Assistance galore from Daily Mirror readers to stranded mother’s children

• Immediate arrangements were made by authorities to help re-unite with her children 
• It was the only request of the three children
• Hundreds of Daily Mirror readers have volunteered to help the children aged 14, 07 and 05
• My children who were waiting for me, clasped my neck, kissed my cheeks and held me by the hand

The Daily Mirror news report that highlighted the predicament of three children from Pahala Giribawa in Pothanegama in Kurunegala and their mother who had been stranded in Kuwait when the proposed employer refused to provide her employment, has brought relief to them within 24 hours.   

The poignant tale of their adversity had drawn the attention of the authorities including Minister Manusha Nanayakkara, the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment and the Sri Lankan Embassy in Kuwait that made immediate arrangements for their mother Wasana Fernando to re-unite with them. It was the only request of the three children.   

Hundreds of Daily Mirror readers have volunteered to help the three children aged 14, 07 and 05 struggling against different odds and to help their mother to make a livelihood.   

Narrating her dire situation, she said she was confined to a room for months in an employment agency in Kuwait and all her hopes to provide a house for her children was shattered when the proposed employer refused to provide her employment.    

“I informed my sad plight to several individuals but to no avail. Ultimately I found Dambulla Daily Mirror correspondent Mr. Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa’s name on Facebook and contacted him over the phone. He heard my story and later met my three children. The officers of the Kuwait Embassy and the Sri Lankan authorities including the Foreign Employment Bureau focused immediate attention on the Daily Mirror news report. I returned to Sri Lanka on Sunday afternoon. I travelled from Katunayake to Galgamuwa by bus from where Mr. Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa transported me to my house at Pahala Giribawa, a distance of about 25 kilometres. My children who were waiting for me, clasped my neck, kissed my cheeks and held me by the hand. There were several others gathered at my house to see me. Among them was the Chief Incumbent of Mahiyangana temple Ven. Urulewatte Dhammarakkitha Thera. The Ven. Thera inquired about  my reason for going abroad. My only expectation was to provide shelter for my three children. He undertook to fulfill it and build a house for us by February next year. We have received urgent relief including food stuffs and clothes for my children. I have received Rs.75,000 from the Daily Mirror readers and Rs. 25,000 from Ven, Dhammarakkitha Thera to make a living through self-employment, most preferably brick making, in which I am experienced. Several others have undertaken to help my children to continue their schooling. All this is like a dream for me,” She said   

She expressed her gratitude to the Daily Mirror correspondent Kanchan Kumara Ariyadasa and the authorities who were instrumental in bringing relief to her family.