PRIVATE EYE USES SKILLS TO PROTECT TSUNAMI RELIEF.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

CANYON COUNTRY - When the deadly Asian tsunami struck Sri Lanka in December, Canyon Country private investigator Jonathan Kraut watched the news footage with fascination.

After hearing a speech by a representative from the International Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance, Kraut decided to help the island nation's children with his personal riches - his experience with military, financing and government relations.

Upon arriving in Sri Lanka in April, however, Kraut found that the lessons he gleaned from the Buddhist monks and grateful citizens were much more than whatever donations he administered.

``I didn't want to just talk about those poor people, because talk is cheap,'' Kraut said. ``Action means a lot, and I was ready to do whatever I could to help them. The foundation had already raised quite a bit of money; my responsibility was to make sure the money would go where we wanted it to go.''

Before he left Southern California, Kraut visited the Buddhist temple in the San Fernando Valley and consulted with the monks on the culture and customs of the people.

``They thought I was monk-worthy,'' he said, laughing. ``They kept telling me to 'cut hair, cut hair.' I told them I don't look good in orange.''

Kraut contacted old military connections who helped him find the right people at the heart of disaster aid. But his goal was making sure that a potential pitfall of administering aid - giving the money to a government official who takes a cut, then passes it on to another, who takes another cut, and so on - didn't happen.

He identified two projects that would meet the foundation's goals of ensuring the safety of children and the rebuilding of the community.

Idantota Elementary and Preschool was a thriving institution in early December, serving more than 200 children. When Kraut arrived, all that was left was a single corner post and a cement slab, the rest washed away by a 20-foot wave.

``Never have I seen anything so pervasive,'' he recalled. ``I've been through war, but have never seen this much destruction. Forty thousand people, mostly children, were killed. The water came in, lifted them 10 to 20 feet high, then sucked them out to sea, where they drowned. It took cars, trains, everything that wasn't bolted down.''

The school reconstruction is well under way; the foundation's $25,000 investment is ``putting everything back and making it better,'' said Kraut. New to the students and staff will be basics that Americans take for granted: electricity, fans and running water.

A second project is the Wagegoda Community Center, which will be composed of 50 new houses built on a hillside to replace the town that was wiped out. Plans include a computer center in the town hall along with a library and a safe haven for children to go after school instead of wandering the streets.

``The country as a whole is going to take several years to rebuild,'' he said. ``When you wipe away 100,000 homes and 5,000 public structures, you can't rebuild it in six months. We anticipate supporting these projects for at least a year or two.''

Back at home, Kraut has been working local networks of nonprofit organizations from all nations in the hopes of creating a collaborative group to offer assistance around the world.

``When I was there, I asked a monk why he was there, and he said a monk's only purpose is to help people who need help. I'm 49, but the more I help people, the younger and better I feel. At the rate I'm going, I feel about 25.''

For more information about the International Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance, call [phone] or visit the Web site at www.humanrightsandtolerance.org.

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(color) Jonathan Kraut, a private investigator by trade, spent a month in tsunami-stricken areas of Sri Lanka, using his professional skills to make sure that donations sent from around the globe got to the survivors.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer