Zha, a 7-year-old boy, gazes glassy-eyed across the debris-strewn beach into the teal blue ocean that months before consumed his three younger siblings.

He, too, had been swept out to sea, but survived. His older sister, Noy, lived by holding onto a palm tree for hours.

The tsunami devastated the small fishing village of Nam Khem in southern Thailand, where Zha and Noy live.

It is located on the mainland, just north of Phuket, a tourist island, also ravaged by the two-story high wave.

Although actual numbers are unknown, villagers estimate that of the 3,000 residents, between 1,000 and 2,000 died that day. It is hard to find a house without a death marker or a gruesome story to tell.

Over DU’s spring break, I traveled to Baa Nam Khem, on a tsumani relief trip organized by Campus Crusade for Christ International.

Over 100 students and staff from the United States joined with 200 Thai students and staff in Bangkok to bus down to the Phang Nga area together.

Though the village still houses a skeletal employment of fishermen, most of the villagers have been moved into refugee camps supported by various aid organizations and the Thai government.

Hastily constructed out of ply wood, these structures replace the tents originally given to villagers.

When we arrived in Baa Nam Khem, we immediately began our four work days of clearing debris, demolishing unsafe structures, and interacting with surviving villagers still shaken by this tragedy.

Both Thai and American students were split up regionally into groups of about a dozen, to focus team efforts.

While several teams aided in this village, another team built a house in the surrounding area, and others traveled to an island to clear debris.

Though most of the thousands of bodies had been cleared before the group arrived, an estimated 300 still lay in the wreckage.

Although much of the heavy labor of clearing had already been done, there was still much sand and trash to remove from houses so reconstruction could begin.

On Wednesday, while clearing sand and insecure walls from a house next to the beach, several students noticed several villagers running away from their homes.

Soon, dozens of people were hopping onto trucks, holding onto and fitting into the truck beds.

Others used motorbikes, and the Thai military began to clear out.

A Thai student finally asked a villager what was happening, and he responded, “Tsunami, tsunami!”

The team began to run, with the rest of the village to an area of high elevation.

As we sat and looked at the suddenly ominous ocean, we sang songs and prayed with some of the village children, who with tear-stricken faces, looked to us for consolation.

Soon after, we found out that rumors of a 7.0 earthquake in Indonesia had sparked the chaos.

Apparently, because of their constant fear, this was not the first time the villagers had cleared out; it happens about every other week.

The event gave the Americans a clearer image of the panic that spread through Nam Khem villagers on Dec. 26.

By Friday, our last work day, I was amazed at the impact we had made in the village.

As we gathered around for our last lunch in Baa Nam Khem, villagers we had helped, local children, American and Thai staff and students all dined together.

Zha was laughing and jumping all over us.Noy gathered a few of the students and asked us to go to her house.

She had collected dozens of beautiful pieces of tile, scattered across Nam Khem by the tsunami wave, wrapped them in newspaper and tape and written “I love you” on them. She gave them to each of the students, and asked us not to leave.

The Thai Campus Crusade for Christ had made three tsunami relief trips to the southern part of the country since the disaster.

They plan to do one every month for 15 months. There are a few American students tentatively planning on returning in August.

Before leaving for the trip, each of the students had to raise $2,500 of support. This amount covered plane tickets, room and board, and $750 that would be donated directly to the Thai villagers.

The DU community and the Community Scholars Board were generous in aiding with relief efforts.