The Child Haven India board secretary Ramchandra granted Maria who is in charge of the Hyderabad office a six-day leave to celebrate the Christmas season with her family who were planning a trip to Chennai. The party of ten included Maria, her mother, sister, her aunt, uncle with their three young adult children and her second cousin wife and their two small children, a girl of four and a three-month baby boy.

They traveled overnight by train from Hyderabad to Chennai, leaving at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 22nd, arriving the next morning. When the accommodation they had hoped to have with a member of the local parish was not readily available, they were able to find alternative accommodation on the ground floor of a hotel building a few meters from the broad beaches that line the coast of the Bay of Bengal beside Chennai.

Thursday was a warm pleasant day so the family went to the beach to enjoy the lovely sand and to cool off in the warm refreshing water. They were also able to spend some time shopping for souvenirs to take back to Hyderabad for friends and themselves. As the first major family trip in many years they were able to enjoy the change of location and pace with close family members.

Saturday was Christmas day and Maria made a few telephone calls to extend Christmas wishes and tell friends that all was going well.

On Sunday morning the family prepared to attend English Mass, which would follow the Mass in Tamil at the nearby Catholic Church. The Tamil mass over, a large number of the communicants, with even larger numbers of children, headed for the beaches to enjoy their Boxing Day away from home.

Just as Maria and her family were ready to leave for the church they heard shouts outside and priests from the church came running to warn all the parishioners and visitors that there was an earthquake tidal wave descending on the beaches and rapidly approaching land. Within minutes the Tsunami earthquake tidal wave swamped the beaches killing many of the adults and children who had rushed to enjoy them, and almost immediately surrounding Maria’s hotel on all four sides and pouring water into their ground floor room. They quickly gathered up their small children and belongings and took refuge on a higher floor.

The next three days would prove to be a nightmare for the family. When the doors of the church were opened, water from the tidal wave, already carrying bodies of some of the flood victims, flowed into the building. Following the advice of the priests, two of whom remained behind to help others, the family immediately made the decision to leave Chennai as quickly as possible and return to Hyderabad.

As soon as the initial waves subsided the family set out on their dangerous trek. Carrying the children in their arms and their luggage on their heads they hesitatingly moved into the street, which was still deep in water. The next few hours were unbelievably distressing as they slowly made their way walking through waist high water, at times having to move the bodies of victims of the flooding out of their way.

There was no transportation available. Local bus service shut down. Shops were closed. Except for the drinking water they thoughtfully carried with them the family was unable to obtain any food from either shops or restaurants. Once out of the floodwater their on-foot journey continued another 12 kilometers until they finally reached the Chennai railway station. The next two days and nights were spent at the station waiting for the opportunity to board a train for Hyderabad and escape the terrifying experience.

They were finally successful in obtaining passage on an overnight train and arrived safely in Hyderabad at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday December 29th.

Maria arrived at the Hyderabad Home later in the morning. Her reassuring telephone calls had left those of us at Child Haven completely unprepared for a first hand account of the family’s dreadful experience. Maria’s poised manner in recounting her horrendous experiences belied the shock she must be experiencing.

December 28, 2004