LW

The Discovery

They were a middle class happy family with Bandara working at a bakery whilst Malkanthi supported in various other ways to collect money to bring up their children. Two years ago, when Bandara got up from bed one morning, he discovered that he could not see. When he mentioned to his wife, at first she thought that he was joking. A few minutes later, Bandara assured her that he had lost his sight. Malkanthi, his wife, was disappointed, but was courageous enough to take him to the best doctors in the country, unfortunately, the doctors could not help them, but recommended that if they take him to India, they would have a better chance of curing. Malkanthi is a strong woman, so along with her children, she managed to save up enough money to take their father to India.

The bitter truth

As we know, going to another country means a lot of funds should be available, so she started making a living by preparing and selling breakfast and lunch. Then, she managed to rent a small boutique at Sri Gunananda Mawatha, Kotahena and still continues to make a living. They live in a small place down the same road and with them two other families live in the same house. The support she receives from her parents and the rest of the family is immense when it comes to helping them look after the children, especially her younger sister takes care of the studies of the two children. When they finish their school work they stay in the boutique with Malkanthi and support their mother by just being by her side observing the hardships she has to go through to provide for them. The two children are very well brought up, as they understand at a young age and keep praying everyday to GOD, to provide their father with sight.

Supporting all the way

Malkanthi was very positive, that her husband will definitely be cured, and she continues to believe in God. “with God all things are possible…” (taken from the Holy Bible of Matthew 19:26) were the words that she uttered as we stepped in to a very small house with barely enough room to turn, but they are happy that they are together. In most cases, we have noticed that when something happens to the spouse, instead of helping get back they just leave, whether husband or wife, but those like Malkanthi belong to the category of those who have faith in GOD and wish to steer the family out of the hardships they face.

The cry of the children and Malkanthi

When we went to their place, the only cry from the four of them were to provide some assistance to bring back his sight. The first time she managed to collect money and take him to India, but it had to be a constant practice, as the doctors had advised that they should visit at least every three months for medication. This is a hard task that Malkanthi tries to fulfill. The articles carried in the media supported them once about a year ago, but now she is humbly appealing to anyone who could let her beloved see again. “My children and I can make a living by selling the breakfast and lunch packets but if their father could see again, he too could support and we will be able to build our own house and raise our kids to be good citizens. When articles were published, there were some who supported by way of cash and I am truly grateful to them, we even received a little bit of money from the President’s fund but still it was not enough. I will not have to appeal like this if Bandara had his sight, as then we could have managed to support ourselves, but please help us in this time of need…” were the words uttered by Malkanthi with tears in her eyes.

Please help my father see us again…

Her appeal is simple and what we hope is that there will be someone out there who could reach out to her and regain her husband’s sight. If you could support Bandara, please call 0724188577 or write to them at 60/22, Sri Gunananda Mawatha, Kotahena.