Back in December 2004, like everyone else around the world, I watched with horror on television the images of the Tsunami Disaster which devastated parts of Sri Lanka.
Shortly afterwards I led a Laureus Sport for Good Foundation visit to Galle in the south west corner of the country to see what we could do to help. Nothing prepared me for what I saw there.
Sir Ian Botham in Sri Lanka with the Laureus Sport for Life Project
What made it even more horrifying was that I had been to these places before. In 2003 when I was covering cricket for Sky TV, I stayed at a house just along the beach from Galle – it wasn’t there anymore!
The fishermen, the market stalls along the road, the other houses on the coast, they had all gone. The cricket ground looked like the surface of the moon. I can still recall the clock on the old Test ground in Galle frozen at ‘9.25am’ on December 26.
I saw the rust-coloured railway carriage that became a symbol of the disaster. Some of the carriages had been swept 200 yards away, such was the power of the tsunami. After the first smaller wave, many villagers sought refuge on the train. Then the second wave hit and people died. That image will stay with me forever: can you imagine the horror of being caught inside there?
But I also recall the resilience of the people. Such personal suffering, such loss, yet such determination to see it through.
I knew rebuilding homes, feeding the evacuees and caring for orphaned children came first. But once that phase was over, it was clear to me that sport could play an important part in giving people a sense of hope. So what could Laureus do?
We eventually settled on the village of Peraliya, just outside Galle. Rehousing was going well, the main aid agencies were doing a good job, but I wanted to help rebuild community spirit. They were all cricket mad and sport as we know can foster togetherness and team spirit.
At my suggestion Laureus decided to fund a sports coordinator for five villages around Peraliya and Seenigama to channel the energies of the children into competition, and to take their minds off their difficult living conditions. The Foundation for Goodness project now involves boys and girls, aged from six upwards, taking part in inter-village sports leagues with matches and training sessions.
It is now almost five years on, and in a few days I will be leaving South Africa where I have been commentating for Sky TV on England’s start to the current England v South Africa cricket tour, to go back to Galle to see for myself what is happening there.
I hope to find that the people of Sri Lanka are rebuilding their lives and that sport is helping people, particularly the younger ones, to finally put this devastating event behind them – and have fun again. They certainly deserve it. I will be sharing with you everything I see, so make sure you follow my progress and Twitter updates on:
http://www.laureus.com/ / http://twitter.com/Laureussport
For a chance to win an exclusive signed Ian Botham cricket bat, simply send the answer to the following question to foundation@laureus.com
What year was the Asian Tsunami Disaster? Read more
