THOMAS PICKARD

DOCUMENTARY: MALDIVES | ISLAND LIFE

Madifushi Island is a tiny island on the eastern edge of Thaa Atoll in the Maldives. While neighbouring islands were missed by the Boxing Day tsunami, the 1005 residents of Madifushi weren't so fortunate. Fifty four houses were either totally destroyed or damaged beyond repair. Since then British Red Cross has commenced the rebuilding process, while people displaced by the tsumani reside in make shift camps on the island waiting to move into a new house.

At the same time the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has been installing a reverse osmosis unit that converts sea water to drinking water for the community.

A woman walks past the remains of the outer wall of a house that was destroyed by the Boxing Day tsunami.
   
A local Maldivian man holds up two lobsters freshly caught in the waters off Madifushi Island.
   
Walking home from school.
     
  
Two Maldivian woman who are sisters outside their home on Madifushi Island. Where the lady is sitting on the left used to be a room until the Boxing Day tsunami destroyed the front wall of their house.
   
Fishing dhonis in the harbour.
   
A woman who lost her house in the Boxing Day Tsunami and now resides in the Internal Displaced Person's (IDP) camp, washes the family's pots in sea water.
     
  
Workers at the Madifushi Island boat yard which builds and repairs dhonis. A number of dhonis rolled onto their sides due to the tsunami.
   
A Maldivian boat builder below the 100 foot dhoni he and ten other men are building on Madifushi Island. It takes approximately one year to build a 100 foot dhoni. Workers use local and imported wood and hand power tools to construct the dhoni which will be used for cargo purposes in the Maldives.
   
Boat builders paint the side of a traditional dhoni in dry dock for repairs.
     
  
A boat builder walks under the underside of a 60 foot cargo dhoni being built on Madifushi Island.
   
Portrait of a young Maldivian at the Internal Displaced Person's camp on Madifushi Island. The IDP camp is a temporary shelter for families that lost their houses to the Boxing Day tsunmai. British Red Cross is rebuilding 54 houses on the island.
   
Maldivian women and children from Madifushi Island disembark into the shallows whilst on a picnic to a nearby deserted island.
     
  
A young Maldivian boy sets the anchor for a dhoni whilst on a picnic trip to a nearby deserted island.
   
Carrying back one of the bigger fish caught in a lagoon off a deserted island, near Madifushi Island.
   
A bicycle rests against a house wall made of coral on Madifushi Island. The dark line shows the height reached by the tsnuami waters on the island.
     
  
Coral was once widely used in the Maldives to construct houses with. Its use has since been replaced with manufactured products suchs as wood, bricks and cement.
   
Employees of Singapore based company Aquatech install a sea well as part of the program to install a reverse osmosis unit on Madifushi Island. The unit is an International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies project and will provide fresh drinking water to the locals.
   
Two Maldivian men construct a water tank donated by Oxfam and put together on Madifushi Island by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
     
  
Workers contracted to the British Red Cross rebuilding a house as part of the effort to rebuild 54 houses damaged or destroyed in the Boxing Day tsunami on Madifushi Island.
   
Men and woman stand about as the sun sets on another day on Madifushi Island.