He didn't want to take a chance.

Because of the tsunami, the Sri Lanka government prohibits building homes closer than 100 meters from the sea. When a volunteer relief worker suggested Kamal Silva's construction plans seemed too close to the line, he changed architectural drawings on the spot and pushed everything back.

His wife, Latha Silva, died in the tsunami. His house and tourist lodge were leveled. He can't afford to have the reconstruction started during the church mission wiped out by the new law.

"I don't have any money to live," he said. "I don't want to be a beggar."

She unleashed a toothless smile at the question, grinning at its absurdity. Why is a house so important?

Because Lakshmi Piyasheeli has three children and a baby granddaughter. Her family was split after the tsunami. Some lived in tents and shelters while Piyasheeli stayed in the shattered hulk of her parents' home, across the railroad track from where a new house was being built with the church mission's money.

Shelter means security so she doesn't have to worry about what little property she has being stolen.

"The house is the first thing," she said.

The Sri Lanka government didn't help him. Instead, churches brought aid and the money to rebuild his home.

Always a Buddhist, Sunil De Silva has been thinking about the people he thinks helped most after the tsunami killed five of his sisters and turned the bog behind his home into a cemetery.

He decided that one day soon, he'll change his faith and become Christian. He didn't share his decision with mission team members or, if he did, they didn't understand. But he talked about faith with an outsider through an interpreter.

"Christians are good and they are helpful," he said.

M. Bulton Silva shimmied up a coconut tree the night an earthquake triggered fears of a second tsunami.

Nearly everyone ran to a hillside temple. Silva stayed to guard his tools and the supplies at the site where the team was helping him to build a home.

He climbed a tree Dec. 26, too, but the tsunami knocked him into the water. He swam to safety, discovering later that 15 of his relatives had died. He wanted a home instead of a tent for his wife and two children, smiling wanly when asked how quickly he needs the shelter.

"If it's in 24 hours, no problem," he said.

His home was swallowed by the tsunami. His wife is afraid of the sea. He's a factory worker without a job.

But Chinthake Senevirantha worried most about his 2-year-old daughter. Pujaka suffered a seizure and remained in a Colombo hospital until after the mission team left. He worried constantly, visiting her bedside and returning to the village to work at the site where the mission team helped him build a home.

The child's problems may date to Dec. 26. Senevirantha suggested the tsunami swept impurities into the village.

"She drank bad water," he said.