At our family’s annual party to celebrate either a birthday (… or not!) of one of the siblings, this time we celebrated the 60^th birthday of our sister.

Instead of presents, she wished for contributions towards a project in Sri Lanka and ended up with the great sum of 720 Swiss Francs. The project was easily found:  so that Chammi and her family would be able to use a toilet without hazard.

We contacted Roy and waited for an estimate. As waiting takes longer in Sri Lanka, we left in mid-October to take care of it in person.

The explanation for the delay was Chammi’s daughter’s illness. She fell ill with Dengue and Chammi had been at the hospital with her for weeks. The girl was still weak but fine and also, the skin condition on her legs was a lot better. With the money we gave her on our last visit, she had consulted a Doctor in Tangalle. Along with proper medication, he advised her to bath the girl’s legs in salty water regularly.  So Chammi went with her to the beach (6 kilometers away) every day.

She had asked contractors for an estimate herself.  It must have been obvious to them that the money would come from someone else as the estimated costs were beyond discussion.  Roy contacted the contractor that had built Rashmiya’s bathroom and we are still waiting for details. The money is in the bank in Hambantota and only waits for our okay.  (January 2015 Update: we have now received the first pictures and it looks great.) 

Chammi was grateful for our substantial grocery shopping and we hope to admire the new bathroom in the spring.