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The Story of Kandeenan - Starting a New Life after the Tsunami by Agostino Pacciani
By the end of 2004, when the tsunami hits the Sri Lankan coasts, Kandy is 32 years old and he lived with his wife Anjou, who was seven months pregnant, and his two children in Batticaloa on the East coast of Sri Lanka.
On December 26th, early in the morning, Kandy went shopping in the city center. He had no idea that he was going to lose everything and that he would be the only survivor of his family.
When I first met him early 2005 he lived in distress, at the edge of suicide, and stayed with other survivors in a former rice storage shed turned into a temporary accommodation. He becomes a house painter in order to survive. This work helps him to overcome his dispair. Kandy has lived during 1 year and half in temporary shelters built by NGOs, and then met Samar, a divorced young lady who survived with her 7-year-old son.
In 2008, almost 4 years later, I searched for Kandy: finally I found him living in a rented house with his new wife and his son Kadiush. Their son was born after the tsunami and Samar was pregnant again of 6 month ….. Despite his grief, Kandy has stated a new life…
