and to society.

If the survivors of the tsunami are in a puzzled frame of mind regarding their religion how do we prevent them from losing heart? I certainly do not know the answer but this is the challenge.

Some of these people are on a "suicide watch," which means that the family (what is left of them) and others have to be policing them while feeling helpless themselves and at a loss on what to do.

We may never know the full count of numbers affected.

In their misery cannot expect these suffering people to limp into the hospitals; even the mobile clinics are unlikely to reach them. Although there will be some comfort gained by being in a camp, there'll be others who will walk away and hide.

What the nation is facing is not a pathological problem but a social problem, one so great that society has to find a way to heal itself using all the resources it possesses.