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.)

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