|
EDGES MAGAZINE Issue 18 |
Ju1-Aug 1999 |
 |
| Joseph Vos is
one of our International Contributors. He speaks about his recent
visit to Children's Homes in Sri Lanka. I traveled from Amsterdam to Frankfurt and from Frankfurt to Colombo, which is the capital of Sri Lanka. The trip took me a total of fifteen hours including a three hour stopover in Frankfurt. Thank God, they did not give me any problems with the extra luggage. I brought with me about 20 kilos of teddy-bears etc. The customs people at the Colombo airport did not look at me so I think I was very fortunate. I exchanged most of the money that I had brought with me from Holland and Israel right there at the airport. Colombo reminds me much of the poor areas of East Jerusalem, but it is immensely spread out. There are not many high rise buildings and most of the buildings are in a very bad shape. There are approximately 3 million people in Colombo. Rev. Jeyanesan was waiting for me at the airport. I am impressed with his gentle and hospitable character. Rev. Jeyanesan took me from the airport in his red Mitsubishi van. We arrived at a little hospice after a very long drive through Colombo. We had agreed to spend a day in Colombo in order to purchase necessities for the home Rev. Jeyanesan shared with me about the work with the orphans. There are three orphanages, - one boys' home and two girls' homes. Children who have lost their parents, or whose parents have left them with the orphanage to care for, will receive love, food and education. They are growing up to love the Lord Jesus and learn to take their share of the workload. Equally, there are several day-care centres where children come during the day-time and receive very nutritious food and milk with added vitamins and minerals. Also there are vocational training centres in at least three places. Here the older children receive training for helping them to find jobs after they finish studies and leave the homes. In his three orphanages there are three kinds of children: Children who have lost both parents, children who have lost one parent and were left behind in the orphanage and children of parents who do not want to care for their children and would otherwise have been left alone on the streets. A Sri Lankan will not be very concerned for the children as they see ill-fate as a result of punishment for some bad thing they did in their former life. They can always make more children, so when a child is run down in traffic, this is also not seen as a big problem. I am appalled by this attitude. We started our journey to Batticaloa at 6 o'clock in the morning. The trip took us seven hours driving through the most dangerous traffic I have ever seen. When we saw an accident I was told that many people die on the roads. At least half of our journey was through country that best could be described as semi-jungle, semi-vacation village style. It was very beautiful. As we approached the east coast, the country side changed more into steppe kind, as in Africa. The soil became sandy instead of muddy. We crossed the line were no tourists are allowed (until here, we saw only about ten of them). Rev. Jeyanesan put up a flag on the van, which gave the van immunity status by the army. It is a white flag with a blue cross. The soldiers did not stop us, only once did he have to get out and register his vehicle. Others were held up at road blocks for twenty-four hours. This is so that time-bomb devices would have time to explode We saw a van with a catholic nun and others stranded. We tried to help and I was reminded not to walk off the side of the road as land mines were sure to kill me. This is war-zone. We went to a small girls' home with between 40 and 50 girls. These girls live in this place that is partially controlled by the army and partially controlled by the Tamil guerrillas. The orphanage is run by a specially trained female warden and other staff. The children have been expecting us and have been waiting with lunch until I arrive. I feel sorry for them that they had to wait for my arrival. The children say a prayer in Tamil and start to eat. They are enjoying the meal that is rich in nutritious vegetables, meat or fish and rice. They finish with a mix of various fruits. Most of these children have been deserted by their parents, who do not wish to care for them. The sub-sub-standard living conditions are obvious. No refrigerator in this hot climate means no ability to keep your food fresh. The fish they eat is dried. The one-cup-a-day of milk they receive is made from powdered milk with added vitamins and minerals. The "new" bathrooms are holes in the ground with a pot to keep the "stuff" from coming back. The cleaning of the toilet consists of spraying everything with lots of water. This they call a watershed toilet. The children all sleep on little straw mats on the hard concrete floor. Each child has a tiny suitcase. I ask for a volunteer to show me what is in her suitcase. Two little girls want to show me their suitcases. They have a dress, a T-shirt, shorts and another dress. They also have a little soapbox that they received from the home. I found no underwear, no socks, no towel, no toys, no pens and until today nothing to protect their little feet from the hot ground. They have no rings, no watches, no dolls, no playhouse, nothing. One girl has a little flask with a little piece of paper in it, a little branch of some plant, but nothing else. The other girl has except for clothes and a soapbox, no personal belongings. To see this is heart-rending. What girl in the west does not have a plastic ring, a fluffy this and a picture of that. You know what I mean. Also on my journey we visited the boys home. I was received heartily. . I spoke to them warmly, encouraging the older boys to refrain from becoming a soldier. I told them that they were going to get presents, which they will need to share with one another. We had them stand outside. There are 126 boys in this home. I had them line up from the youngest to the eldest. One by one they could choose from among all the animals that they preferred. We had a lot of fun when a child would pick a big monkey or an elephant. Some children nearly exploded from excitement, but contained themselves in good behaviour. They are very happy with their toys. I took a picture of each orphaned child. I spend a long time with the children of the home. They performed all kinds of songs and dances before me. This went on for many hours. They were standing around me, wanting to hold my hand. They found my skin very interesting. You can feel the hunger these poor children have for love. Some of the smallest called me "ABBA" meaning "father". After tearing myself away from them, I spent some time planning with Rev. Jeyanesan Curfew is at seven in the evening. Anyone who is out on the streets will be arrested or shot. I did not feel I could afford being caught. As we returned, we saw a lot of people racing home before curfew. Many on foot, the others on bicycle. There are almost no private vehicles here. Even the relatively rich people drive around on motorcycles. There will be army jeeps speeding by every now and then, but even they are not often seen alone. This is a place even soldiers fear. Personally, I am impressed with the cowardice of the soldiers. Stupid decisions are evident in a lot of their actions. They will clear the streets when a convoy of the army passes. This way they guarantee that if they are blown up, no Tamils are hurt. I don't think this is their intention though. Just before the convoy came by, an officer instructed a man to leave the area. After he left, the officer obviously was delighted to be alive. He feared suicide bombers. We both look forward to working together in enhancing the lives of these precious little children. May God help us. |
