On December 26th, 2004 a series of tsunamis lead to widespread devastation of coastal Southeast Asia. In Sri Lanka the east coast as well as the south and southwest coasts are hit hardest by the tsunami.

By February 2005 a first task group of Homöopathen ohne Grenzen offers emergency relief in Sri Lanka’s East coast city Kalmunai, as well as in surrounding emergency shelters and in children’s homes. Each team of two homeopaths remains on site for 2-4 weeks after which it is replaced by the next team.

The region had been particularly devastated- in Kalmunai one in ten of the 35 000 inhabitants had died. Almost everybody has lost relatives due to the tsunami. Many families lost all their belongings. The people that survived are heavily traumatized, suffering from fears, insomnia, loss of appetite, depression, and many physical complaints.

Our homeopathic help is met by widespread interest. The Mayor, the Ampara District Secretary, the Government Homeopathic Hospital, Welisara and the Bureau for Coastal Development all emphasize the importance of us continuing our work in the long term. The directors of the children’s homes report that the mental and physical health of the children improved substantially. Following treatment many patients feel relieved of their physical pain as well as their fears and have started eating and sleeping again. Many have regained their courage and start rebuilding their homes and lives.

Homeopathy is known in Sri Lanka, but there are only very few doctors in the country with profound homeopathic knowledge. Therefore, we soon started planning homeopathic training in order to ensure continuation of a homeopathic services by local homeopaths in the long term. 

(please continue reading on page 2 about the last years of the civil war)