Mohan and Sarah Seevaratnam have been in Sri Lanka since December 2000. Mohan is a GP, and works at a Christian healthcare centre in the outskirts of Colombo. Sarah’s main role has been being a homemaker, as they have two young daughters, Anna (8) and Rebekah (6).
On Sunday 26th December 2004, they were out in the morning and didn’t see the Tsunami reach to within fifty metres of their home. They returned to see the mud and debris all over the road – and all the other effects of the Tsunami.
Three days after the Tsunami, a group of medical personnel, including Mohan, were able to drive to one of the worst affected areas, with over 10,000 deaths: the eastern district of Ampara. They met one lady who had lost all her children. They saw a house where both the parents and the 2 young children died. And they met many people who were riddled with guilt because they had not been able to cling onto and save a loved one. These were, unfortunately, not untypical scenes.
It was not just immediate relief that was needed, but long term aid is also required. One project Mohan is involved in is “Navajeevana East” in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. The project is aimed at developing primary healthcare services in this devastated area. It is initially a three to five year project, in partnership with, and funded by, Tear Fund.
Mohan says: ‘We have started doing mobile clinics in 4 camps, with the ultimate aim being to set up one or two permanent healthcentres, promoting Christian values in healthcare The project is exciting and challenging, but also time consuming and demanding; and as with most work, it is having good human resources that is the most important but yet difficult to find.
‘We are still looking for a permanent doctor for the project. At the moment, on top of all our other work, we have been taking it in turns to do clinics every other week.’
Sri Lanka still has many problems, political instability being one of them, but, as Sarah says: ‘Like Job, we have to believe in God’s sovereignty at a time of tragedy. This helps us to avoid hopelessness amidst the struggle. We must believe that even out of this God will bring something good – and despite everything, people are being added to God’s church here.’