2008 Woodie Awards
Valley Tsunami Survivor
Valley faculty member has restoration plans for his native country of Sri Lanka.
LaGina Phillips
Issue date: 2/23/05 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
|
Last December, Al Amarawansa of Plant Facilities, was visiting friends and family on the island of Sri Lanka with his son, as they frequently do for the holidays. Normally, at that point in the trip, Amarawansa would travel the southern coast, but this time his son, 16-year-old Ravi, decided he wanted to stay in the midlands. On Dec. 26, when the wave approached the shores of the island, the father and son were safely stationed in the midland state of Kurunegala.
Amarawansa, or Al Amaray as he's known on campus, lost many friends in the disaster but believes he and his son were spared for a reason.
"There must be a natural reason we didn't go [to the coast]. We're lucky to be alive," he said. "Now, we need to do good for society."
Amarawansa began relief efforts immediately. He and his son traveled north to Anuradhapura to gather supplies and take them to Trincomalee.
"We have a moral, ethical and social responsibility to help those in need," he said. Amarawansa is also director of outreach and international co-ordination for The Dharma Vijaya Temple, a local Buddhist temple. "The day after it hit, I called the temple and we started campaigning for funds."
The temple, officially endorsed by the Sri Lankan government, has a goal of raising $2.5 million to build 1,000 homes in heavily-hit areas. So far, the temple has raised more than $150,000.
Volunteers from the temple left for Sri Lanka on Feb. 15 to survey and report back to the temple. Another group will follow with needed supplies for the restoration project.
"We plan to build about 50 houses, a community center and playground - a complete community," said Reverend Cintamani from the Temple.
Cintamani said the Temple is staying hands-on with the project because "we're not comfortable sending the money to big corporations ... we want to stay personally involved."
