Welcome to S4C.
We are a charitable group set up purely to help the people of Sri Lanka.
After the Tsunami disaster on December 26th 2004 many children - some, young babies - were left without parents or any family at all.
In 2009 I was contacted by one man from Sri Lanka.
The Tsunami had changed his life forever.
His story changed mine.


Rasika Bandara - Rasi to his friends - contacted me one day in October 2009.

I am a Martial Arts Instructor which is why he contacted me initially, I said I would help him as much as I could and do my best to teach him what and when I could.
The title Sifu in this instance can be translated as Teacher.
This is his third email to me after 2 brief ones to make contact. It is actually only the first part of his email as it is three times the length but the rest is about training in the arts and I won't bore you with it.
I haven't edited it apart from removing his student's name so please excuse the grammar.

Thank you for taking time to read it.


I feel it is a great honour and a pleasure to be able to write to you like this and I think of it as a great thing for me and my Country Sri Lanka. I hope that you and family are keeping fine and also I believe that your works and the rest are being done quite successfully with you Sifu. First I wish you all success! As yours sincere Student in Sri Lanka. 

 

Sifu, I’ writing this text from a Refugee Camp that helpless people live from Tidal Wave which situated in South region of Sri Lanka. Sifu, I love my Gung-Fu it’s our future. Also I love these poor innocent people in the Southern areas in Sri Lanka. Before the Tsunami Tidal Wave I have dedicated my services during the last four years for the innocent people in the North-East region which War torn area in Sri Lanka, I have gone hundreds of miles from my home town on behalf of these poor and the needy people who have lost everything. That they possessed and done my duty. I have stayed with them a month every three months to do my works. The days that I am away on my duties on human rights I have delegated the responsibility of my classes and teaching to a very closely associated student xxxxxxxxx who is also a certified Instructor at Hong Kong Ving Tsun Athletic Association. Unfortunately he was lost his two hands from the Tsunami in the year 2004 December. I think as a human who live in this world we must think about the people and we have to do something for our people. Because we all are human beings and we all are one blood. This is the truth and that’s why I think about those innocent Refugees. They lost their everything. Parents lost their babies, children lost their parents, brothers lost their sisters and they have nothing. To be frank I must tell you Sifu, there are lot of babies and children in this villages and Refugee Camps, but they have not even a good cloth to wear, but the Kindness of God they have U.N.H.C.R. ( United Nations High Commission for Refugees) and I.C.R..C (International Council of Red Cross) to take a breath. I’m a Martial Artist and I’m learning the true philosophy from it. For a god and a true life. To help those innocent people, children, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers for live. For smile with their children. My Sifu, if I give little help to these innocents, I believe that I will be able to finish my life as a good man. This is the real thing. To give the hands for the poor innocents and heal the World.

This is an email that asks for help for others, there are many more from Rasi asking for nothing for himself.

I was to find out in January 2010 that he lost his 18 month old daughter and four other members of his close family in the 04 disaster.

His wife gave birth in a refugee camp to his daughter - we call her Mini as I can't pronounce her actual name but it has mini in it - in January 2010.

On hearing this news I decided to help him rebuild his life by doing seminars to raise money and rebuild his house, the land is now under water so this would prove impossible. The government gave him a small piece of land just inside the jungle. Rather than build a house he suggested that we first build a Community Centre, after we can build his house on whatever is left of the land.

I tried to insist that he had the house first but he was adamant that the the community and the children there were more important.

So we have sent some money and the ground for the Centre has been cleared with hands, machines and Dynamite!

This site exists that with help we might do the rest.

Clive Whitworth.