Today’s pain for Tomorrow’s Strength - Hope - Hand in Hand'18

As written by Rtr. Isuri Amarasinghe,

Parental love is the only love that is truly selfless, unconditional and forgiving. The depth of love of a mother and father cannot be described in mere words. They will never hesitate to put the lives of their children first before their own.

But what if you are almost helpless to protect your precious child? Imagine the life of a parent whose child is a victim of cancer, where you have to watch your child suffering day in and day out, battling to stay alive.

As much as the children, the parents need the strength and hope to go through this tough journey, to reach the end of the battle where they cure their child and can go home again. As a continuation of last year’s success, “Hope”, a sub-project of “Hand in Hand” was held on the 03rd of April 2018 at the Maharagama Apeksha Hospital to provide even the smallest of comfort to these remarkable parents and letting them know that all is not lost.

The afternoon began with a counselling session conducted by Dr. Kosala Muthukumara, a reputed medical officer from the Narahenpita Cancer Early Detection Center. More than 30 parents took part in this session, holding their children’s hands, with tired yet determined eyes. The doctor interacted with the parents, getting to know what they would like to do in their future. He explained to them that even though their main goal is to cure their child, that does not mean they have to throw their lives away. He showed the importance of not being categorized and generalized, that there is hope and the most important thing is to live in the present. The battle with cancer is long and hard, but it is not all hopeless.

After the counselling session, the children were all given gifts which they received with big smiles. Later, an origami session was held where the children enthusiastically created butterflies, balloons and dogs using colored papers. Our Rotaractors engaged in this activity with these children, chatting and laughing with them. To our surprise these children were extremely patient and attentive to creativity and seemed to immensely enjoy sharing their stories with their new friends. The parents as well seemed to enjoy the small activity with their children, and to see them smiling was the biggest happiness we could get. At the end of the day, we said goodbye to the children and their parents, with a new sense of respect to them, and the echo of laughter and happiness that ensured us that the small step we took, gave them a hope for tomorrow.