Tiny drops make the flood

As I give my small contribution to those orphanages which are supported through the uthawi web site, one of my purpose to travel to Sri Lanka was to visit orphanages in Batticaloa. Thus on the dates of 7 th, 8 th, 9 th, and 10 th of September I visited the orphanages of Vibulananda, Manikkavasagar, Yogasuvamigal, Kathiroli and sakthy.

Gone are the paddy fields, termite anthills, sea, wetlands, Kokkaddicholai and Kaththankudy massacre memorials, statues of the LTTE leaders and mansions. We travelled through stony streets and reached the orphanages. Inter- orphanage sport festival was held that day. As a result we couldn’t meet all the orphan-kids.

We were extremely happy that we met the orphan kids. We were told that, very rarely some one like us visit them. Kids must have been delighted too. Initially they were shy and withdrawn. However as we started to interact with them, they slowly gained confidence and showed their talents. They sang songs, read aloud poems, which were written by them selves, recited stanzas from folk plays and performed dances. As for my request they promised to write poems and tales to be published in uthawi.

These children’s happiness is brief. Soon after we inspected their place and heard their stories their happiness would fade away.

All these orphanages had difficulties in managing even one meal a day. Now with the help of the uthawi this situation is somewhat improved. However Uthawi’s contribution is not enough for them.

Vibulananda orphanage needs money to fill its lower land with sand. A notice regarding this request has been published in uthawi. An eviction notice is given to the house where Vibulananda kids now stay. As a result a house was built with the help of a NGO in a low land. The house is only enough for 5 to 6 people to stay. Here 48 kids are waiting to move there. Until the low land is filled with sand they cannot move. I saw the land is full of mud, marsh and water where some buffalos were. There was no fence around the house. Mud, buffalos, flood and diseases need no money to come. However, If we want levelled surface and a fence we should pay. The management said that it needed Rs. 400,000 (around 4000 euros) only to fill the land with sand. However this was minimum estimation. It would actually cost more.

While the average lad in Jaffna and the other parts of Sri Lanka are hanging around the streets and verbally harassing women, the young men who are running these orphanages, among other things working for a living and looking after the orphan-kids. The social responsibility of these youth and the other carers of the orphanages should be highly appreciated. They have a vision to build a better future for these orphan-kids. The only obstacle is money.

Kids have proudly cultivated some crops like brinjal in the land. They have shown me sadly as there is no fences cattle had eaten and spoiled their crops.

Celebrated with a spending spree are weddings and Temple festivals in every village. However the management of these orphanages are deeply worried about the food bill for the next month. I was almost broke into tears when the carers told me that very rarely they get food from the celebrations.

As for Manikkavasagar Orphanage the situation is pretty same. Though the orphanage gets some financial assistance through the Uthawi web site it is still not enough for basic needs. The kids have talents and aspirations to live like the other kids of the society. However we can’t go further while their basic needs are not fulfilled. In the mean time Orphan-kids admission to orphanages is going on. Children are continuously brought to
the Orphanage. One week ago a boy was brought. He had enormous troubles with managing the sadness of leaving his loved ones and reconciling with his fellow orphans. He didn’t mix with other kids and kept on crying. Right then he needed a professional counsellor. In our case we have one or two carers who are responsible for managing everything in the orphanage. It is highly impossible for them to take private care of the tormented kid. Who would finance for hiring a counsellor?

A mother brought her own child to the Yogaswamy. She had the desperate situation that she couldn’t care or raise her child and the kid had the devastating circumstance that it had to leave her mom. I put myself in that Child’s position. How did that child bear the enormous stress of parting his mother and other relatives?

When I asked them whether they learn to dance, they had performed me a dance and a
“Villu Paddu”. They kept on their various performances until I kindly said “That’s enough”. They were delighted to see us and were highly enthusiastic to display their talents. Will money the only thing that the obstacle to bury the talents?

A girl in Sakthy Illam played the Suruthy instrument and sang poignantly. She would make a brilliant singer if encouraged and trained properly. They are passing their days with their traumatic past and sombre smiles. We all would be responsible if these children’s future will be ruined only because of the
lack of money.

We had seen half completed one kitchen and one bathroom in Yogarswamy orphanage. At present they have one room and two toilets only. The kitchen and the toilet are needed critically to function the orphanage. What is more appalling is at the moment the girls are using an open space for bathing. A closed bathroom would certainly be more comfortable and secured one for them. This mission is being delayed because of the lack of funds.

There is only one building for the kids of Kathiroli orphanage to live. This is where they have to do all the things like study and sleep. The kids perfectly organised their clothes and put them in a wardrobe, which has no doors. The danger is that this building is not belonging to the orphanage. They can be evicted anytime. The government law requires
males and females should be separated in orphanages. As a result females of Kathiroli and Aravali orphanages have been allowed to stay in one house. This house has very small room and is lacking kitchen facilities. Though it demands a monthly rent of Rs 10 000, the management pays only Rs 6500 ( Around 65 euro). Like all the orphanage building, this too was dark inside and lacked lighting facilities.

A half built well was in Kathiroli Orphanage. As it is incomplete, still they cannot get water from the well. A land was allocated for kathiroli to build a house. However there is no fund for the cost of the building.

The managements of the orphanages told us: “Orphans should be treated equally with the other kids in school. They should involve all the school activities as other children do. In order to do that the management do their best to buy the things which are necessary for the orphans. However there are no special funds for this purpose. According to the new curriculum students need to do assignments. A child needs Rs 500 for a month to do the assignments. Where should we go for the money”

Every year Tamil Diaspora communities in the OECD countries do raise money through Radio and Television programmes for the Orphanages in the North- Eastern Sri Lanka. Asked whether they receive any of them, Aravali management said no.

We were told that uthawi continues to help though it is very little for the needs of the kids. All Ceylon Hindu Foundation grants Rs 12000 monthly. There are rumours that this 12 000 allowance is going to be ceased. If that happens the situation of the orphanage would be catastrophic.

It was indicated in Uthawi web that orphanages that are registered in government can get donations from government. I asked whether they get any such assistance from government. The management of the orphanages told me that though they requested the government years ago no assistance was given from government.

The bottom line is that the present situation in orphanages worse than situation we described in Uthawi web. The financial assistance we channel through to orphanages is very little. That is not enough even to fulfil their basic needs. Only if a lot of well-wishers come forward and give their financial contribution, we can save the future of the orphans.

A child from the Manikkavasagar orphanage wrote a thought of the day: Tiny drops make the flood. Shall we make this statement sensible for the survival and the welfare of the orphans?

- Nirupa
(Germany)