|
At the end of the first week we all went to Giritale. Ever since I first visited Sri Lanka, a visit to Giritale with Shehan is on my schedule. I went together with Sjaak earlier, now together with Shehan and Frans. The Foundation is supporting several schools in this neighborhood and several childeren are sponsored. We came in contact with a single mother. Her children are sponsored by the foundation. Two years ago she was busy getting stones from the river The woman spent time then chopping the stones. She really wanted a stone house and the rubble was going to be used for the foundation of her house.
  Mother and grand mother.
She also baked the stones for her house by herself. The foundation has helped her with the construction of electricity and the purchase of cement. She is proud of her house and decorated the inside of the house very nicely. She has even woven a ceiling from blue and white plastic. Very creative! Sjaak is also honored by her. His picture is hanging on the wall!
Even Sjaak wouldn't have expected this much honour.
When we left this family, we were stopped by a mother and daughter. Shehan knows these people for quite some time now. She asked us if we would briefly walk with her. When we arrived at her house, she admitted that she needed our support. Her youngest daughter had a deformity of her spine, scoliosis. She was treated before and was given a kind of corset, but that was broken. The mother was very concerned. Further treatment was very expensive and she asked us if the Foundation could help. Frans, as a surgeon, took a look at the x-rays she provided. He concluded that an orthopedic surgeon, who specializes in the spine, had to be consulted. The problem with such form of scoliosis is that the daugther will increasingly grow to be curved and that the girl will get more and more problems with lungcapacity.
We decided that the first girl should first should attend an orthopedist in Kandy for a treatment plan. Maria, who wanted to support a good cause, was very fond of this child and she has paid the travel expenses for mother and child. Moreover she promised that, if the child could get surgery, she also wanted to support part of that.
Every time Frans and I are in Sri Lanka we always goto Hikkaduwa. After the tsunami we worked in a medical post in a refugee camp. We know quite a few people there. Thus we also met a Dutch Buddhist monk. We always visit him. It was very fortunate to learn that this monk (also named Frans) was trying to get a similar surgery in Colombo for another girl. Frans the monk knew an orthopedist who knows a German specialist. This German works for free, but the required materials must be paid for off course. The monk allready collected the money for the girl in Hikkaduwa. He even had some money left which could potentially be used for the girl from Giritale. We asked Shehan to arrange for the surgery. It will not be easy, but it's worth a try. We'll just have to wait.
  Mother and daugther You can clearly see that this girl is disabled. |
