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Change of direction for tsunami survivor
BEFORE the 2004 tsunami, Andrew Chaggar expected to settle down with his Yorkshire girlfriend and spend the rest of his life behind a desk, climbing the corporate ladder as a computer wizard.
He was 28 and the world was at his feet.
Then the devastating tidal wave struck as he holidayed in Thailand and he lost the woman he loved, his best friend, and nearly his life. But it led him to discover a talent for survival which would help him become an expert in his new career field: natural disaster.
After helping Thai victims of the 2004 tragedy and those left homeless by the 2007 Peruvian earthquake, he has now set up a new type of rescue charity.
Rather than devote all its resources to fire fighting, it waits until the dust settles after a disaster so it can take a measured approach to longer-term recovery and tie up any loose ends the emergency response has missed.
The idea began to take shape as he recovered from his 2004 injuries in a Bangkok Hospital. As he learned to walk again, there was also the torment of wondering why he had lived when partner Nova Mills and best pal Ben Watts had died.
Mr Watts, 29, and Miss Mills, 28, who had grown up together in Holme-on-Spalding Moor, East Yorkshire, had been staying in a beach house in the idyllic resort when the giant wave engulfed the region.
Miss Mills had just started a round-the-world trip with Mr Chaggar, while her old friend Mr Watts, accompanied by his partner Paula Bateman, had joined the couple for a Christmas holiday.
Mr Chaggar, from Leicester, said: "I was quite badly injured but from the beginning it was the emotional pain that was most severe. We'd been together five years and were planning to settle down after returning home.
"Adjusting to the loss was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. My injuries were immediately apparent but the feelings of impotence at being unable to protect Nova and losing a future that had been so certain were much worse."
Ironically, it had been Miss Mills who had been the charity worker. She and Mr Watts went to secondary school in Market Weighton and, as adults, went to live in Munich, Germany.
She had been teaching English in Munich before embarking on the once-in-a-lifetime trip with Mr Chaggar, who was set on a corporate career as a computer processor designer, in November.
But as he recovered, Mr Chaggar found himself drawn to helping other disaster victims when he returned to the scene of his personal tragedy: Khao Lak on the Thai coast.
He joined a team of international volunteers rebuilding nearly 70 permanent homes. "It was my first experience working in humanitarian aid.
"I was fortunate to join a Thai-led group that used rebuilding efforts as a base for wider recovery efforts." Communities were encouraged to get involved in the rebuilding and organise themselves into networks.
From his own experiences he knew how important it was to take charge of his own recovery rather than depend on the pity of others as a hapless victim.
After getting his masters in international development, he headed for Peru in 2007 to help the earthquake relief effort, which he felt was again too focused on physical reconstruction rather what would happen emotionally to victims when the aid left.
In response, he is now co-founding a new organisation, European Disaster Volunteers (EDV), which accepts all volunteers over the age of 18 regardless of experience or skill sets.
Rather than responding immediately, the charity deploys after identifying areas which have not received sufficient aid and working out a strategy of long-term support to the communities that need it most.
He added: "My drive to affect change in the lives of disaster survivors worldwide comes from his experience losing Ben and Nova.
"We go in as organisations which focus on more immediate need are starting to scale back their operations. Our focus will be on reconstruction, education, and other projects that leave affected communities better able to cope with future challenges."
EDV has recently launched an appeal to fund sustainable recovery from September's Asia tsunami. To donate go to www.edvolunteers.org/donate
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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