She is seen on eminent health panels, both in Sri Lanka and abroad, discoursing on women’s issues or reproductive health. Spending half a month in her home country and the other half globe-trotting to provide her expert views, it was an unlikely sight to see her slushing through mud on the rainy Monday last week in Dediyawala, Kalutara, being stopped frequently by women, men and children, some of whom, overcome by emotion, hugged her tightly.

The hugs were returned as enthusiastically and trivia about family listened to attentively. For this paediatrician, who most probably is the only Sri Lankan to have three gynaecological fellowships as well to her credit from Sri Lanka, Britain and America, this is her special “baby”.

Providing cosy homes for 48 families whose shacks and lives were devastated by the tsunami is just an extension of a helping hand stretched out way back in 1984.

Dr. Pramilla Senanayake’s memories of 1984 are as vivid as ever. She, her husband, a famous oncologist, and their only son were on holiday in Kalutara. Having come from England, six-year-old Priyan’s only thought was for the sun-kissed beach, but for the doctor-couple the scorching sun was more an ordeal than a pleasure.

Dr. Pramilla Senanayake with her “children” in a home at Dediyawala.

It was then that two beach waifs about 6 and 8 years old joined Priyan, building sand castles, filling deep holes with sea water, only to see it disappear in a few seconds. They had the time of their lives and when at lunchtime they were invited to join the trio at the hotel, they were informed that beach boys were not allowed within the hotel’s premises. When offered a hundred-rupee note, quite a sum in the ’80s, for the boys to have their lunch, Kumara and Suda had said in unison, “Apita salli epa. Api baba ekka sellam kere babata aadare hinda”. (We don’t want money. We played with baba because we love him.)

For Dr. Pramilla and her family that was the defining moment. Those words have remained with her, etched forever. A chance meeting on a beach in Sri Lanka setting off a support network of unimaginable proportions.

Having arranged for the boys to have lunch every single day at a restaurant close-by, while the Senanayake family was around, they met the boys’ mothers soon after. Why were the boys not in school? It was vacation time in England for Priyan, but it was school-time in Sri Lanka and education was free here. The Senanayakes were soon disabused of the idea of free education. Yes, education is free but the children have to have uniforms, socks, shoes, books, pencils etc, their humble parents can ill-afford. “Children also have to take their own desk and chair sometimes,” says Dr. Pram as she is called by friends and colleagues. “Many families cannot afford these expenses and the kids hang around the beach and get into child prostitution, paedophilic activities and drugs. The parents struggle for survival, in most cases the father being a fisherman earning about Rs. 700 per week and the mother selling batik and other tourist items making Rs. 150 per week.”

It was then that the idea dawned to help a few children with their educational needs, starting with Kumara and Suda. That was the start of ‘Educate A Child Trust’ (EACT) which now spreads its benevolence over as many as 872 children. The support, however, has not stopped at educational needs but taken under its wing all the families as well.

The children are numerous – Pavani Sachitra who will be sitting her ALs in August and hopes to become a computer engineer, encouraged by Dr. Pram with the words, “ I want three As remember”; Tharindu Jeevantha, the eight-year-old blind boy who is attending the Deaf and Blind School in Ratmalana with whose mother Dr. Pram discusses plans to pay the van fees from Kalutara to Ratmalana and also to buy a Braille set; 10-year-old Tishan Nimsara, a special child, who will sit the Grade 5 scholarship examination in August; Tharaka Nimesh, 15, who has a problem with snaau (nerves) whose educational and medical bills are being looked after; Achini Lakshika Silva who says she was able to secure eight As at the OLs due to Madam’s help and hopes to become a doctor; fatherless Chameera Deepal following a textile and clothing technical course at the Moratuwa University…..to name a few.

“Tharindu is shy to speak to Madam now but you must see him jabbering into the phone,” says his mother Indrani Kusum Navarathne, adding that Madam also looks after his medical needs.

The success stories are many……..children who have passed the Grade 5 scholarship examination with flying colours, those who have secured straight As not only at the OLs but also at the ALs. Among Dr. Pram’s “children” is one in Law College, another who has gained admission to the Nursing Faculty, a third who is at the Ayurvedic Medical College, 18 others who are in university and the torchbearer who is studying to be a doctor at the Colombo Medical Faculty.

With new-found confidence, Sunil (name changed to protect identity) who is studying for his nursing degree speaks fluent English, after having done a British Council course, thanks to Dr. Pram. Sunil’s father is no more and his mother a labourer has to feed and clothe his two younger sisters. “I would never have been able to enter university,” says Sunil, adding that Madam has changed his life forever.
Realizing that her proteges face a major handicap, however bright and hard working they are, due to the lack of a knowledge of English and computers, Dr. Pram has ensured they attend extra classes.

On Monday, as she checks out the arrangements for the simple ceremony to open the housing complex next Saturday, July 12, she explains that the keys were handed over to the families on May 31 and they have been moving in to their homes at auspicious times since then.

A tour through the community centre being built amidst the three-acre property surrounded by the 48 houses creates pictures of the evening English and computer classes for each and every child. These classes are her next target and her mission is to raise funds for them.

An ardent cricket fan, it has also been her aim to support any child who wishes to take up any sport by providing the essentials such as bats and balls, nutrition for a youth with weight-lifting ambitions and shoes for girls who want to play netball or basketball. “She even brought back a T-shirt for one of the young cricketers when she went for the World Cup matches in the Caribbean,” says her able assistant, Wickrema Nandasiri.

Champika Senaratne who has been helped by Dr. Pram’s organization to start a Montessori elaborates on how her teenage daughter, Sashikala Maheshi, has blossomed under the care and guidance of Dr. Pram. “Sashikala collects all her certificates, dancing, elocution, English, all that she has won not only in the Kalutara district but islandwide, laminates them and presents them to Madam,” says Champika.
Wickrema Nandasiri suddenly remembers that after the tsunami tools of trade like fishing nets, bicycles, sewing machines were also provided to those affected.

“We promised them new homes if they didn’t own the land and helped those who owned the land to rebuild damaged houses, but also explained to them that it would take time. The immediate need was to give clothing, food and tools for them to begin their livelihood,” says Dr. Pram who often dipped into her funds, adding that they even cleaned contaminated wells in the area.

Going from pillar to post in an attempt to get land to build homes for these families, red tape, bureaucratic bungling and also a request for “something” made her decide to go it alone, to purchase private land and build the homes with the help of friends. “Coincidence and contacts worked in such a way, with the help of God,” she says.

Thamarappulige Hemalatha, 43, helps out at a bakery, for Rs. 270 a day. With a “nomaga giya” husband (one who has gone astray) life has been tough for her, with assaults by him almost everyday and two children to look after. Now the proud owner of No. 28 at the Dediyawala housing complex there are tears as she says that this is the first time she is living in a home with brick walls and a roof.

Before the tsunami it was a shack on the beach on someone else’s land and after, a tiny pela (hut) on land owned by her sister. “Iti kola ha polathu atogena api hitiye,” says Hemalatha, explaining that it consisted of polythene and cadjan. There was no roof, there were no windows. Her children who were getting books from Madam, used to study by the light of a kuppi lampuwa (tiny lamp). But that is history.
On Monday, the last stop is No. 29, the home of Asurumuni Anoosha. For Dr. Pram meetings with her are tinged with sadness. She is the widow of Kumara, the beach boy who so long ago played with her son. Kumara who as a child had held the “Poth Nommare” (Book Number) 18 on the EACT project had made good as a tourist guide.

Life was fine. He was married and wife Anoosha was three months pregnant. He was returning from the naming ceremony of his sister’s child and had parked his motorcycle by the side of the road in Kalutara when he was mowed down by a bus “driver” who didn’t have a licence.

Now the son whom he had never seen, dubbed “such a bright boy and the picture of Kumara” by Dr. Pram is also a recipient of the educational support.

As Dr. Pram leaves her brood behind, many are the sobriquets that follow……. “like a god” or “like our Amma” but the one that is echoed and re-echoed is: “Our own Mother Theresa”.

It was ‘payback’ time for her

Dispelling misconceptions that she is rich, Dr. Pramilla Senanayake explains that God has been merciful to her. “I had a challenging job, and I was paid well. I put aside money on a daily basis, at the end of each day, any £1 or £2 coins end up in a tin – for ‘my kids’. If I dine in a restaurant and pay for a meal or a bottle of wine, I set aside the same amount that day for EACT.”

For the past five years, Dr. Pram has not been “working” for money. She is on the board of many trusts and funds both here and abroad on a voluntary basis. But, she says, having studied at the local medical faculty free of charge, “they didn’t ask you who your father was but gave free education to all”, it was “pay back time”. This project has no overhead costs or administrative bottlenecks, she says. And that has been the lure for those who have come in as “donors”.

“Many coincidences” led to the involvement of Clive and Michele Warshaw who run the famous Steiner spas on all the luxury cruise ships and top hotels in the world.

The Warshaw couple wanted to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary in a different way, not with the usual party. “We both felt we had had a great deal of luck in our lives and wanted to do something to make a difference in the world. I asked a friend if she knew of a project with which we could become involved,” says Mrs. Warshaw.

Three weeks later came the news that the tsunami had devastated Sri Lanka. “I had forwarded to me by my friend an email written by Pramilla requesting help for ‘her community’ in Kalutara. I immediately responded and arranged to visit Sri Lanka a few weeks later,” she says.

The couple have visited Sri Lanka many times and know many of the beneficiaries "by name as well as by sight" and hope to continue their assistance.

Let alone chipping in with their funding the Warshaws facilitated nearly half of the tsunami housing project costs being met by the Clinton Foundation, which provided Rs. 52 million of the Rs. 116 million.
A few other notables who have come to Dr. Pram's aid are John and Paddy Johns who live in California who did major fund-raising by holding dinner parties and asking for "aid bids" and Sri Lanka Football Federation Chairman Manilal Fernando.