I watched with awe at the pictures of the tsunami as it hit the coasts of Indonesia and Thailand last Christmas. I found it hard to believe the magnitude of the waters that rushed over the beaches and into the hotels along the beachfront. Imagine Pacific Beach looking like the Mojave Desert. That's what the once bustling beach town of Khao Lak looks like now.

As a nurse who had worked in Somalia during the days depicted by "Black Hawk Down" and had been involved in a number of health care projects in Thailand since 1997, my heart ached at what I saw.

Since I still have contacts in Thailand, I decided to collect donated medical supplies and take them to Phuket where they would be best used. Being a member of the Special Forces Association, I knew there was an SFA chapter in Bangkok, so I contacted one of the members and we discussed what the immediate needs were.

In February, I traveled to Phuket and worked alongside the men in the SFA chapter as we tried to help many of the people in that country who had lost everything in the tsunami.

Having been involved with a large nongovernmental organization (NGO), I know how politics can get in the way of the actual delivery of goods, supplies and services. However, this group of retired Special Forces men, who now live in Thailand, linked with the Thai Army Special Forces and the result was amazing.

When small NGOs arrived in Phuket, the Special Forces men asked about their individual specialties and then they paired the NGOs up with suitable projects. As we drove to different sites to make sure that building supplies were in place for the volunteers who were doing on-site construction, I was told that if at all possible, local people were being hired to do the reconstruction work. This gave the Thais an income they desperately needed, and freed the volunteers so they could be used at other locations.

There were numerous other projects taking place when I was there, such as building fishing boats, developing a water treatment facility and a special Thai Navy rebuilding project.

The question the Thai people asked me most often was, "Where are the monies that so many countries promised us to help rebuild our area?" As we all know, lots of those monies will never get to the people who lost everything. History has proved that to be true, again and again.

I heard some amazing stories. For instance, the head nurse at one of the hospitals in Phuket set up a triage for the wounded and dead who were brought to her hospital. She worked four days straight, without sleep, before other staff members were able to make their way to the hospital to help.

The rebuilding process is going to take a long time. The psychological healing process may take a lifetime.

To learn more about what is being done, and what you can do, go to www.sfa3.com.

Barbara Birchim lives in Rancho Bernardo.