Jun 14 2016.
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Buzz!!!! With Danu - Kamilka Perera
Today I have someone who I have respected for a long time now, knowing all what she does is NOT a show but it’s a calling and is done with no expectations whatsoever. I met her way back in 2008 with the CCC Foundation project. Kamilka who is small in size but big with her selfless gesture is an inspiration to many, and her mom is just a ball of love, and together they create a great team in helping the most deserving place to be at, and that’s the Maharagama Cancer Hospital.
I can never say how great I feel to share the story behind her great work, and she did not even want to show her face, but it did take some convincing, so here is a story that will inspire you.
Full Name - Kamilka Perera
Hometown - Mount Lavinia
Status - Single
Birthday - November 26, 1984
Idols - It would be overrated to say Princess Diana, but seeing newspaper clippings of her walking on landmine zones had a huge impact on me when I was 12
Passions - Anything that piques my artistic side / singing
Favourite Colour - Nudes and blues
Tell me about your Project “Spread A Little Love”.
SALL is exactly what the name says it is. It started 18 years back when my aunt needed help carrying sago buckets into the wards at Maharagama. After that first visit, that same year on Christmas, I told my mother I wanted to go back. We gathered a few friends, and took a Christmas tree and sang in the children's wards. That's how SALL started. My main focus is to raise funds and support the patients at Maharagama.
The project is four fold. The monies raised, will go for the main annual event in December where we distribute items to all patients, it also sponsors children who are unable to afford medication, we sponsor wigs to those who are unable to financially support such an item, and mid year programmes such as, the Bhakthi Geetha Programme that will happen end June for the patients; at the hospital premise.
Although the main focus has been on Maharagama, I've branched off to immediate relief during the flood crisis, where funds were separately raised to support displaced families.
What inspired you to start this project?
My earliest memory of kindness is my mother taking a beggar inside the house, bathing him and giving him lunch on a Sunday, and I was perhaps 7 years old. Although there is not one inspiration; it's the foundation Ammi laid in me that made me say "Amma I want to go back". She always laced kindness with such grace, that it was natural to always want to do something, and to be selfless in the process.
How can one help, and be a part of your journey?
I've since 2014 opened a public page on Facebook for SALL, and it has since then grown in size and the people it has gathered due to exposure. You can be part of the event page where all updates / call for volunteers / funds are mentioned as and when it's required.
SALL is not a charity organisation therefore there is no committee to join. It rallies solely on the shoulders of mine and my mother's friends, who for years gather in troupes to help.
Who has been your biggest support?
Ammi - Renuka Perera, is my right hand woman. She is the wind beneath the wings. Apart from that, although too many to mention, is my army as I fondly call them. The friends who for years make SALL their very own project.
Why did you choose cancer to work with?
As mentioned above, it's that first visit that opened my eyes to the situation at Mahagarama, that made me want to go back. I saw a sense of hopelessness that was hard to ignore, and I felt if we can make it our purpose to weave smiles and perhaps get at least one patient feeling good, that should be our purpose.
What have you planned for the rest of the year?
We have already done the song request session in March, where we took 10 calypso bands that went from ward to ward singing and taking song requests.
Poson Bhakthi Geetha will take place at the end of June for the third consecutive year.
By September, I will start the fund drive for the annual event in December.
What keeps you busy professionally?
I'm a chartered architect by profession, and I've been freelancing since January 2016, having left the architectural firm I was attached to for over 6 years. Ammi is a Finance Manager at Sri Lankan Airlines.
You have also worked at the CCC Foundation. How has it been?
The most rewarding thing about CCC is that it's given me an extended family, that I've grown up with since 2004 to date. I was project coordinator when the CCC transit home was under construction. It fills me with great pride when I see the transit home up and running. We toiled as a team to find the 140+ millions at a time when the country was going through the civil war, and what an accomplishment it's been.
When you were in grade school, what did you want to be when you grew up? Why?
Funny, recently I waved at two kids who were waving from the back of a van, whilst I was driving. It dawned on me that right now what I was, is exactly what I wanted to be. I used to sit in the school van and be in awe of lady drivers and so wanted to become one. I guess my life goal is met and I could now retire.
On a serious note, I wanted to either be a vet or an architect, and this decision did not happen until after my Ordinary Levels.
What book has influenced you greatly? How?
My own book of life, my cancer chapter. In 2010, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and subsequent surgery and radiation has since fuelled me greatly. When looking back it's 2011 to date that SALL has been its strongest.
My episode was studded with the love and support of friends who not only stormed heavens in prayer for me but also touched my soul with the kindness they extended. From moving to my house to feed my dogs to opening their own homes for me, I was blessed in many ways and gestures, that made the darkest of chapters in my life bearable.
I take refuge in this memory, to know that kindness is like confetti and should be thrown around, for it really is magic; it transforms.
I'm an avid reader of various articles on Brain Pickings / Elephant Journal on Facebook where motivating articles are published. I've recently turned to reading books by Thich Nhat Hanh, and his book "How To Love" has been deeply motivating the last few months.
Who are the sponsors or contributors for SALL?
The funds raised are predominantly individual donations or contributions of goods in kind, hence there aren't sponsors, but an amalgamation of many hands that contributed.
How long do you work on a project for?
SALL has now become a yearlong task and takes an organic stance, depending on what is required by the hospital. For example in April, there was an urgent need for storage cupboards for the scanning room, hence SALL sponsored two steel cabinets. Similarly, we have delivered pedestals fans, food trolleys and chairs.
Thus a duration cannot be defined.
If one wants to help, what is the Maharagama Cancer Hospital in need of?
The best way to approach is to visit the hospital and talk to the Donation Center and also the hospital director who will let you know what is needed at the given time.
Contact number or email address?
0777675708. I have no separate number for SALL and this is my own mobile number. My email address is [email protected]. People can even contact the Spread A Little Love page on Facebook.
Do you feel like the hospital is managed well? What are the day-to-day issues you see there?
I think the hospital is doing the best they can with the limited resources they have, and hygiene as I see is the biggest issue in the hospital, where there is no proper control method to implement the same, and the few protocols are not stringently adhered to. Having said that, a more positive attitude from the top level to its grassroot level in terms of staff and administration would make things better for everyone.
0 Comments
Tharindra says:
Jun 15, 2016 at 12:00 amGreat job !