By Thomas Scaria
Moodbidre, March 1, 2020: A Bengaluru-based Church organization has released a documentary on the impact of its rehabilitation services among those affected by 2004 tsunami.
The film, titled “Sumana, Tsunami’s Daughter,” was released on Feb 29 at Moodbidre, near Mangaluru, in connection with an international conference on Media and Climate Action that discussed various climate change related disasters.
Claretian Father George Kannanthanam of Sumanahalli (village of good will) said the documentary was based on the life of Sumana, a child born during tsunami in Tamil Nadu and rehabilitated by his organization.
Father Kannanthanam told Matters India that he chose to release the video during the conference as tsunami was one of the worst disasters related to climate change.
The conference was organized by the journalism department of the Moodbidre’s College with more than 17,000 students.
The film that depicts the current status of fishermen’s life in the sea was released by Lal Goel, chairperson, Organ Donation India Foundation, and Mangalore University vice chancellor P S Yadopadithaya
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami (also known as the Boxing Day Tsunami) occurred on December 26, with an epicenter off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia.
The earthquake was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. The direct results caused major disruptions to living conditions and commerce, particularly in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand.
In India, the tsunami caused extensive damage in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the states of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and union territory of Pondicherry. The tsunami affected a total of 2,260 km of Indian coastline besides the entire Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
According to official estimates in India, the tsunami killed 10,136 people and rendered hundreds of thousands homeless.
Father Kannanthanam said building resilience to climate change is one of the motto of the conference and the documentary describes how the people in the Vailankanni region developed their resilience to climate change.
The priest said Sumana was born in a temporary shelter built by his organization. “Their house was washed away in tsunami,” he recalled after visiting the girl’s parents after 15 years.
Disaster workers had named the baby Sumana. “Sumana is now 15th years, doing her tenth grade, with a dream to become a police officer one day. She also lives in a house given by us,” he added.
Speaking on the occasion of the film release, Yadopadithaya lauded Sumanahalli’s humanitarian works during the tsunami days and referred it as an example for proactive response.
“We see people reacting to every item of news, but what we need is response,” said Yadopadithaya, who called on journalists to become proactive and sensitive to the climate action. Disasters continue to happen, but we need to respond to them, he added.
Pradeep Narayanan, a television artist, directed the documentary.
Father Kannanthanam led a team of volunteers from Sumanahalli on second day of the tsunami. The activities of the Church team ended after they sponsored boats and nets to empower the fishermen community to fish again.