Thailand Post-Tsunami

When I arrived in Phuket, Thailand I was lucky to meet John Moretti. He overheard me asking for directions to Khao Lak and offered me a ride, which turned into a two-day tour of the area hardest hit by the tsunami.

John is one of those rare, inspiring people who says "I should do something" and follows through beyond expectations. He has been working in Thailand for the past three months on his own project www.operationplayground.org as well as with www.airlineamb.org. Both efforts are impressive and make me wonder if I should spend time volunteering in addition to writing checks.

I can see that by coming to Thailand and working here on the ground, John's personal involvement and relationships with the Thai people are almost as important as the playgrounds he builds. He introduced me to a number of tsunami survivors, both Thai and international, and I heard their stories first-hand. I saw that much of the devastation has been cleaned up but there is still much more to be done. Above all, the thing that broke my heart was the refugee camp for orphaned Thai children (www.tsunamirefugees.org).