Looks like all of you got a shitload of loot this Christmas. That’s great. So are you guys maybe willing to help out some children on the other side of the world? Lemme explain. Two stories converge at this point.
Story 1.My dad sold his company some 10 years ago and wanted to give something back, so to speak. While he could have donated a sum of money to any given well-known charity, he opted for a small-scale project. A foundation near to where I live called
‘Prithipura Infant Home Son’ had at that point been working with handicapped children from Sri Lanka for some 20 years. They erect children’s clinics and pay for the staff (‘akkas’) who look after the both mentally and physically handicapped kids. No reason to beat around the bush here: these kids were often killed by their parents in the past as they had no means to take care of them. Obviously there are more handicapped children than the hospitals could handle, so my family decided to build a new one. The new hospital was completed some 9 years ago and was called ‘Jananna’; a tribute to my grandparents (Jan and Anna) which coincidentally means ‘All People’.
Some information from the website and pictures of what the building looked like:
Jananna - Responsible for this group is akka Menité. About 16 children are living in Jananna. They have different development levels and different ages. The age differs from 4 to 19 years. In this group children learn to eat together. They have to learn how to chew. They eat bread with milk and a food supplement (soya and banana), and rice with curry. Cleanness is an important issue. Some of the children in this group develop fast and can go to other groups, where the development level is higher.
Story 2.In the wake of the tsunami that hit the Asian region on the 2nd day of Christmas, the Prithipura project was not spared. While they are located to the west of Sri Lanka which wasn’t hit anywhere near as fiercely as the south and east, the project’s proximity to the coast ensured it didn’t escape the ravage. The first wave hit at nine in the morning. Several children were already outside and got submerged in the 4 foot wave that hit the building and everything surrounding it. Volunteers and villagers rushed to get all the children out in time, and they succeeded. They were taken to higher ground without casualties. A good thing too, because several moments later, the second wave (some 7 feet) hit and submerged the whole lower floor. It is no exaggeration to say that if this had happened, say, during the night, every single child in there would have died (most can’t even move on their own, let alone grasp what’s going on).
We’re still receiving reports at this point. Like I said: no casualties. Some 70,000 other people weren’t this lucky. Structural damage to the building: minimal. It was built well (unlike most other buildings in the region) and had an open structure as you can see in the pics. The up side of this is that the water flowed through more or less freely, not bringing down the building itself. The downside is: everything they had is gone. And I’m not just talking food, diapers and toys here. I’m talking custom beds and dozens of wheelchairs. Medical supplies. Furniture. All washed the fuck away. These kids have
nothing at all anymore.
Why I posted this.Because I want your money. First things first: I cleared this with Zherbus. Ofcourse the foundation is trying to raise money on all sorts of fronts at this moment, but I figured I might give this community a try. Look at the stuff you got for Christmas. Look at the hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of cards you have. And then look at this:
Feel bad? Hate me for making you justify your inaction? Good. I’m like you. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s begging. But I’m not begging for myself here; I’m begging for these kids. If any of this touches you
at all, please make a small donation to my Paypal account.
What guarantees do we have that you won’t use this money for cards?To be frank: none. This is an ad-hoc action; an idea I only just had; only one of the ideas the foundation’s members are feverishly trying to come up with. There’s of course an official bank number for the foundation, but wiring money from the States to The Netherlands costs heaps of cash, whereas Paypalling it costs none. I’m basically asking you guys to take my word for it. To those who don’t know me: I can offer you nothing but the last picture
on this page (the one with my father opening the hospital), in which you will find my last name on the plaque. To those who do know me: I hope you know me well enough by know to believe this is not a scam. I’m not asking for big sums of money, either. I’m asking for
whatever you can spare. Believe me, it will be appreciated. I won’t be bitter if you don’t, and I won’t think you’re cheap if you only donate a buck or two. Anything at all will help. I know there’s other charities out there with better names and higher goals, but I’m just trying to help out
these kids, and I sincerely hope this community will see fit to contribute to their future.
Paypal to:
p_verhees@chello.nlSubject:
‘donation’Please Note:
International senders should set the "Type" of their donation as 'Service'; 'Quasi-Cash' is apparently not allowed.Thanks for reading.
- Bram
---------------------------
(please note that the disaster picture is not an actual picture of the Jananna project. It is a Reuters picture of elsewhere in Sri Lanka. No pics of the aftermath are available to us yet, but I'll post when we get them)
