Glimpses of the future reveal darkness, light

“That’s fine for now,’’ Hooper said. ‘‘What bothers me though, is that there are so many traumatised kids and adults among this lot it is hard to keep track of just how bad they are. Some are worse off than others. This camp is a temporary arrangement. Displaced families that are now in schools around Galle will soon have to be accommodated here,’’ she said, looking around at the tent town that was being established. ‘‘What they really need is a stable life again; being at school environment, among friends, and in familiar surroundings.”

While the search goes on for survivors, those widows with one or more children are facing another reality without family support, how to rebuild a life. Seven-month pregnant Ganeesha Jayantha spelled it out as she waited with her ten-year-old son Ben for the noon meal. Her worry is that the young, pretty widows face ending up in a world of prostitution. ‘‘We don’t like to think, or talk about it,’’ said Hooper.

Yet there are stories of how the dignity of life has become so desperate some widows in areas north of Hikkaduwa, that scavenging for food and clothing is a daily event, and to get money they have turned to looking for scrap iron as a way of making money.

Already police have had to step into to take against agents of Colombo casino owners who were trying to recruit women from these areas.‘‘It is the aftermath of any great devastation,’’ Eric Edelman said, shaking his head.

Meanwhile, Lalith Kumaratne, who owned a popular beach dive called the Luck Tuna, has started rebuilding. Others are following. The nightlife will return and so will the tourists; there will be plenty to drink and eat.

But further up the road, however, Ganeesha Jayantha, waits for the birth of her third child and wonders about the future with her two children without a family unit for support. For her, and a generation, life will never be the same.