i have been to the andaman and nicobar islands (ANI) in the past ten days and i haven’t been able to blog too much (should say: at all) from there. ANI are a paradise place that was severly hit by tsunami in 2004. more than a thousands people lost their lives, according to the only data availalbe (probably the victims were much more), tenths of thousands lost their houses and countless completely lost their livelihoods. most of the land that used to be used for agriculture was flooded with salted water.

i went to the ANI for work, and i had the pleasure to meet an extraordinary indian NGO (butterflies) that does a great job in defending and promoting child rights in the ANI. among many other things, they have created almost 30 children development centers across the islands where village kids themselves plan and organise their own activities.

i spent most of my time between port blair in south andaman and hut bay, in little andaman. to reach hut bay (80 km of sea from port blair) you have to spend 10 hours on a small boat that slowly sails among the flying fishes. it leaves you time to think, while watching hundreds of untouched small islands shining in the water.

while on the boat, a young boy came by and asked me about myself and my country. he listened with great interest, then i asked him about himself. he told me that his dream is to go abroad and visit other countries. just to see, just to know. while sailing the sea of this paradise, i perfectly understood.