While the immediate effects of the December tsunami were felt a world away, the ripples of that disaster have rolled into the Atlanta area, where the extended Asian community has felt the impact.

Some lost family and friends; most know of someone in their circle who has been impacted by the crisis. The result is has been an outpouring of support to countries in desperate need.

Wei Siong Tan, president of the Indonesian Community Heritage Foundation, hears stories similar to his own across the metro area.

“A good friend of mine here lost his aunt, cousin and six grandchildren,” said Tan, who lives in Marietta. “It took a few days to learn that my brother-in-law’s family survived, though one of his cousins perished. It’s really hit home.”

The Indonesian foundation, a local group that has been in existence since 1998, called on its members to participate in a prayer vigil a few nights after the waves struck. About 400 showed up at Our Lady of the Assumption church in Atlanta to mourn the victims and pray for survivors.

Tan, who grew up north of Sumatra close to the disaster area, also has been speaking at community events and area churches to raise relief funds.

Indian-American Dhruti Contractor of Stone Mountain has helped mobilize her community to contribute funds to the Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children. The three-year-old organization has clinics in south India, including a mobile van that brings medical care into the tsunami-affected areas.

“We’ve connected with people in the Indian Professional Network that meets monthly to raise about $1,500,” said Contractor, who works for the Centers for Disease Control. “We’ve also gotten supplies donated from different vendors to help build clinics.”

In February, members of the National Association of Chinese Americans held a banquet and raffle to raise money for relief efforts.

“All the proceeds went to the tsunami relief, particularly for Indonesian students,” said Barbara Yeung, a board member of the Chinese association. “We’ve also donated funds to the Red Cross. The students are especially important to us because we know so many of them through our scholarship and mentoring programs.”

Yeung’s organization has joined forces with 20 other local ethnic support groups to raise money.

“We’ve all come together to make a greater impact and to insure that we’re not duplicating what we’re doing,” she said.

Once the immediate concerns of life and health have been addressed, the needs of the devastated region will turn to the continuing struggle of day-to-day existence. The problems of shelter have been of particular concern to members of the Georgia Buddhist Vihara in Lithonia.

“Before the tsunami, we were supporting village school children in a very underdeveloped area of Sri Lanka,” said Unil Perera, a native of Sri Lanka who teaches physics at Georgia State University. “One area close to that school was very badly damaged. The initial thing was hold religious ceremonies, remembering those who had died. And we sent a 40-foot container loaded with water and foodstuffs just after the tsunami struck.

“But now we’re collecting money for a long-term project to build houses to support the orphans.”

Members of the Vihara have been working with leaders of the Sri Lankan government that is giving land to various nonprofit organizations willing to build houses.

“We are expecting to get the land from the government, and as soon as we do, we will start to build houses,” said Georgia Buddhist Vihara abbott Panamwela Wajirabuddhi, who was in Sri Lanka when the disaster struck and witnessed the devastation first-hand. “It will cost about $2,000 for one house.”

The simple house plans will have a basic kitchen, a living room, bedrooms and bathrooms, with some room to expand in the future.

“We hope we can build at least 25 houses in the worst-hit areas of south Sri Lanka,” Perera said. “And we’d like to start as soon as possible.”

The devastation has changed forever the country that Perera visited just a few days before disaster struck.

“Parts of the area I visited and the roads I traveled were damaged,” he said. “Thankfully, none of my close relatives were lost. But many others have not been so fortunate.”