Latest News

Latest News in; ‘Housing’

Oct

2009

House Destroyed

I first met Kumara when he was working on a construction crew at my house in 2004 near Kandy. He had been working at a small biscuit factory until he lost his job and found some day-labor construction work. Although he was one of many day workers, I got to know him over time and soon learned about the condition of his home and family.

Kumara is a young man, age 25. He is the father of two; one boy, age of 5 and one girl, age 2. His wife also worked in the same biscuit factory and due to an asthmatic condition she had to quit her job. She needs daily medicines to control her asthma.

I first visited their house when the baby girl was born and. I was devastated by the scene. They live by the river and their house was built with mud, no proper floor, and a leaking roof. I tried to help them with some building materials, but this was not sufficient enough to make a decent house. I also checked the possibility of rebuilding the house through Community Friends, but there was not enough money available.

Before Kumara came to work with our contractor at my home, he was working at the biscuit factory in one of his shifts he worked with the cutting machines. There was a terrible accident and Kumara lost four of his fingers on his left hand. He could no longer work in the biscuit factory and he asked the factory management for some compensation. After many requests he managed to get only Rs. 100,000 or USD $100. This was not a sufficient amount and, factory management started to harass him when he requested more assistance.

Because of his financial situation he began working overtime with the construction project at my home. When the construction finished he was unemployed again, so I asked him to come to my house and help me with my yard work.

This morning I contacted Kumara to check his availability for working in my yard this weekend… He said that he couldn’t come because last night the rain knocked down his house and he is trying to fix it before the next rain comes.

We are doing what we can to help this young family, however, our resources are limited.

Thanks,

Seevali Ratnakara

Jan

2009

Latha’s Pregnancy

Community Friends’ health clinic in Waitalawa, Sri Lanka, is in a remote mountain village situated in one of the best high-elevation tea plantation regions. Before we started offering monthly free clinics at the village, people had to walk nearly 10 kilometers to even reach a bus or three-wheeler to then take them to a local doctor. Our monthly clinics provide onsite health care led by our volunteer, Dr. Ajith, and other volunteer medical staff.

Last year, Latha, a newly married 22-year old woman came to our clinic. She lives with her parents and husband. Her husband works as a farmer in a small village far away from Waitalawa. After Latha’s marriage, her parents and husband wanted her to have a child immediately. Although she loves children, Latha explained that she was not emotionally ready. Her parents asked us to talk to their daughter about the situation.

latha

Seevali, one of our directors, along with our female doctor talked with Latha a couple of times and learned that she is afraid of becoming pregnant. We suggested therapy and our doctors began working with her. After only one month of therapy, we were surprised to hear that she was pregnant. She had decided to have a child without telling the doctors. She said that she “must please her parents and husband.” Her morning sickness became a serious illness compounded by her fear of pregnancy. Latha experienced continuous vomiting, no food intake at all, dehydration, and fainting until she suddenly collapsed. That night her mother called us for help. We went to the village and found Latha in very bad condition and immediately transported her to Kandy General Hospital about an hour’s drive from the village. Latha was admitted to the hospital and Dr. Ajith was alerted. Doctors at the hospital said that both Latha and her unborn baby were in critical danger.

Everything happened so quickly even her husband, who was away in another village working, didn’t know anything about the illness until he came home. While Latha was hospitalized, Seevali stayed with her each day, feeding her and personally monitoring her condition with hospital staff to make certain she was getting enough medical attention. The public hospital system requires having someone serve as a patient’s medical advocate. After three days in the hospital, Latha’s condition stabilized and she returned home to Waitalawa safely.

Latha is still coming to our monthly medical clinics and she is in good health now. Thanks to all Community Friends well-wishers and staff, we expect Latha will become a happy mother of a healthy child later this month.

Thanks,

Deva Ratnakara