This is the monument we in the Maldives erected as a memorial to the lives lost in that day. A day time stood still and it was only 9.25am for the rest of this very long and fateful day! Everyone touched by this life defining moment will never forget where he or she was at 9.25 am of December 26th 2004!
This design of the memorial represents different aspects of the 2004 Tsunami in the Maldives. Steel balls symbolise the country's twenty atolls. The upwards motion of the design signifies the rising of the waters. The core of the memorial consists of vertical iron rods; each one representing a life lost. To the families of the people presumed missing or dead, their relatives will never be represented as statistics, but with fondest of memories and sadness over the lost hopes and dreams. Perhaps the tiniest and most vulnerable target of this devastating behemoth of a tidal wave, Maldives lost 82 lives and 26 are still presumed missing. Displaced people from different islands totaled 8352 and over twelve thousand people were homeless. Seven years later still we have families living in ‘temporary ‘shelters. May we never see such a day again. So frightening was the time (9.25 am ) we still shudder to think of that beautiful morning which became the most unforgettable day of our lives!
This design of the memorial represents different aspects of the 2004 Tsunami in the Maldives. Steel balls symbolise the country's twenty atolls. The upwards motion of the design signifies the rising of the waters. The core of the memorial consists of vertical iron rods; each one representing a life lost. To the families of the people presumed missing or dead, their relatives will never be represented as statistics, but with fondest of memories and sadness over the lost hopes and dreams. Perhaps the tiniest and most vulnerable target of this devastating behemoth of a tidal wave, Maldives lost 82 lives and 26 are still presumed missing. Displaced people from different islands totaled 8352 and over twelve thousand people were homeless. Seven years later still we have families living in ‘temporary ‘shelters. May we never see such a day again. So frightening was the time (9.25 am ) we still shudder to think of that beautiful morning which became the most unforgettable day of our lives!
According to National Geographic and other reputable scientific journals, the shifting of the earth’s plates in the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004 caused a rupture more than 600 miles long, displacing the seafloor above the rupture by perhaps 10 yards horizontally and several yards vertically. That doesn't sound like much, but the trillions of tons of rock that were moved along hundreds of miles caused the planet to shudder with the largest magnitude earthquake in 40 years.
Within hours of the earthquake, killer waves radiating from the epicenter slammed into the coastline of 11 Indian Ocean countries, damaging countries from Indonesia to East Africa.
By the end of the day of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, it had already killed 150,000 people. The final death toll was 283,000.
The Indian Ocean tsunami traveled as far as 3,000 miles to Africa and still arrived with sufficient force to kill people and destroy property.
Many of us still want to believe that the Tsunami was a curse sent to punish some evil people. Let us not blame an already grieving people by adding insult to the injury, as they say. In hard times we are expected to do what we can and stop judging and blaming the bereaved.
Thank You.
No comments:
Post a Comment