The Hindu : Front Page : U.N. envoy Clinton conveys world's solidarity

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Saturday, May 28, 2005

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Front Page

U.N. envoy Clinton conveys world's solidarity

Ramya Kannan

"The trick is to get the coordination right and make the resources move"

— Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

IN SOLIDARITY: Bill Clinton, Special Envoy of the U.N. Secretary-General for Tsunami Recovery, empathises with seven-month-old Mohammed Imran Nazeer of Silladi Nagar in Nagapattinam district. His mother managed to hold him tight when the tsunami struck on December 26. His two brothers, seven-year-old Mohammed Basith and five-year-old Abdul Halim, were snatched away from their mother by the giant wave; only the older survived.

CHENNAI:

The former United States President and Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for Tsunami Recovery, Bill Clinton, on Friday played international ambassador — looking, observing and approving.

Leading a top U.N. team to survey the tsunami-hit areas of Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu, Mr. Clinton spent about one and a half hours, trying to understand the five months of hard work that has gone into rebuilding a society devastated by the killer waves, which struck on December 26 last.

Winding up his short, yet purposeful, visit with a press conference, Mr. Clinton said that in the beginning he thought the big problem would be to get the governments of the world to give aid for relief and rehabilitation. However, contributions came pouring in and non-governmental organisations, put together, had about $3 billion in the bank. "The trick is to get the coordination right and make the resources move," he said putting his finger on the nub of the post-tsunami reconstruction activity.

It was a hot and humid afternoon when Mr. Clinton's special helicopter landed at Nagapattinam, bringing the man to a town that has borne large-scale havoc, destruction, and death — 6,065 persons dead, over 75 per cent of the human lives lost in Tamil Nadu.

Clad in a bright orange T-shirt and khakis, Mr. Clinton drove straight to the Collectorate, which houses the NGO Coordination and Resource Centre, supported by the U.N. Accompanied by U.N. Resident Coordinator Maxine Olson, UNICEF Representative Cecilio Adorna and WHO Representative Salim Habayeb, he took a look at a tsunami photo exhibition and award winning designs for disaster-resistant shelters.

Mr. Clinton also interacted with members of NGOs, Nirmala and Vadivelu, two children affected by the tsunami, and the Parameswaran couple who, after losing their three children in the disaster, are looking after orphans. "I can never forget your story," he told Parameswaran.

Mr. Clinton's next stop was the ITI temporary shelter. There he spoke to the tsunami-affected children, played with them — big and small. Yogeswaran hardly came up to the knees of the tall, imposing visitor, who walked into shelter 601. So when he ran to hug him, he could only clutch at the big man's legs. But when he did, he held tight.

Mr. Clinton was thrilled. He spent a few minutes in the shelter, where Yogeswaran lives with his mother and three sisters, asking them how they coped. He also walked into the dimly lit shelters 599 and 600, and spoke warmly to the inmates, communicating through feeling rather than words.

Where language did not matter, could accents have mattered much? A group of little ones in a circle singing nursery rhymes, in partly-intelligible English, won instant appreciation.

Finding himself among children eager to reach out to him, Mr. Clinton did the spontaneous act — bending down, speaking to them endearingly and telling them that they looked good in their clothes. And he assured them that he would be back. "It was very moving," he later told the media. "What I enjoyed most was the children singing to me and saying hello," and to look into the eyes of those children."

Inside the ICDS centre, also sponsored by the U.N., Mr. Clinton lifted Mohammed Imran Nazeer, a toddler. Little Nazeer stared at the stranger and yet for the minute he was in the hands of the former U.S. President, he seemed at ease.

On his way back to the helipad, with the crowds lining either side of the road and cheering him, Mr. Clinton broke protocol. He got out of the car and shook hands with them, before moving on. Ecstatic at this unexpected gesture, the people waved at his car and later, his helicopter.

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