On December 26, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake rocked the Pacific Ocean, as two massive plates in the Earth’s crust collided with enough force to shove the Indonesian island of Sumatra 100 feet southward. The devastation caused by the earthquake and accompanying tsunami, whose waves swept shores as far away as eastern Africa, cost over 140,000 lives by the most recent estimates.
Here at Georgetown, a wide-scale response is underway, including the involvement of concerned parties throughout the University community. Amanda Gant (SFS ‘07), president of the campus organization UNICEF/Student Campaign for Child Survival, is spearheading the student response.
This Friday, a broad coalition of students, faculty, and staff will join forces to host a kick-off for the relief efforts. Friday’s events will feature informational displays about the disaster and provide students who want to contribute financially with an opportunity to make donations.
“Our aim is to act as a clearinghouse for people who have ideas and want to get them done,” Gant said. She believes that the faculty/student united effort will lead to a coalition capable of drawing from a broad base of interests.
“More than half of the bodies could not be identified,” Asoka Bandarange, a visiting professor from Sri Lanka who is teaching a course on globalization in the International Affairs department this semester, said. “This is a human tragedy. It’s going to be years before these societies are rebuilt.”
Even before students returned to campus for the spring semester, the Georgetown community was mobilizing to respond to the disaster. In early January, the Center for Social Justice hosted a meeting to formulate a response to the tsunami’s aftermath.
Kathleen Maas Weigert, Director of the Center for Social Justice, said that the group has discussed ideas ranging from holding an interfaith service to training students to deliver aid to affected areas during the coming summer.
Shez Islam (CAS ‘05), president of the South Asian Society, said that he was touched by the depth of reaction from the Georgetown community.
“I was extremely surprised and pleased by the response,” he said. “I feel like everyone can see the significance of this disaster.”
Bandarange emphasized the importance of continued focus on the devastation in the face of the waning media interest she foresees in the coming months.
“I think the media attention now is going to shift toward other issues,” she said. “But there’s a lesson here to keep in mind of the fragility of human life.”
