Prescription for relief

Andrew Edwards

After spending her winter break helping tsunami survivors overseas,

Imithri De Silva wants to put together a plan to continue relief

efforts from home.

De Silva, a 21-year-old neurobiology student at UC Irvine, was

visiting family in Colombo, Sri Lanka, when the South Asian tsunami

ravaged shorelines in that country on Dec. 26.

De Silva was not in an area that was directly affected by the

waves, she said, and though she felt moved to help the survivors, the

Sri Lankan government blocked travel to devastated villages to

prevent relief traffic from getting bogged down.

De Silva, an aspiring doctor, and others who wanted to lend aid

had little trouble finding places where they could give their time.

She spent much of her time in the island nation sorting donated

clothing and medical supplies headed to the disaster zone.

“I’ve never worked so hard in my life,” she said. “We were crammed

into a little room, 50 of us, that was 4 feet deep in clothes, and

when you step in, you just sink in clothes.”

De Silva returned to the United States from her native Sri Lanka

on Jan. 5, and then back to UC Irvine. She remembered having a hard

time tearing herself away from her volunteer work overseas, but she

was inspired to find a way that she could help stateside.

“There are lots of people down there on the front lines, and I

thought I could do what I could down here,” she said.

De Silva said she is still trying to plan a way to channel aid to

Sri Lanka.

The two avenues that interest her most are providing long-term

support to orphaned children and psychological counseling to the

survivors.

Children who lost their parents to the tsunami will need help for

years, De Silva said. She carried a letter from the chairman of Sri

Lanka’s National Child Protection Authority. In the letter, the

chairman, Harendra de Silva, who is not related to Imithri De Silva,

wrote that the agency has set up a fund to provide for care over the

long-run.

Imithri De Silva said she wants to find people willing to sponsor

children over an extended period.

“We need some people who are committed on the long-term,” Imithri

de Silva said.

She is also hoping to support psychological teams sponsored by the

Damrivi Foundation, a Sri Lankan aid group motivated by Buddhist

principles.

Anyone interested in contacting Imithri De Silva regarding tsunami

relief can reach her at [email protected].