Mainly people powered activities had helped to survive in the villages during the first week after tsunami.

In addition several colleges from Kandy and Colombo had also gone up north into Tamil regions to assist and where for a first time also rebel and government troops had joined forces in order to help and rebuild.

It took until summer to repair the train connection between Matara and Colombo, which is the most essential route to the south, which connects also Bentota and Hikkaduwa.

Everyone who had ever been on these rails can easily imagine what it means, when 2.000 people were squashed in a train in which only 150 people did survive the biggest railroad catastrophe in human history.