This is an email I got from my friend Aaron who lives in Galle, Shri Lanka.  It kind of makes you see what's really important, that's for sure.  Really horrific:

Hi Joe,

Just got your email - good timing - as we just

got back our electricity and thus our phone and

email is now working again.

It has been a horrific few days here.  Sunday

started off ok... beautiful day - but the

electricity went off, "oh well this is Asia!"

Jean decided to go off for a bike ride and

exchange her books in Unawatuna at one of the

beach guest houses.  I then got a call from her

cousin in Australia asking if we were ok? (the

phone was still working, as we have a battery,

which does not last very long but was still

charging).

I was then concerned for Jean and my very good

friends that have a restraunt and home on the

beach in Unawatuna..... I started walking..... It

took me 30 minutes to reach the beach from our

house and it was like walking into another world,

actually it started before I could even see the

beach!

Parts of houses, broken sinks, clothes, other

unidentifiable objects and of course bodies.  As

I started up the main road that links all the

coastal towns together it kept getting worse and

I was having to scale electic poles, walls, cars

and trucks.

I finally made it to Unawatuna and basically

nothing was left - a wall here or there were tons

of trees, TVs, stuff from shops. 

My friends restraunt was not there only a 1/4 of

the kitchen and his Grandmothers house was for

the most part gone. Sri Lankans and tourist were

wondering aimlessly around looking for family and friends....more dead bodies, which were being lined up so people could ID them.

Finally I found someone who knew the family and

said that Grandmother was dead, Roshan's mother,

auntie and sister in hospital and Roshan was

there at the hospital to ID his grandmother.

I then went to the Unawatuna Beach Resort where I

used to stay and there were tons of tourist with

remains from their suitcases or sitting there

motionless.

I had lugged a lot of clean water from my house

so I was passing it around thinking I should be

doing more.  Anyway, I finally ran into Roshan

and he was a wreck but kept on taking care of

business.  We went back to his Grandmothers house

and slogged around in the wreckage to see what we

could slavage.  We did find one of her cabinets

and managed to get some of her gold and money but

most was gone.  We were then told to leave, as

everybody thought another set of waves were

coming.  It was dusk by then and you could see

the looters starting to search the houses.

He had to go back to the hospital and I ended up

walking home.

The next day I went to his other aunts house -

not by the beach - as they were burying his

grandmother.  They had to do it fast, as the

hospital did not have any materials to embalm

her.  At there house was a family of 4 British

tourist who had no where to go so Roshan's

brother brought them back to the house.  They had

lost their 2 month old baby boy and were

devistated.  I ended up taking them back to our

house for a shower, food and sleep.

They told me that they were at a beach restruant

- with tables on the sand - eating...  The first

wave just appeared and swept them though the

restraunt, which collasped.  The father just

happend to grab the baby and was holding him and

they went through another building - out the back

wall and ended up slammed againt an electric

pole. A bed then came flying by and crushed the

babies head and the fathers ribs.  Meanwhile the

mother was swept into a shop and out the back

into the jungle.  Their dauther was pretty much

the same but had a run-in with a barbed wire

fence and the son had a head-on with a motorcycle

that was surfing the wave.

They were pretty battered, both physically and

mentally.  It took a long time to dress all their

wounds - some of which should have had stitches

but that was not an option at this point.

Fortunately for us our electricity came on -

seeing we were far enough away from the beach and

thus our power source was from a different area -

inland.  We then started with calling the

British High Commission to try and get them to

Colombo, with the body, so they could go back to

England.  This took a while and had to find

transport - with was another nightmare as there

was now no fuel for any vehicles, motorbikes

which still worked or was not damaged.  We

finally got one - for a price - and they went off

to the hospital to get baby Charlie, who was on

ice, and brought him back to the house where we

made a makeshift casket for him.  By that time

the High Commission got back with us and said the

British Government were going to hire helecopters

to transport people from a military airstrip not

far from our house. We again got the same

transport - for an even bigger price - and they

were off to the airstrip.

Jean and I sat back - reassessed - and I remember

that Roshan's mother said she went to the

local doctor/clinic to get all her wounds taken

care of but they had nothing to give her - only

that purple stuff they put on cuts.  They had run

out of all medications and bandages the day

before. Anyway, I collected what was left over

from our 4 guests and walked it to her - luckly

Aunties house was only a couple of kilometers

away.

She then told me about her "experience" with the

waves.  She was setting up the tables in the

restruant and the next thing she knew she and the

boy that was helping her were up in the rafters.

The building collasped and they were taken out to

sea.  The second wave threw then on a roof, which

also collasped and the third wave rammed then

though the jewelery shop across the lane where

they ended up in the jungle.

Meanwhile Grandmother was in her house (behind

the jewelery shop) and she happened to see the

first wave and ran into the house an woke up

Roshan's other auntie and sister.  Just at that

moment the second wave came and all three were up

in the rafters.  The house collasped and sister

went to the right - through the neighbors house

and auntie went down the lane and into a hotel.

Grandmother was crushed by the beam.

Raju who works at the restruant was swept out

between the houses into the jungle and managed to

ride the wave back towards the sea and grab the

sister and hold onto a tree.  Another person

managed to get the auntie out but she was not

breathing.  Fortunately they managed to revive

her - just - .

Since then I have heard so many of the same

stories.  Another person I know was at the end of

the lane holding his dead daughter (7 years old)

and his mother laying at his feet.  He was

sobbing and I didn't want to disturbe him and

have not seen him since.  A family that live down

the road from us was on that train that got

sucked into the ocean - no one has seen any of

the family since.  It is weird to walk by their

house - no one in sight.

Jean and I were just talking about what else we

can do.  Some people from Colombo just stopped by

to give us a care packet, which was very nice, as

we are almost out of food and there is none to be

found - at any price!  They also asked us to

distribute some antibiotics  - huge bottles full

- which we will do ASAP.

We both feel fortunate and grieve for so many.  I

am trying to mobilize funds so that we can help

Roshan and his family to rebuild the restruant

and house since they have no savings or

insurance.  Roshan will continue to work for me

as my property manager and his Uncle

(grandmother's son) will continue to keep the

garden.... of course after they can pull

themselves together and help the remaining family

members mend.

Well that is about it for now.  Do keep in touch.

 I am planning to stick around and help do what I

can do here in Talpe or Unawatuna or in Galle

town.

Bye for now,

Aaron