The tsunami that devastated nations
along the coast of the Indian Ocean last December may seem like a world
away from Hamilton, but distance has not stopped Freddie Dias '05 and
Ingrid Tharasook '07 from getting involved in aid efforts.
When
the disaster struck, Thailand native Tharasook was in Florida working
with a Hamilton project collecting donations to aid area hurricane
victims. "Ironic sure is the appropriate word," said Tharasook, who was
earning money for U.S. disaster victims at the same time her own nation
was dealing with a natural crisis.
After hearing the news,
Tharasook's first instinct was to return home to help. "But my mother,
who's a diplomat working directly with foreign aid for the tsunami,
informed me that they were turning away all volunteers," she explained.
Dias, from Sri Lanka, had a slightly different experience. He
was home over winter break when the tsunami hit. Like Tharasook, he
wanted to volunteer, but was not quite sure how to go about it.
From
his home, Dias contacted Professor of Communications Catherine Phelan,
whose husband is a member of the crisis relief team for IBM. A computer
science major, Dias teamed up with Tom Phelan to train 200 student
volunteers how to use laptop computers, Web cameras and progressive
computer technologies, including digital fingerprinting equipment, to
help the Sri Lankan government with identifying and tallying victims.
Similarly,
Tharasook found a way to have an instant impact. "After I heard the
news of the tsunami, I completely shifted gears [in Florida]," she
said. "I ended up convincing three local Thai restaurant chains to set
up donation boxes in their branches."
Dias is hoping to
continue his technological work at a physics research institute or in
the IT industry in software development. He is also helping his parents
with ongoing efforts to generate aid for tsunami victims.
"My
parents are helping to renovate and rebuild a particular fisher village
community on the southern coast of Sri Lanka," he said. "They have
visited the affected area a few times and identified what forms of aid
are required, and they are now collecting funds to buy a boat for a
local fisherman and also to help rebuild houses and shops." His parents
have sent him some promotional materials about the project, which Dias
plans to distribute to organizations in the U.S. in hopes that more
support can be generated.
Tharasook, who is spending the spring
semester in Hamilton's New York City Program, is working with UNICEF to
compile a 70-page advocacy report to encourage international action.
The anthropology major plans to return to Thailand this summer after
the paper is finished and presented. Although Tharasook's permanent
residence of Bangkok is several hundred miles away from the devastated
island of Phuket, she is determined to visit the area.
"I want
to do some of my research on post-tsunami effects on the tourism
industry," she said. "[Thailand] needs help with mobilization of human
resources and reconstruction of the tourism industry and the economy."
Although
she would love to stay in the United States after she graduates, she
admits that she will eventually return to Thailand. "I don't think I
could ever abandon home."
