“The sea has come in, wake up!” My boxing day slumber was broken by my friend Panni yelling to wake everyone up.
We didn’t have the language for it yet, but it was a word with which we’d become very familiar with quickly: a tsunami.
Twenty years ago, my co-founder Tom and I were in Sri Lanka, laying the foundations for what would later become Experience Travel Group. We were hoofing it around the island on the back of a 125 cc Bajaj motorbike trying to find a way to bring an island we’d come to love to a new generation of travellers. That carefree time was shattered by the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004.
When it struck, we were road-testing our very first ETG adventure with two trial travellers staying on the south coast. Unimaginable devastation unfolded along the coastline of much of Sri Lanka with over 35,000 people losing their lives. No-one on this small island, with its deeply inter-related population, was left unscathed. Two decades on, Sri Lanka has made a colossal comeback, despite myriad setbacks along the way. This is a truly remarkable and resilient country.
There are so many stories from that time. Here’s ours:
The Morning Everything Changed
On 26th December 2004, the world shifted. One minute, life was rolling along in Sri Lanka as usual, calmly, on ‘island time’. The next, the unimaginable. My soon-to-be wife, Tracy, Tom and I were staying in our new house/office in Wennapuwa, just north of Colombo with friends. We had relocated there from the south coast just weeks before.
Reeling in shock once we grasped what had happened, our priority was to locate our very first two trial travellers, as well as their guide and make sure they were ok. Somehow, mobile signal was still working, and we established they were alive and safe in their hotel. Tom set off on our motorbike, navigating the chaos and torn roadways to reach them. By their return, it was clear the scale of the disaster was overwhelming. Entire communities, villages, homes, families – lost in an instant – it was heartbreaking.
Recovery: Filling the Gaps
In the immediate aftermath, NGO relief efforts moved painfully slowly. But Sri Lankans across the island swung into action with the diverse communities calling Sri Lanka home coming together. It was incredible to see. Just like everyone else on the island, we did what we could.
Our first thought was to head to our former home-office on the south coast and find our friends down there. We didn’t want to go empty-handed, so we drummed up support through donations from our family and friends back home. My old university friend Dan Tilley built our relief website in just 24 hours (aidsrilanka.org), and my sister Esme did an amazing job fundraising. So many people contributed so generously.
Within 24 hours, we’d filled a relief lorry with essential supplies: rice, baby food, soap, mosquito coils, cooking pots and sleeping mats. We drove through villages down south, handing them out to people who’d lost everything. As the donations flowed in and the need was apparent, we kept going, adding more lorries to the convoy and working with the Sri Lankan community and a big group of friends (Sri Lankans and ad hoc foreigners like us). After a few weeks, our trips moved to the east, following the urgent need. In fact, the Muslim traders in Pettah market first told us, “You must go east; our brothers and sisters out there aren’t getting relief yet”.
As the impressive international relief effort swung into gear, they took over the delivery of essentials from the ragtag army of DIYers who had moved into action in the immediate aftermath.
There was still plenty to do. It was all hands on deck: from clearing and cleaning refugee camps, which had been hurriedly set up in schools, to supporting women who’d lost their livelihoods so they could pick up their crafts again. A small team of doctors from the UK and France had also volunteered to run primary care clinics along the south coast.
There were so many people doing extraordinary things. Two women, in particular, left a lasting impression. The first was Mrs Kumari Kulathunga, Head of the Matara Women’s Chamber of Commerce at the time – a redoubtable person who got things done. She identified that focusing on restoring the incomes of village women with our donors’ money was a sustainable, long-term solution, which not only restored dignity to the community but also, critically, brought money back into families quickly.
And then there was Christina Fonfe, a British woman who watched the aftermath on television and was struck that most Sri Lankan girls in coastal communities couldn’t swim. They just hadn’t had a chance to learn for complicated cultural and economic reasons. As a qualified instructor in the Total Immersion swimming teaching technique, she believed she could help. She flew out to set up a project to do just that. We could play a small part in helping her start building what was to become the Sri Lanka Women’s Swimming Project (read the incredible story here). For the women and children who took part, swimming was more than just a survival skill – it became a way to rebuild emotionally and start to recover from the trauma of the tsunami, too.
20 Years Later: Sri Lanka’s Colossal Comeback
It’s hard to believe this was all only two decades ago. Coming through a war and resulting challenges caused by corruption and incompetence at the highest level, Sri Lanka has still bounced back in a way that’s genuinely gobsmacking. Not only has the island survived – it’s thrived – blossoming into one of the most popular tourist destinations (not only in Asia, but in the world).
These days, the tourism industry has taken off. It’s possible to explore its lovely landscapes in ever more wonderful ways: from train journeys – now synonymous with Sri Lankan travel – to walking the new Pekoe Trail (led by trail-blazing guides like Thushni, one of our closest and most inspiring Sri Lankan friends – pictured below).
And, of course, many glorious hotels have been rebuilt, repaired and newly created along its once-tsunami-ravaged coastline. From beautiful boutique hotel collections like Teardrop and Resplendent Ceylon to eco-lodges like Tom’s magnificent Mudhouse and humble homestays like Eagle’s Crest, designed to get international visitors under the skin of the country.
And then there are the island’s cultural events: from the internationally acclaimed Galle Literary Festival to the recently developed Gourmet Galle Festival, which celebrates its cultural heritage and showcases the nation’s diverse and delicious delicacies.
Experience the Remarkable Spirit of Sri Lanka
We can arrange for you to explore the island, its highlights and its hidden corners, while taking the time to connect with the remarkable and resilient people who call it home. Trust me, you’ll leave feeling like you’ve made friends for life.
Explore ETG adventures:
(You can meander through more of our Sri Lanka holidays here).
20 Years Commemoration: Friendship between the UK and Sri Lanka
I was honoured to attend an event at the Sri Lanka High Commission in London on the 19th of December.
The presence and multi-faith prayers offered by clerics representing the four major religions in Sri Lanka—Muslim, Hindu, Catholic, and Buddhist—were a moving reminder of how, amidst the horror, the community of Sri Lanka came together to support one another in their hour of need. It was a personal reminder for me, too, of the sheer resilience of Sri Lankans, who have withstood so much. I am in awe of that.
The Acting High Commissioner, Her Excellency Manorie Mallikaratchy, also reminded us of the support provided to Sri Lanka from the UK and beyond and how the date has become an international symbol of power that can come from solidarity.
Our Story in the Press
- Chris Haslam’s poignant piece published in The Times: Sri Lanka — 20 years on from the devastating Boxing Day tsunami
- Katherine Masters’ piece published on TTG: Sri Lankans were so happy to see tourists replace aid workers
- Katie Silcox’s piece published in Citizen Femme: On The Ground: 20 Years After The Boxing Day Tsunami In Sri Lanka
Final postscript:
Writing these reflections reminded me of the many people in the UK and Sri Lanka who joined and supported us and without whom, any small contribution we were able to make to the huge relief effort, would have been impossible. Apologies to all of you whom I’ve missed, but I wanted to mention in particular; Esme Ferguson for setting up, administering and coordinating an extraordinary fundraising effort for Aid Sri Lanka in the UK, Dan Tilley for whipping up a website in 24 hours and running it for the 18 months, and Claire de Boursac for coming out and taking over the running of the charity with incredible calmness, professionalism and compassion, not to mention charity trustees, Jamie Stevenson and Jim Pfister. Within Sri Lanka, there were so many people, but apart from Mrs Kumari Kulathunga mentioned above, a special mention to Hiran Cooray from Jetwings and Nishad Wijetunga from Wayfarers without whom we would have crashed and burned.
Then there was Kumar, Cedomir, Piyus, Didier, Panni, ‘Mirissa’ Samantha, Sidney, Jayantha Aiya, Dr Tony, Dr Pippa, Tom Parker, ‘Captain’ Doug and all the members of the crew on the ground as well as Alun and Sue Armstrong, Marsha and Misha Shandur and so many more back in the UK. A special mention to Tony and Linda Martin too. Lastly, while I’m here, a shout to my (now) wife Tracy Edginton who will be annoyed to even be mentioned, but of whom I am inordinately proud, and my friends and co-founders of Aid Sri Lanka, Tom Armstrong and Mark Shandur. Last but not least, I wanted to thank our friend the late and sadly missed, Mr Senath Ubeysekera. Thank you sir, for everything.
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