Rebuilding Weligama

Award-winning video journalist Travis Fox will be online Thursday, May 5, at Noon ET to talk about about his experiences in Sri Lanka, where he reported on the lives of tsunami survivors in a Sri Lankan coastal village, including a lace maker who lost her husband and a 12-year-old whose mother and sister were killed. Fox's videos and panoramic images are part of washingtonpost.com's Rebuilding Weligama blog.

View Videos and Panoramas .

Submit your questions and comments before or during today's discussion.

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Travis Fox: Hello everyone. Thanks for joining us. I hope you can take some time to view the multimedia addition to the Weligama blog. Weligama is where Washington Post reporter Michael Dobbs was when the tsunami hit. We've decided to follow this village over the next year through blogs and multimedia in order to witness the rebuilding first hand. I profiled 5 people in Weligama and we will all watch how their stories unfold. I hope you can watch these stories and look at some of the panoramic photographs at

Rebuilding Weligama

Let's get to some questions...

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Washington, D.C.: Are people in the region afraid of another Tsunami? Are there contingency plans?

Travis Fox: This is the biggest fears. I heard it everywhere. I, along with many others, told people not to worry because this was a once in a lifetime event. Then, about a month ago when the second earthquake hit of Sumatra, there was a real possibility of another tsunami. Luckily it didn't happen, but it certainly didn't calm nerves in Weligama. Check out our blog entry about this.

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Bethesda, Md.: I love your work. How difficult was it to work in Sri Lanka? Were people cooperative?

Travis Fox: Thanks, working in Sri Lanka is a pleasure. It was much easier than other places I've been. That said, I'm tall with blond hair and a video camera. There's only so much "blending in" that's possible.

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Falls Church, Va.: Are the people of Sri Lanka still getting a lot of help in rebuilding or has the world's focus moved on?

Travis Fox: There was (and is) lots of aid, but because the destruction was so wide spread and because there are so many groups distributing aid, there are always people that fall through the cracks. Also, all the different groups can be very confusing from the viewpoint of say, a Sri Lankan fisherman. This is what I'm trying to get at with the video of Sujith, the fisherman. Like other fishermen, he just needs a boat and nets and can do the rest. He doesn't understand the different groups, how the differ, etc.

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Washington, D.C.: Did you get to meet Sting when you were in Sri Lanka?

Travis Fox: Ah, a reader of the blog! The question I got asked most when I returned. Sting (and Mrs. Sting) were in Weligama at the same time I was. Sorry, not I didn't meet him (or her). I prefered to be with fishermen, students, and the Sri Lankans in general.

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Washington, D.C.: How optimistic are you about the reconstruction effort in Weligama, and Sri lanka generally?

Travis Fox: My feeling is that won't be a nice and neat story, ending with the everyone back to where they were before the tsunami. There is lots of aid, you see it in some places. But, as Kapila the aid worker said in the video, it's going to take 2 years. Lives were lost so this community will never be the same. Many Sri Lankans have lived tough lives before the tsunami, they will recover in their own way.

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Arlington, Va.: Are the Tamil separatists having any impact on the reconstruction efforts?

Travis Fox: The Tamil tigers are having impact on the reconstruction efforts in the Tamil areas, the north and east. In Weligama, which is in the south, it's a very different story. Other political groups, such as the leftist JVP are, along with other foreign and domestic groups, influencing the rebuilding. I didn't visit the Tamil east or north on this trip.

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Rockville, Md.: I have been interested to read the blog, and see your videos. Is Weligama typical of other tsunami-hit towns in Sri Lanka, or are they getting more attention than most?

Travis Fox: I focused only on Weligama, staying there for 3 weeks. My impression having traveling on the southern coast and visiting Galle a few times is that Weligama is representative of the southern coast. There was only one foreign NGO based in Weligama, but others travelled through and had programes there. The biggest NGO presence in Weligama wasn't an NGO at all, but a Belgian/Sri Lankan tire factory, which switched gears to aid work. See the Aid Worker video about Kapila.

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Philadelphia, Pa.: What do the people of Sri Lanka need? Do they believe the outside world is doing enough, is the right type of assistance being provided, is there anything aide groups are missing, and is there any resentment of outside help and perhaps any preference that local Sri Lankans instead be enabled to assist themselves?

Travis Fox: The people of Weligama need houses, need to get out of camps. Additionally, they need assistance rebuilding business such as fishing, etc. This type of assistance is happenning, but slowly. Everything happens slower in Sri Lanka. Generally, Sri Lankans are very appreciative of outside help. The confusion of aid distribution can spark disagreements between Sri Lankans and the multitute of aid groups. Michael Dobbs wrote about this very effectively in the blog from his first hand experience in aid.

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Washington, D.C.: I was interested in the story of Chathara. Do you think he will recover psychologically from the tsunami?

Travis Fox: Not being trained in the field I can say. He lost everyone except his father. Dr. Enoka, who is featured in another video, sees Chathura regularly and she is rather optimistic about the recovery of Weligama as a whole.

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Clifton, Va.: Do you keep in touch with any people that you met in Sri Lanka?

Travis Fox: Yes, and you can too. The idea of this project is to follow how this village rebuilds. At the end of each video, there is an update of how their story has changed. We will also update what they are up to in the blog. Please write in to the blog and let us know what questions and opinions you have. For example, Sujith the fisherman is still waiting for nets, but has finished his boat and is back fishing with borrowed nets. Chathura got a donated bike and gets to school easier than with the bus.

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Alexandria, Va.: I've heard the government of Sri Lanka has been very active in directing relief efforts. Do you believe the government's role has been effective or has it actually slowed the work of NGOs?

Travis Fox: Not having reported this specifically, it's hard to say. I can say what I heard and saw on the ground. And that is the NGO and private aid groups have been much more effective than the government in dealing with aid. The thing you hear most about the government is their restriction on rebuilding within 100 meters of the coast, where most of the destruction happened. This has slowed the rebuilding of houses.

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San Antonio, Tex.: Our very small church in San Antonio, Celebration Circle, just raised more than $200 to buy a fishing boat for a village devastated by the recent tsunaimi. Can you tell me how much the local villages that you saw have recovered economically and how many fishing boats or fleets or boats are now out plying the waters for fish off the coasts? How are the villages coping with supplying food to their inhabitants? What are the current challenges?

Travis Fox: As of now, the majority of boats have been repaired. There was and continues to be a supply problem with nets for fishing. There isn't a problem with food.

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Re: JVP influence: Hi Travis, when you say the JVP are influencing the rebuilding, does that mean they're hampering it or harming it? Also, corruption is part of Sri Lankan political life. Is there evidence of politicians or local officials using this crisis to fatten their wallets? I remember seeing on CNN a few days after the tsunami hit about a police officer in the south who commandeered a drinking-water trunk to wash the floors of his house.

Travis Fox: I'll stick with "influencing." The different aid groups have varying degrees of PR they're trying to get out of their involvement. The JVP camp was the nicest in town, people wanted to live there. Sujith the fisherman lived there. Dr. Enoka visited it in her video. It's certainly nicer than the camp where Chathura, the student lived. Of course, there are others who will outline the agenda the JVP has, which is also true. In terms of corruption, absolutely. It's part of the terrain in Sri Lanka and many other places.

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Travis Fox: We are out of time. Thanks for everyone who wrote it. I hope you will spend some time getting to know these 5 people who were effected by the tsunami and then follow their stories through the blog Michael Dobbs created. Here's the link:

Rebuilding Weligama

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