In the wake of one of the world’s greatest tragedies for generations, which left the whole of humanity to consider how frail and fickle our existence on this earth can be, a great deal of common good has been done. We have seen a divided world come together as one and as never before. It was not the politicians, not the men and women of importance on this planet, not the billionaires, not the Presidents, who first set the ball rolling.

It was the ordinary citizen with hurt in his heart, the man in the street everywhere in the world, looking for an outlet that could provide immediate help to those who had been left behind who created the first demand. The men of politics came in immediately afterwards as did all the relief organisations in existence, which all sprang into action. The first groundswell did not come from the organised international community but from ordinary men and women everywhere who instinctively knew that a disaster of that magnitude would require every man to lend a helping hand and wanted to see what they themselves could do about it.

Returning visitors from the stricken countries, interviewed at airports all over Europe, still complain that it took days for their governments to make a move. Having promised record sums of money for disaster relief, it took governments some time to realise that the logistics of providing what money could buy were monumental. Precious days were lost as the realisation sank in that if governments did not also provide aircraft and people to move whatever was required on site, the possibility of reaching people who were homeless, without food and without medicines would have been remote.

Men and means had to be recruited into service before laden aircraft could cross continents and reach those who were and in some cases still are desperately in need.

If Malta were to be considered as an example, the first planeload of medicines and food took off last Thursday, 12 days after the disaster. In the intervening days cholera, dysentery and other diseases began to appear and if allowed to spread, these diseases will make short shrift of those who have been lucky enough to escape the killer waves.

Admittedly, nothing of this magnitude had been seen or experienced before. Much of it was new for everyone, including Heads of government and even the vastly experienced relief organisations themselves. They had no precedent to compare it with but it soon became evident that the relief effort needed much more than just money. As the size of the devastation slowly revealed itself, governments realised that this was not just a question of temporary relief, even if over a long period. This was a question of reconstruction and of giving countries that had received such a heavy body blow the opportunity to rebuild themselves when this was all over. Some of the 11 countries that have been hit by this catastrophe also owe billions of dollars to a number of countries throughout the world. A plan for debt relief was quickly hatched and soon the plan was in effect. Britain announced considering extending debt relief to Sri Lanka.

Our own island, while giving its worthy contribution, gained more than its share of benefits. In reacting to this heart-rending calamity, the people of these islands united as never before in Malta’s history. What were supposed to be two containers of foodstuffs, clothing and medicines became 40. Volunteers appeared from all over Malta and Gozo.

I was in Gozo at the time and the crowds going to the Ninu Cremona Secondary School on the way to Rabat were huge. Men and women of all ages volunteered to help with the packaging of goods and the loading of goods into containers. On this occasion the government, through Minister Michael Frendo also played an effective leading role in coordinating the relief efforts, making sure that there was no confusion putting the packages together as quickly as possible so that the much needed item could be received as fast as humanely possible.

Throughout the world, this misfortune gave birth to a new kind of understanding – the feeling that we are all there for each other. In our country, it was the feeling that we had suddenly come of age. We are no longer the insular islanders we have always considered ourselves to be, cut off from any mainland and surrounded by the confining Mediterranean Sea.

This catastrophe has made us grow up to become worthy citizens of the world playing our part, knowing that we are not alone and that we can rise to the occasion and do for others what we would like others to do for us in the same circumstances.

The separation of religions also disintegrated in front of this disaster as Muslim, Christian, Buddhist Hindu and whatever religion joined hands in an effort to save the lives of the already saved and to organise prayer services together. This has been the disaster that has demolished every conceivable barrier and if, in future, we can all remember how we reacted on this occasion, I am sure we can behave better towards each other, we can be more understanding of what we consider failures in others and we can, indeed, become a more tolerant nation.

There are scores of incredible stories of heroism that have emerged from this disaster. People on holiday in nearby countries that had not been hit by the tsunami terminated their holidays and flew to the affected countries in order to help. Many ended up collecting dead bodies, overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the tsunami. It was heroic of these people and of others who as soon as they returned to their own families at home assuring them by their very presence that they were alive and well, took off again to the countries they had just left to help out with the clearing of bodies and debris in an effort to bring these countries back to normality again.

It is so sad to read that the US knew of the magnitude of the earth tremor, understood fully what was going to happen and the man who knew all this could not get anyone of any importance on the phone to pass the message to the countries that were about to be laid waste and that they had about two hours to clear the decks. Had that happened, thousands of lives would have been saved.

Another man, a Thai professor who had been warning his country for years of the likelihood of a disaster of this kind to be laughed out of court each time, also realised what would happen immediately after the first tremor. He too could not find anyone to call to warn people of the impending Armageddon.

It’s incredible how, after watching so much on television, singular scenes remain embedded in one’s memory. I remember watching the Beslan atrocity on television. I watched for hours as the battles with the Chechen criminals raged and then children escaping from the hall where they were being held after a grenade had been let off killing scores of children and adults that had been caught inside.

One scene stuck indelibly in my mind and there it remains to this day. It was that of a burly, tall, muscular giant of a soldier in short sleeves, holding the limp body of a three- or four-year-old girl in his arms and weeping uncontrollably. I wept with him for everyone, for the children, for the parents, for those who died and especially for those who were left behind.

This time, I find myself unable to wipe out the scene of an Indian father, lost to the world as he wept over the lifeless body of his six or seven-year-old daughter, hugging her body to his chest with his arm extended to his dead son lying on the wet ground next to his dead sister. I felt his pain and wished there was something I could do or say to soothe his grieving heart. I prayed, as I am sure many many Maltese and Gozitans have done during this past week. There was worse – a clip of a mother holding her small dead child in her arms kissing the dead body and looking up at the heavens with the child raised almost in offering to the Lord.

The tsunami also raises a number of ethical religious issues. One of the Catholic priests who had a church in one of the affected areas and whose parish had been simply swept out to sea was asked by a television reporter “Does this raise religious problems for you father?” The priest replied, “Of course it does. How will I ever be able to tell anyone in future ‘God Loves You’?”

This is a delicate issue, which was also put to an Italian Monsignor who replied exhaustively. Basically his reply was “Who are we to try and understand the greatness of the Creator, or His ways or His Motives. We are puny, infinitesimal in confrontation with the Lord. We cannot pretend to come to conclusions except those that can only arise out of our minuteness”. I can understand that and I accept it. But try telling that to the father who lost both his children to the tsunami.

Out of this tragedy the depraved, despicable and warped traits of the human character also emerged.

The bad were those jackals who as soon as tragedy struck started to loot the damaged hotels, the luggage left behind by those who had fled or who had died.

The bad was that lunatic in England who set up a website asking those who had not heard from their loved ones in the stricken villages to communicate with him. All those who e-mailed the website were told by this cruel madman that their loved ones had been killed.

The bad must be attributed to the Government of Sri Lanka where several villages held by the Tamil Tigers, who have been fighting the Sri Lankan government for independence for decades, were extremely badly hit by the tsunami. The Government of Sri Lanka denied these villages any help whatsoever as if the dead and the wounded Tamils were not the sons and daughters of Sri Lanka as well.

I felt that here was an occasion for the hand of friendship to be held out united in grief – and for a new start to be made. Instead, in the most inhuman manner, the government of Sri Lanka, which had been one of the first to call for international assistance, denied help to its own, albeit rebel citizens. It is truly incredible how deep hatred can run and how myopic some of us can be when those we dislike for one reason or another fall to their knees right in front of our very eyes.

The poor village of Mullattivvo, which was totally destroyed and most of its population swallowed up by the sea and drowned, will forever remain a badge of shame on the Sri Lankan government for having denied this village any aid whatsoever.

The bad that emerged with this tragedy also has to do with sexual assault on girls and women who had been saved from the disaster, and the stealing of children, some of whom had lost their parents to the tsunami, probably for sexual exploitation which is quite common in this part of the world.

There was a part that was also ugly. I witnessed too many well-known Maltese personalities playing a role, boarding the Tsunami bandwagon and throwing their contribution to the collection of funds in our faces.

I saw interpretations of Strina that were totally incorrect and quite uncalled for. Strina Part Two did not emphasise anybody’s, or any company’s, or any institution’s importance in the country, nor did it demonstrate anybody’s confidence in anyone in particular or in any society or group.

Strina Part Two represented only the rush of human sympathy by a nation that, in spite of its many shortcomings, can be proud of its heart of gold and knows how to express its solidarity with the suffering. This nation continues to prove over and over again that in the face of the adversity of others our people will not hold back when the demand on them is made by circumstances.

However, I said earlier that if there is one lesson to be learnt form this tragedy it is that from now on we should be more tolerant. Let me be the first to lead by example and stop here.

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