Tsunami disaster impacts students

By Andrea Ragni

Though the devastation of the recent tsunami in Southeast Asia is distant from the Santa Clara community geographically, Santa Clara students that are currently abroad in Florence, Italy, felt the effects while on a trip to Thailand.

Juniors Mary Nadine Kane and Christina Padden were among the students in Thailand during the undersea earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit Dec. 26. The year-long program, which emphasizes travel, takes students to Thailand over their Christmas break. This year, the unimaginable happened when the one of the world's deadliest natural disasters, spanning 11 nations, interrupted their holiday, leaving students in shock.

Kane and Padden were in Chaing Mai in Northern Thailand and out of immediate danger.

Kane said she heard about the tsunami during the afternoon on Dec. 26.

"It had struck that morning and I woke up and felt the earthquake at about eight that morning," Kane said.

Being from San Francisco, she was used to earthquakes, but this one was different.

"It was long and felt like a wave, unlike the ones that are at home which are short and rigid," Kane said.

Padden slept through the earthquake, and learned of the disaster when she woke the next morning.

"We turned on the TV and there were pictures and videos of the tsunami on every channel," she said. "We flew into the Bangkok airport a few days later and it was chaos."

According to Padden, the disorder as people from all over the world sought assistance from their respective embassies, the Red Cross providing support to victims and frantic people searching for relatives was a hard scene to experience.

"The airport was full of people with flags," Kane said. "It looked like the Olympics, but there were people working with the different embassies collecting people from their native countries that had lost everything."

Both students acknowledged that it was a very difficult experience to be in a place where such destruction had occurred. While they were not in harm's way, they were witnesses to the devastation the country had undergone.

"It was hard being there because we were having such an amazing time, staying at such a nice hotel and we were not in the place were the damage was done," Padden said. "But there were constant reminders of all the suffering that was taking place."

The priest who had accompanied them on the trip led the students in a candlelight vigil where they prayed and talked about the situation, Padden said.

"We talked about how lucky we were because we were not in Phuket or Phi Phi, where the destruction occurred."

While the students of the Gonzaga program were in the middle of such devastation, their parents were afraid for their safety.

"My family called me at our hotel right when they heard about it," Kane said. "They were very worried, but luckily I had talked to them on Christmas and they knew I was in the north of Thailand away from the destruction."

With news broadcasts in the United States depicting mass devastation throughout Southeast Asia shortly after the tsunami occurred, it was difficult for families to learn whether the students were in an affected area until they were able to talk to them.

"I can only imagine my mom turning on the news and seeing what happened without knowing I was OK," Padden said.

Upon returning to Florence, Italy, she had numerous phone messages asking if she was safe.

"E-mailing really made a difference during this hard time."

Just as the Santa Clara community is collecting money to aid in the relief effort, the abroad students did this as well.

"We collected money when we were in Thailand and raised quite a bit," Padden said. "I think being so close to the disaster made everyone more generous."

The money raised was given to the Red Cross, but not all the students were satisfied with their efforts. Many wanted to physically go to Phuket or Phi Phi and help, Padden said, but they were unable to fly into that area.

While Kane was in on the trip, she attended a New Year's Eve party at the hotel in which they were staying and won the grand prize for the night -- round-trip airfare from Bangkok to Chaing Rai and a two-night stay in the hotel's sister.

"I donated my prize to an auction taking place at the hotel two weeks from New Year's, where all the proceeds will be donated to the victims of the tsunami," she said.

Kane and Padden are happy to see the support of people from around the world through relief efforts, although it does not make the tragedy less distressing.

"It was so sad to see everything that was going on after we had been met with such wonderful hospitality in Thailand," Padden said. "The Thai people that we had met were so welcoming and nice to our group."

* Contact Andrea Ragni at (408) 554-4546 or aragni@scu.edu.