Mineko Ikehashi and husband Robert Whymant were snorkeling just off southern Sri Lanka on Dec. 26 when they were engulfed by the tsunami. Mineko was swept 1.5 km inland and survived, but Robert's body was found five days later buried under debris on the beach.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='200' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='/images/photos2005/nn20051015f1a.jpg' WIDTH='200' HEIGHT='261'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Mullaittivu, Sri Lanka Tsunami survivor Mineko Ikehashi –

and TECH Japan members Suvendrini Kakuchi and Akiko Ozaki show off an apron made at a sewing center for tsunami and civil war survivors here in northern Sri Lanka.

Eight months later, still trying to overcome her grief, Ikehashi, 43, has returned to Sri Lanka -- this time as a member of a nongovernmental organization she helped set up to carry out relief projects in the north to help residents recover from the tsunami's destruction and cope with civil war.