It's been 32 months since the Indian Ocean tsunami crashed into Asian coastlines, leaving unspeakable tragedy in its wake.

Almost a quarter of a million people were killed in India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Villages were destroyed, livelihoods ruined and families devastated.

The outpouring of worldwide support that immediately followed the Dec. 26, 2004, disaster was incredible. But since then, the deadly tsunami has faded from memory as other calamities grabbed public attention.

The survivors, however, are still dealing with the aftermath. And a local filmmaker believes their psychological and spiritual recovery, which is slowly taking root, has lessons that can be shared with the Western world.

Franklin & Marshall College professor Dirk Eitzen's just-completed hour-long documentary "The Tsunami's Wake: Healing From Trauma" will debut at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at F&M's Roschel Performing Arts Center. The premiere is free and open to the public.

The film will be followed by a question-and-answer session and a reception in Kreisel Lobby, courtesy of F&M's International House.

Lessons to be shared
Eitzen, an associate professor of film and media studies in the college's department of theater, dance and film, also made such documentaries as "The Amish and Us" and "Save Our Land, Save Our Towns."

He wrote, directed and edited "The Tsunami's Wake," which was produced by Mennonite Central Committee. The film was done while Eitzen was on sabbatical in the fall 2006 and spring 2007 semesters.

Eitzen said he talked to MCC about making a documentary, and people there suggested trauma healing and the tsunami as the focus. "It was a topic I didn't know anything about," he said during an interview last week.

Following extensive research, he came up with five areas to build his film around: community, safety, meaningful activity, spirituality and nonviolence. Eitzen highlights a number of tsunami survivor stories to illustrate how the five all play a part in trauma healing.

"The American or Western approach is clinical and individual," he said. The tsunami victims, who don't have access to one-on-one counseling, follow a different healing path, Eitzen said.

"The community plays an absolutely pivotal role in recovery from trauma," he said.

Hopelessness, helplessness and isolation are byproducts of trauma, Eitzen said. "These can be crushing."

People reconnecting with each other and the larger community starts the healing, he said. So does "getting them back to doing things for themselves," Eitzen said.

"The meaning of life has been taken away," he said, so "any way of affirming life" contributes to recovery.

Eitzen made two five-week visits to the region last fall and winter. The first was spent looking for stories — "a casting trip," he called it — and the second was spent filming. "The Tsunami's Wake" features survivors from Aceh, an Indonesian province; the southern coast of India; and the Andaman Islands, which are also part of India.

The documentary's videographer is Andrea Campbell, an adjunct professor at Franklin & Marshall. The English narrator is Kevin Stewart, a friend of Eitzen's who is director of environmental health for American Lung Association of Pennsylvania.

The foreign translations were done by Indian students at F&M and members of the Acehnese community in Harrisburg, Eitzen said.

One of the "stars" of the film is Ikhwani, a boy from Aceh who attends a school for tsunami and war orphans. Even before the tsunami, many residents of these areas were living amid poverty and civil war, Eitzen said.

Ikhwani tells the story of how his father was killed in their home by Indonesian troops. He says he wants to be teacher when he grows up, but if that's not possible, he'd like to be a rebel soldier so he can get back at those who murdered his father.

"The Tsunami's Wake" shows his schoolmates trying to help Ikhwani deal with his anger by putting on a play.

Another segment highlights Indian women in Tuticorin who formed an economic collective that's also forged strong social bonds.

The common thread among all of the stories, Eitzen said, "is the healing power of community."

That holistic approach, he said, is one that we can learn from when confronting such traumatic events as Hurricane Katrina, the Virginia Tech massacre and the Nickel Mines Amish schoolhouse shootings.

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Paula Wolf is a staff writer for the Sunday News. She can be reached by e-mail at pwolf@lnpnews.com.