Sisters comes through for orphanage

The well-known generosity of the Sisters community has had an international impact in the wake of the Southeast Asian tsunami.

With individual donations ranging from $5 to $1,000, a combined check in the amount $7,565.53 was sent to Samaritan Home Relief, Inc. from the Sisters community on February 3.

The funds will be used to help rebuild the Samaritan Children’s Home orphanage, which was completely destroyed by a 30-foot wall of water on December 26.

Orphanage founder Dayalan Sanders saved himself, his family and all 28 of the children in his care, loading them into a small motorboat that rode out the surge (see The Nugget, January 5).

Sanders, an American of Sri Lankan descent, vowed to rebuild the orphanage. His story struck a chord with many in the United States, including here in Sisters.

“I was extremely pleased with the amount raised in such a short period,” said Sisters fund-drive organizer Kiki Dolson, co-publisher of The Nugget. “The story touched many in our community. As seems to be the repeated case with the Sisters community, the call for help is answered. Thank you to the many who gave so generously.”

Sanders has a long, hard road ahead of him, even with the outpouring of financial support from the United States.

Sanders’ sister Diyana Sanders, an elementary school counselor in Maryland, told The Nugget that her brother has been working his way through a tangled Sri Lankan bureaucracy trying to reconstitute the documentation for the orphanage that was lost in the disaster.

And he is having a very hard time finding temporary quarters for his orphanage.

As of last week, he thought he had secured two houses next to each other — one for the boys and one for the girls — in the town of Batticaloa, not far from the original site of the orphanage.

According to his sister, he’s just hoping they’re not rented out from under him as a bidding war for housing escalates in the area. It’s happened to Sanders time and again in the past month.

Diyana Sanders said that relief workers with foreign dollars are outbidding locals for housing and driving up rents. It’s an ironic flip-side of strenuous relief efforts that are helping the are recover from the catastrophe.

According to a January 26 story in The Washington Post, “since the tsunami, at least 200 humanitarian aid organizations have arrived” in Sri Lanka.

“But aid groups say they aren’t to blame for price escalation,” the Post reported. “They say businesses and real estate owners who increase prices when they see the groups coming are responsible.”

The story cited a veteran aid worker who said he has seen such activities in other disaster areas such as the Sudan.

Rent isn’t the only thing that’s going up, Diyana Sanders said.

“Everything has skyrocketed,” she said. “Everything has gone up like three times more.”

That includes the cost of labor and materials for rebuilding.

According to his sister, Dayalan Sanders wants to rebuild the orphanage on a larger scale than previously. That’s driven in part by the gruesome toll of the disaster itself. There are many more orphans in the area to care for.

Sanders also wants to add a vocational facility.

The price tag is about $400,000 and rising, Diyana Sanders said.

Sanders is a long way from that dream. The orphanage site is still inaccessible by vehicle; five feet of sand cover the road. He’s done some work by hand to start clearing the site, but heavy equipment is needed and it can’t get through. No one knows when the road will be open.

And it’s not even clear at this point that the Sri Lankan government will allow Sanders to rebuild on the same location.

Sanders says her brother is holding up pretty well.

“He’s doing okay,” she said. “He’s very overwhelmed with the things he has to do. He’s tired.”

But despite the long grind ahead, “he says he’s not giving up.”

Diyana Sanders said the response from donors has been astonishing.

“People have been very, very generous and warm,” Diyana Sanders said.

“It’s not just the monetary donations that have been pouring in.”

She said prayers and good-wishes have been greatly appreciated, too.

Anyone still wishing to donate may go to www.samaritanchildrenshome.org or by mailing to Samaritan Home Relief, Inc., P.O. Box 83608, Gaithersburg, MD 20883.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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