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Home from Sri Lanka
by Ken Magee, December 3, 2005

Dear Family and Friends,
After sweating much with only a thin shirt, I am now trembling with many layers including a wool shirt. That's what happens when one gets used to the tropics and then has only a couple of days of travel before adjusting to snow and ice. But both the jungles and the white mountains of home are beautiful. With initially non-existent phone and e-mail service in Kuchavelli, Sri Lanka, I sure didn't get much communication done, so will try to sketch a bit of summary for you.

Contrasts are certainly a reality of that area. We worked with displaced people in refugee camps, caused by the tsunami and also due to longstanding war between the larger Singalese faction of this island and the smaller, but very determined, "Tamil Tiger" group of northern SR. It is only fair to say that most people want peace. The people of these IDP (Internally displaced People) camps are much impoverished. I was part of two teams that cooperated in going to an established area and to a totally new area. There were six of us, four physicians and two nurses. It was my privilege to be assigned to the new area.

Let me speak more of the intriguing beauty I saw: Most of the women are quite pretty and the men handsome. They love colorful clothes. The kids with their big brown eyes and shy smiles captured our hearts quickly. Like kids everywhere, they tend to be perpetual motion and love play. The list of beauties is long: Large hibiscus flowers of pink, blue, orange and lavender; trees including gorgeous palms and others covered with bright pink and orange blooms; Thick jungles with its occasional monkey or parrot; more open areas with deer, elephants, and jackals; and high-steep mountains with pine trees, tea plantations and many most picturesque waterfalls. The list is much longer.
Interactions can take many forms. Dr. Oren had a monkey descend from a nearby tree, grab a bag of chips from his tote-bag and run back up the tree. It was obviously used to people.

Most common ailments included diseases caused by contaminated water, borne by mosquitos, spread by coughs and aggravated by worms and poor nutrition. Sadness added to the burden. In this area with a population of near 20,000, there are only two Sri Lankan Drs. and only one partially disabled tiny hospital. It is not surprising to find other ailments that are not being cared for, such as heart disease, hypertension, Parkinsons disease and hypo and hyperthyroidism. Itchy skin with accompanying fungal and bacterial infections is extremely common. Less common are things like an arm broken by a wild bear bite and a man missing some fingers from an elephant bite. While we were there a young man died after being run over by a tractor and a boy from a snake bite.

Our group of six included three of Jewish background, one of Buddhist persuasion and two of Christian bent. This lent itself to some rich talks with questions such as, "Why would a good God let children suffer?" and "Why would God let people make such often awful choices?" I started saying grace before our meals and we talked about what this meant. We decided it was simply telling God what our concerns are and what we are thankful for. We ended up taking turns and just spoke our hearts. It became a meaningful time. My Buddhist friend, Dr. Tong, said she was going to talk with her fiance about their doing this.

Thunder and rain storms in Sri Lanka are horrendous. I feel like they are akin to what hovers over the country in possible war. Military activity was much increased in the Kuchavelli area when I left. Patrols were everywhere walking about fully armed, stopping to question people and searching the roadsides for mines with very long-handled rakes. A son of a Sri Lankan nurse, working for us in Kalmani, was killed by a bomb during the presidential election while we were there. Contrasting with this are things like the fact of NWMTI (Northwest Medical Teams International) being requested by the Minister of Health to build an emergency care system in his country. There are excellent Doctors and nurses in the country, but no Emergency Medical personel or system. Do pray for Sri Lanka.
Love to you all. Ken

Letter from Sri Lanka by Ken Magee -- Letter from Sri Lanka by Jenna Barnett