I’d like to write about tsunami reconstruction efforts in Sri Lanka. A friend went over there to supervise work for an NGO, and he is disgusted by the Sri Lankan government’s corruption, and its complete indifference to its own people’s suffering. He says that aid supplies have been embargoed in the port, and the government won’t release them until the US pays duties on them. Note that they are charging duties on supplies that were donated for FREE! IMHO this is simply corruption at work.
His main expertise is in constrution, and his last assignment was building 5000 houses in Afghanistan, so he has some experience at working in difficult conditions. Right now, many thousands of people are living in cardboard boxes, while construction supplies are stacked up in the port. To me, this country seems like a good candidate for regime change.
My friend is charmed by the regular people that he has met. He is staying with a local family, and the children call him “UncleAlSir”, and bring him tea in the morning.