"When the tsunami hit I ran to the church and begged for the life of my son,"

Tsunami sufferers question faith: Yet this year the throngs are absent. Many thousands are too afraid to travel to this tsunami-affected area, scared off by frenzied rumours that another disaster is about to beset the shores. Perhaps others have cause to question their faith: BBC

"Every day, we were getting 30 to 40 e-mails from Burghers living abroad offering help"

"Every day, we were getting 30 to 40 e-mails from Burghers living abroad offering help. Suddenly, we feel that we are a bigger community," says Sunny Ockersz, president of the Burgher union in Batticaloa. Earlier, the community was divided as Burghers in Batticaloa, Dutch Burghers and the "affluent" English-speaking Burghers in Colombo, BBC