SOS Children rescued him - Now, he rescues others

SOS Children assisted a fisherman to rebuild his life who lost everything in tsunami at Kayankerni in Sri Lanka. Now, Cyril is helping others in his own small way. He left his traditional fish-catching profession and is running a grocery shop while rented his boat to another fisherman of his hamlet.

With the initial help from SOS Children’s Villages he established a small grocery shop and he got repaired his boat with the profit earned. Since, he is busy all the time in his new business; he lent the boat to a fellow fisherman who also suffered a lot in the tsunami devastation.

Cyril was leading his life comfortably before tsunami. He lost his house and his boat was badly damaged. “Still, that scene of devastation and horror intact in my mind, the never seen mad tsunami waves chased me and somehow I saved my life after clinging to a tree,” Cyril recalled the tsunami devastation. “But, the bigger horror was in store after the tsunami, when I realized that I lost everything I had” he added.

Here came SOS Children. Cyril received the start up grant and a temporary shelter from the SOS emergency relief programme. After the shop his priority was to build  a home and earnings from the shop certainly was not enough. 

Cyril’s dream came true when on 26^th April 2006, SOS Children of Sri Lanka handed over 86 new houses to the families affected by tsunami. Cyril was in the beneficiaries list and got a sweet home. All the beneficiary families were in the temporary shelters provided by SOS Children.

Now, he got a new house, his business on track, so he thought it fit to lend his repaired boat to earn some extra buck. “I really have no words to pay gratitude to the SOS Children’s Villages who gave me so much and rebuild my life,” said Cyril in the choked voice. “The fellow to whom I lent my boat is really in a very tight position and I charge a very nominal rent. I am happy I could do something for him,” added Cyril.

At present, Cyril is building his own shop near his home and foundation work is in progress. However, his temporary shop is still functioning.