Students anxious about schools opening with classmates dead, missing

Published: 2005-01-10

CUDDALORE, India (CNS) -- Murugan is anxious about the reopening of his school after the extended closure that began as Christmas vacation. He said he does not want to sit in class without his friends. The 13-year-old boy was playing cricket with friends on the beach of Southkoppa, their village in Tamil Nadu, when a tsunami struck the southern Indian state's shores Dec. 26. The village has counted 22 children among its dead -- more than half were Murugan's classmates, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. Many others are missing, since many children, like Murugan, were playing India's most popular sport on the beach when the waves hit. Murugan sat expressionless near a heap of clothes on the ground. He showed no interest in picking out any new clothes. Similarly, when vehicles carrying relief materials whizzed past, he did not run after them like the other children. All he mumbled was that he was scared of going to school. Not only children but teachers are anxious about the reopening of school in the coastal districts of Cuddalore and Nagapattinam, two of the most devastated areas in the state.

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