FEBRUARY, 2010
During our recent weeks of constant
snow, I longed for the chance to be in the tropics. As always, be careful of what you wish for!
RUKSI
Ruksi is a young girl I met a few
months ago who was developing normally until a tree fell on her. She
seems very strong mentally, but she cannot move her arms or legs, except with
great effort. She could only say a few simple words as well. We are helping her with regular medical
treatments to slow her tremors and lessen her muscles sufficiently to use
her hands and feet. In just a few months
she has improved greatly. Her speech has
increased tremendously and she is even able to draw pictures. When we came to her house the other day to
give her some markers and coloring books, we called fro her. She replied, “Oy” meaning, “Yeah, what?” In hear case the sassy reply was very
welcome.
AKKARAPAITHU
Last fall, we began operations a few
hours south of Batticaloa. It is only abut 40 miles distant, but the
roads are in such poor condition (similar to right after the tsunami) that it
takes about 3 hours of kidney bouncing to get there.
I met a very
tragic family. Husband and wife are now raising the children of their son
who was killed in a military ambush in 2007. His wife went overseas soon
after and the grandparents are now raising 3 children including a very severely
handicapped little girl named Kumarika. The grandmother’s tears came
often as we spoke for not only did she lose her son 3 years ago, but her oldest
was killed by the army in 1990 and her next committed suicide in 1998.
The emotional and physical burden are too great for this couple and thy have
asked us to help place their granddaughter in a facility where she can be cared
for better. Such places are few and far
between, but we will do our best to help.
ORPHANS
We are always trying to bring a little
joy in to the lives of our 2 dozen orphan girls. This trip I brought a
tether ball. Introducing anything new here is very difficult because 
the answer
always is, "We don't do that here" meaning, “if we haven't done it
before, we have no interest in ever doing it in the future.” In the case
however, the girls took to the game very quickly. Too quickly, in fact,
as a few girls got bruised faces from the ball being hit so hard. None
complained however, because they were having so much fun.
DILEKSHI
Last year, we bought a hearing aid for
a young man who had not heard any sounds since he was a child. The doctor
assured us with the hearing aid his hearing and comprehension would slowly
return. Sadly, after a year, it became apparent that this was not going
to be the case. It has been so long, that he lost all memory of words and
sounds and consequently was unable to process what his ears now took in.
We regrettably took the hearing aid back, but immediately met Dilekshi, a girl
of 14 who has a severe hearing loss. We had her hearing tested; ears
examined and now have a prescription for hearing aid re-programming when we
return to
OZANUM
This Saturday, we are taking the 40 or
so resident of Ozanum Home to the beach. This will be their first ever
outing and those who take care of these retarded residents are very nervous. They
agreed after I gave a prolonged look of a sad puppy dog. (The fact
that I invited all the staff to the beach helped too!)
HARD CASES
The cases
where we can do nothing are the hardest to deal with. We have been
visiting a couple from Sumandurai who had three normal, healthy children.
One by one each fell into total mental and physical incapacity. Two have
died and the likely they third will soon follow. In their grief and pain,
they are desperate for another child. They understand that they cannot
have one naturally, but have asked help in adoption. They had heard out
oversees adoptions and assumed they could get a baby easily. I had to
explain that overseas adoptions are to countries with greater wealth. In
addition I told them that the probability of success for them is very
low.
It also fell to me twice on the same
day to tell two different families with severely handicapped children that they would
never become "normal". Doctors are loathe to give bad new
directly so dying patients or parents of the handicapped are always given hope
that things will work out. As such they
often delay the hard but necessary decisions.
We
are excited about a new concept we are beginning work on. We are looking
to obtain a small space and open "King Benjamin's House." This
will be a place where the numerous homeless, handicapped, beggars, and elderly
who roam the streets everyday can come for a bit of relief. Throughout the day they will be able to have
a drink of water and a small meal. In
addition, toilet, bathing, and laundry facilities will be
available. There will also be a small room where they can rest for a
while from the heat and commune with others. The political consequences will
be positive, so we are working to get the approval and support of the Municipal
Council. We are also working to obtain a
Town owned location for free. We will be requesting food from local
bakeries and small restaurants as well as residents who traditionally take meals
to beggars on family birthdays. Local doctors will volunteer a small
amount of time each month and provide basic care and counseling. Disadvantaged individuals will be encouraged
to work at the site and earn a bit of money.
We anticipate opposition from the
neighbors, but we are hopeful they will embrace our new plan
SWORDS INTO PLOWSHARES
For
the first time in 5 years there are no refugee camps in the East. Between the tsunami and civil war, the camps
had been in full operation. With the end
of the civil conflict last year, many of the displaced have been relocated.
The statue on the left is
located on the grounds of the UN titled, “Let Us beat Our Swords into
Plowshares.” I thought of this statue
when I visited a former refugee campsite, now converted into a playground. While there is still a humanitarian crisis in
the camps to the north, the East has started to take on a feeling of normalcy.
MICROLOAN
We are in the process of
establishing a microloan program. We
initially will be making about 20 loans of $250 each to disadvantaged women in
a local village. The money will be used
to start home-based businesses including: goat raising, chicken farming,
seamstress work, weaving, and the manufacturing of clay pots. The loans will be for 4-1/2 years, with a
repayment of about $6 per month. All the
loans will be made in one village where peer pressure will help to insure
re-payment. (There will be a village
loan committee the is responsible for the group’s performance as a whole. If someone does not pay, the committee must
make up the difference.) This type of
program has been used successfully in many parts of the third world and is
often the only way that these women can lift themselves out of poverty and into
self-sufficiency.
THE HANDICAPPED
Physically and mentally
handicapped children are very common in the third world. Poor prenatal care, birth trauma, genetic
abnormalities or childhood illness are all causes. At best they receive basic care at home or at
the few facilities available. At worst parents
can be neglectful, keeping them from sight out of embarrassment. We have been working from the beginning with
many such children, but this trip seems out of proportion. In only a week we have investigated 9 new cases. With limited resources, tough choices must be
made about who we can help. These
decisions come with a heavy emotional toll for the parents and our team.
