December 28, 2004 -- It's hard enough to imagine the scope of devastation thousands of miles from here, but for some El Pasoans this natural disaster hits close to home.

Madhu Sharma, "I started to call all my friends and asked if their families were okay."

Lavina Vaswani, "Madras, that's where my aunt and my uncles everyone lives there."

Pradeep Kalupahanage, "I was shocked at the news, because we've never experienced such a thing in Sri Lanka."

Pradeep Kalupahanage was born and raised in Matara in Sri Lanka and even though he hasn't been back in years these images of his home town are hard to watch. And what hurts him even more is the fact he still can't get in touch with some of his family members.

Kalupahanage, "My cousin he lives in the heart of Matara and so many times I've tried to call that number still cant' get a hold of them."

Lavina Vaswani was able to get in touch with her family in India, but not before they went through a scare.

Vaswani, "The center has five floors and when this hit they ran up to the fifth floors and from the balcony they saw dead bodies lying around and people screaming and it was mystical to look at it."

And two days after the devastating tsunamis swept over the islands and beaches of Southeast Asia, rescue workers continued to take out bodies from a landscape of waste, from collapsed buildings, other debris and from the shores.

The number of confirmed deaths from Sunday's monumental earthquake and tsunamis has hit more than 67,000 with thousands more still unaccounted for.

Sharma, "It was really hard because there were kids playing outside and they were washed away and the people who went for a jog."

Madhu Sharma is part owner of the India Palace Cuisine and she says the devastation in Southeast Asia is the main topic with her customers.

Sharma, "I had two families from Sri Lanka and I asked them but they're families are far away. But still they have families over there which they cannot find them."

Although these El Pasoans are very far from their families and their home towns, they say meditation can still reach those who are suffering in Southeast Asia.

Vaswani, "The best thing we can do is help them mentally and mentally you can talk to them with the power of thoughts."