This is Madara's Dad in Sri Lanka. He is a proud man. His small grocery business failed and his whole family went rapidly downhill. Neither his extended family nor his neighbours could afford to help him.
So, after several days of not having any food and putting a brave face on it all, the Sankalpani family contacted me in a blind panic.
I know this family from a few years ago when they kindly helped us build a house for their neighbours across the road [see blog entries below].
Instantly i understood that Madara's plea for help was genuine and extremely urgent.
Thanks to your generosity [and at a time when we are all really feeling the pinch here in Ireland], we were able to express some emergency funds for food imediately. A couple of weeks later, we sent over enough money to re-stock their grocery shop and get things going again in the lives of this wonderful family.
Below you will see Madara's Dad totally ignoring the camera while he carefully re-stocks the shop and gets ready for relaunching the business. Below that is a load of photographs showing the family themselves and the contents of their new shop.
The Sankalpani family have asked me to say 'many many thanks for all your help. You have saved our lives and will always be in our hearts and prayers'.
