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Dr. Sathaharan Sundaralingam, 'Will Be Greatly Missed'
(By James A. Mitchell, VeAhavta Press Officer)
"With great sadness," VeAhavta President and Founder Eric Parkinson reported the departure of Dr. Sathaharan Sundaralingam, who left Mercy Home and the Grace Care Center July 29 due to a transfer to a Colombo medical facility.
"Dr. Satha," as residents, staff and VeAhavta volunteers know him, was far more than simply a visiting physician. Friend, teacher, advisor were how Satha was known; he was instrumental in keeping the Grace community going against a host of challenges.
"He's been a kind and loyal friend, and a positive role model for the staff and children," Parkinson said. "Without his help in Mercy Home's first critical year of operation, the facility never would have been the success it is."
Satha's partnership with VeAhavta and Grace Care Center began in early 2005, when the first post-tsunami volunteer team investigated a partnership with Trincomalee General Hospital -- at which Satha was senior medical officer -- and St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Visiting doctors included Rushdi Abdul Cader, Naresh Gunaratnam, Cheryl Huckins and Gina Amalfitano; the initial plan was an offer to help. Instead, the American doctors realized how much they could learn from Sri Lankan physicians, who worked with severely limited resources.
"They're very smart," Amalfitano said of Satha and his staff. "They make the most out of what they have."
From advisor and consultant, Satha quickly became a familiar face at Mercy Home following its May 2005 opening. The facility's administrative planners, Huckins and Amalfitano, were in frequent contact with Satha as the beds at Mercy filled with elders, each with complicated medical histories that Satha patiently tended while educating the staff.
"Every staff member and their families have received kind and expert care," Amalfitano said of Satha's informal residency. "The staff have learned and grown under his tutelage."
Satha learned his patient demeanor from experience. In the early 1990s, his name was first on the list of applicants for the University of Jaffna Medical School, an education that took nearly twice as long as usual: Twice the campus fell victim to the explosions of war, and classes had to be relocated.
That patience was further tested by the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami. Satha virtually lived at Trincomalee General Hospital, and a small staff struggled against a dramatic increase to an already overwhelming caseload. Patients lay on mats in crowded basement hallways, infants doubled or tripled up on limited bed space. During January, the hospital averaged between 700 and 1,000 outpatient visits daily.
Still, each patient received the same dedication that Satha brought to Mercy Home, where he made regular visits, separate from his exhausting responsibilities at the hospital. Diane McLaughlin, manager of Grace Care Center, said that replacing Satha might be done from a medical standpoint, but he had become far more than just a doctor.
"He is a great human being with a heart of gold," said McLaughlin, who will remember her casual conversations with Satha as much as his work. "His sense of humor with the elders and staff really added quite a spin on elder care over here."
McLaughlin said Satha worked tirelessly during the early months of Mercy Home, training the staff to care for elders who haven't had access to medical care for years, if not decades. Satha told McLaughlin he enjoyed working with the people of Grace Care Center, and that Mercy Home was among the best facilities of its kind in Sri Lanka.
"The man will be greatly missed," McLaughlin said.
Above: Dr. Satha speaking with Hiram Labrooy, Mercy Home Program Director,
during a staff training session
Above: Dr. Satha speaking during his farewell ceremony at Mercy Home
 A Place of Peace; a Place to Call Home
By James A. Mitchell
When people think "orphanage" they typically don't consider those most vulnerable to being alone, with no one to care for them. In the poverty-stricken, war-ravaged regions of northern Sri Lanka, the plight of destitute seniors mirrored that of the nation's many children with nowhere to turn.
That was the challenge facing VeAhavta -- to duplicate for the senior population the spirit of home and community found in the faces of the children of Grace Care Center.
In spite of setbacks (to include the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami) and the risk of incorporating the many ethnicities, religions and castes of Sri Lanka living under one roof, Mercy Home has succeeded beyond even the visionary dreams of those who made it possible. Some call it "magic," others a "miracle." For nearly three dozen grateful Sri Lankans, it has become, simply, "Home."
"I am proud to be the first resident of this home," said 72-year-old Mrs. Gunawathy. In a speech given during an anniversary celebration on May 28, 2006, Mrs. Gunawathy recalled that, when she first came to Mercy Home, experience told her to be cautious against believing that she would soon be taken care of. She learned that she could depend upon the staff, the other elders, and Mercy Home itself.
Mercy Home was an ambitious project when conceived in 2004 as a residence for elders in a region struggling to meet the most basic human needs. Rev. Dr. S. Jeyanesan and VeAhavta founder and President Eric Parkinson saw what others couldn't -- or wouldn't -- according to Dr. Sathaharan Sundaralingam, the facility's medical consultant.
"Many people would have thought to build a hotel on this land," he said. "But Mr. Parkinson and Rev. Jeyanesan planned to build an elders home. You cannot see many people thinking like this."
Mercy Home is truly unique, in many ways. Rev. Jeyanesan called it, "The first of its kind in this region with such facilities." Jeyanesan expressed his gratitude to Parkinson, the VeAhavta volunteers who committed their energies and talents to the project, and the staff and medical consultants who take care of the residents.
"We take care of very sickly and weak people, and show them the love of God through our care and concern," Jeyanesan said. Mercy Home is side-by-side with Grace Children's home. Both of these homes have programs so that the orphan children can feel the company of the wise elders."
As the residents have stood the test of time, Mercy Home itself demonstrated an appropriate determination. The project suffered setbacks when the tsunami battered its under-construction walls, but VeAhavta volunteers and staff worked harder still, and the first dozen residents (of an eventual 82) were admitted in May 2005. Volunteer doctors and planners worked with the staff, including Mr. Wicky, to present standards of elder care comparable to that found in the United States. Given the proper direction, the staff was eager to comply.
"I am very proud to work in this home," Mr. Wicky said. "I am lucky that I got to serve my older people at this age. I like this more than any other job in the world."
Conceived by Jeyanesan and adopted by Parkinson, the administration of Mercy Home was planned by Ann Arbor, Michigan Drs. Cheryl Huckins and Gina Amalfitano, who have made multiple trips to the facility since first traveling to Sri Lanka in February 2005.
Huckins said the anniversary was, "An opportunity to pay tribute to the phenomenal work done by the Mercy Home staff and elders. Under the most difficult of circumstances, they have worked together to make Mercy Home a true community."
Perhaps the secret ingredient to Mercy Home's success is that sense of community: Among the residents; with the staff; and with children of Grace Home and the day care students who frequently visit the elders. Gina Amalfitano was among the volunteers who watched the early interactions between the elders and children in August 2005.
"The mission always included the integration of the elders and the girls," said Amalfitano. "For me, it's been an almost magical experience. Inside those walls you can feel safe, at ease, and maybe at peace."
Mercy Home -- and the seven surrounding acres of Grace Care Center -- can serve as a model for the future of Sri Lanka, in which Tamils and Sinhalese, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Christians are able to live in peace.
"You are people of different ethnicities, religions and castes," Parkinson said on the occasion of the anniversary, "And yet you treat each other as brothers and sisters. Your peaceful and respectful coexistence is an inspiration to us all. I hope that each one of you feels needed because we need you: We need your wisdom -- that comes of experience -- to guide us and to guide the children of Grace Home."
Among VeAhavta's American volunteers, Diane McLaughlin has had the most contact with Mercy Home -- serving as in-residence manager since December 2005 -- but the beauty and miracle of Mercy still amazes her.
"Each day I spend here I see something unique, almost magical," McLaughlin said. One elder helping another, a nurse laughing at something said by a resident, children seated on the floor looking at age with respect. Many have told McLaughlin of their gratitude for being able to die in peace, having lived so long in a nation at war with itself.
"They look into each others eyes, and realize they are all in the same boat," McLaughlin said. "No matter what religion or ethnic background, they are thankful for the opportunity to live their remaining days here, at Mercy Home, in peace."
(Our thanks to Jim "Grasshopper" Mitchell, VeAhavta's Press Officer, for writing this article and contributing the photograph that appears above.)
Photo: Copyright 2006 by James A. Mitchell (used with permission)
Yesterday, the Lions Club of Trincomalee generously donated approximately 700 packets of Anchor Power Malted Food Drink to Mercy Home. Mr. A. S. James Samathar, president of the club, presented the packets to Mercy Home during a ceremony attended by other club members and the residents and staff of Mercy Home (see photo below).
Since 1917, Lions clubs have offered people the opportunity to give something back to their communities. From involving members in projects as local as cleaning up an area park or as far-reaching as bringing sight to the world's blind, Lions clubs have always embraced those committed to building a brighter future for their community. To read more about Lions Clubs, click here.
For many years the Lions Club of Trincomalee has continued in this fine tradition as evidenced by its countless acts of service towards people of different ethnicities throughout the Trincomalee District, including its recent donation to Mercy Home. The Lions stand for service to others and no where is this tradition better exemplified than in Trincomalee.
Our heartfelt thanks to the Lions Club of Trincomalee for its generous donation!
 There's a lyric from a Kid Rock song -- "I would die for you" -- that for most listeners probably inspires thoughts of epic love.
South Lyon teacher Erin Whaley heard that song recently, and the words instead prompted memories of a bus trip she took last year.
Volunteers with the organization VeAhavta had taken dozens of the orphan children from Grace Care Center in Sri Lanka on a field trip of sorts, a day's outing to a landmark monument. On the ride home, the bus was stopped at a military checkpoint. Soldiers climbed aboard for, perhaps, a routine check.
Whaley was well aware that similar situations have resulted in people (including children) being taken into custody. She rose from her seat, and stood in the aisle.
"I put as many of them behind me as possible," Whaley said of the orphan girls who have become her obsession. When Kid Rock sang, "I would die for you," Whaley immediately thought of those children.
"If it meant saving them from all the things they'll face, absolutely," Whaley said.
This weekend, Whaley is making her third trip to Grace Care Center, the orphanage in Trincomalee informally adopted by this community during last year's South Lyon to Sri Lanka campaign. Whaley first went in August 2005, with a group of volunteers including Diane McLaughlin, a Cleveland social worker.
Much had changed by the time Whaley returned in February 2006. Some in Sri Lanka had hoped that the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami that devastated its coast would help heal the war-torn nation. Shortly before California attorney Eric Parkinson founded VeAhavta and the Grace Care orphanage, a cease-fire agreement had been signed between the warring Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the Tamil Tigers).
However, Whaley returned to a tense, brink-of-war region. Weeks before her February visit, five boys were shot to death in Trincomalee, not far from where the Grace children go to school. Periods of violence throughout 2006 have killed more than 750 in the small island nation, most of it in the north and east.
Some of the changes Whaley saw in February were more life-affirming, including the Grace residency of McLaughlin. In December, McLaughlin began (theoretically) a one-year stay as manager of the orphanage complex, which includes a residence for destitute senior citizens, a day care operation and a vocational training center in addition to the orphanage.
Whaley's ongoing effort on behalf of VeAhavta is, founder and president Parkinson said, the secret to the organization's success.
"It's especially important to the Grace Home girls, who have benefited tremendously from Erin's educational expertise," Parkinson said. "The sustained involvement of volunteers lets the kids know that there are people who are committed to help, and the relationships that develop are beneficial to everyone. The girls know that they have a big sister in the U.S. who loves them and is trying to help."
The continued community support of VeAhavta and its mission has been seen in various forms, not the least being last year's fund-raising campaign that raised more than $22,000 for the organization. Ann Arbor Dr. Naresh Gunaratnam, a VeAhavta volunteer and head of the first post-tsunami team from southeast Michigan that traveled to Grace in February 2005, said that the connection is as impressive as the funds.
"Erin's commitment to the children of Grace demonstrates that the South Lyon involvement was not a transient exercise, but rather a sustained, heartfelt effort," Gunaratnam said.
Whaley has made many friends in VeAhavta, both with the children and the volunteers. Whaley and McLaughlin forged an inseparable bond last August, and remained in near-daily contact since. Next week's volunteer visit will mean as much to McLaughlin as to the children of Grace.
"She is as dedicated and driven to make a difference with these children over here as she is in South Lyon," McLaughlin said of Whaley. "She sees how intense the need is over here, and knows how much work it will take to sustain a hopeful future for them."
During her month-long stay, Whaley will continue working with Grace Home staff and volunteer tutors who work with the girls. "Home schooling" takes a new meaning in a climate where girls' school is routinely closed due to renewed violence in Trincomalee.
"Her passion for these children runs through her veins," McLaughlin said. "The fact that she keeps returning makes the girls here feel loved and important."
Eager to return, Whaley has been aware of the challenges facing the girls — and the volunteers — and equally aware of the potential danger to both.
"Grace wouldn't be there without taking risks," Whaley said. "Those kids wouldn't have what little they have without people taking risks."
(This story is reprinted with the permission of the South Lyon Herald; for reprints or any other use of this story, please contact the paper at (248) 437-2011. Our special thanks to Jim Mitchell, Sam Black and the South Lyon Herald for allowing us to post the story here.)
We have just posted five songs performed by the Grace Girls Home children to the Downloads page.
Special thanks to Jesse Kaltenbach for recording the songs and providing us with them.
We are in the process of creating a CD of the children's songs and will make them all available soon. In the meantime, enjoy hearing the voices of the "Grace Angels."
 If the civil war has again started in Sri Lanka, you wouldn't know it at the Grace Care Center - at least not today.
Today, at the invitation of Hiram Labrooy, the Co-Director of Mercy Home, the children of Grace Daycare paid a visit to the elders for soft drinks and tea to the delight of everyone. And fortunately, Hiram took lots of photographs, which are posted below.
Our special thanks to all of our donors and supporters who have helped to make a day like this possible for our brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka. And thank you, Hiram, for helping to keep hope alive for the children, elders and staff!
How wonderful it is to see the smiles and hear the laughter of children and elders - something those of us in the West so often seem to take for granted.
The "Love Without Borders Campaign" has now concluded and we are so pleased to report that the response was overwhelming.
Diane McLaughlin, the Grace Care Center manager, reports that an enormous number of cards, letters, pictures and notes were sent in response to the Campaign and that the residents and staff were all very moved by them.
All of the mail was collected and opened on a single afternoon by the children, elders and staff. Diane reports that "it was an amazing afternoon, filled with smiles, cheer, and even some tears...everyone felt loved and cared for by their 'extended families' in the U.S.A."
Diane also identified a few people who deserve a GREAT BIG THANK YOU due to the enormous amount of letters they sent, including:
* The Broadmoor Middle Magnet Beta Club of Baton Rouge, Louisiana - special thanks to the club and to teacher Wes Danruther for organizing the campaign;
* Kelly Gifford, an 8th Grade teacher from Bloomington, Indiana, who took on the project with her class and sent "tons of letters";
* Nicole Faubion and all of the other wonderful girls of Alpha Chi Omega Sorority at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, who sent - and got others to send - "hundreds of letters and post cards."
Since photos can say so much more than words, we have posted several photos of the letter-opening event below.
On behalf of VeAhavta and the children, elders and staff of the Grace Care Center, thank you so much for your loving support!
Well it's finally here! VeAhavta's newly-designed website is now on-line.
For those familiar with the old site, they will see many changes. All pages from the old site have been revised and updated, and several new pages have been added. Some of the new features we are most excited about are these:
* Donors may now sponsor children and elders on-line.
* Through the "Grace Poet's Corner," visitors can read poems and stories composed by the children of the Grace Girls Home.
* Many more photos are now available for viewing, including a photographic history of the Grace Care Center, accessible through the "News & Media - Photographs" page, and tsunami photos accessible through the "Tsunami Response" page.
* Donations may now be made as a gift for someone else, or in memory of a loved one.
* All visitors may download the new VeAhavta screensaver and wallpaper.
Additional changes to the website are coming very soon, including completely revamped volunteer pages; a special "Volunteer Center" that will provide special information just for registered volunteers, as well as a real-time calendar and a conferencing forum for on-line discussions; and special page for sponsors which they can visit to obtain updates on the children and elders.
Our special thanks go to Todd and Jasen at Red Canary Productions in San Luis Obispo for their outstanding work redesigning the website!
Please browse the new website, pass the word on and let us know if you have any problems or just want to recommend changes or additions. Thank you.
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