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| Sunday, 9 January 2005 |
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Human qualities surface by Samangie Wettimuny At a time when Sri Lanka is struggling to recover from the worst ever natural disaster, Sri Lankans are in a way are fortunate that the world community has positively responded to our pleas. The friendship has even gone beyond mere government to government assistance to the level of people to people. The moving story of Rajiv Sodhi is a reflection of such individual contribution. Sordhi, IBM client manager for Financial Services says that he can't simply give the cold shoulder when the country is undergoing such a traumatic experience, "my concern for the country is so much that I felt guilty to sit and wait without doing anything". Sordhi who is half Dutch and half Indian and married to a Sri Lankan, was holidaying in Colombo on this fateful day. Not knowing anything about this incident, he was worried as the taxi they hired did not arrive on time. "But when I got to know what has happened I felt guilty to do shopping. The death toll was increasing at an alarming rate. Thousands of people were displaced. Their belongings were washed away "He cancelled his schedule and volunteered to look into the needs of distressed people. Since then his entire holiday was spent on assisting tsunami victims. Through a SMS message written in an appealing manner he requested his friends and colleagues in the company for their cash donations. The response was enormous. All the cash donations were given through credit cards in order to avoid corruption. BP Solutions in Holland was the first to respond with a donation of two thousand dollars. IBM had given fifty thousand euros. LGL Electronics where his wife works also contributed. His mother and friends in Germany had a collection of three thousand and 1500 euros respectively. His intention was to use the money he collected in the most efficient manner. So it was after the careful analysis of their necessities that he decided to provide displaced people with medication, mineral water, food items and baby products. "Medical supplies were the first to go to Batticoloa" Sordhi says appreciating the support given by his friends in Sri Lanka, particularly by Suneth Weerasingha, Simon Lorenz and Dr. Romesh Nawarathna. "Without them my attempt would have never become a success. "Four of them had a discussion with the prime minister regarding the distribution of medication and afterwards Health Minister quite willingly permitted them to take the supplies in a plane. He appreciated the support given by the Prime Minister, Health Minister, armed forces and people in Sri Lanka. He was overwhelmed by the hospitality of Sri Lankans. They are quite friendly, patient and helpful. Winding up his conversation, Sordhi said that he loves Sri Lanka and her people. He is genuinely interested in rebuilding the country and the sincere desire is shown in his face. Though this is an extremely tragic situation, in a way we should be happy that, it has brought to the surface many human qualities. |
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