Grandmother based in UK returns to see progress of Tsunami project

A grandmother  based in Britain who set up a project to help children and the elderly after the tsunami in 2004 returned to Sri Lanka  to see the progress a decade on.

Rani Moorcroft, 65, set up Stepping Stones for Sri Lanka with the help of Brentwood Borough Council when she lived in Warley in 2005, the Brentwood Gazette reported.

The Gazette which backed Rani's appeal  followed each step as she established the project in the years that followed. At the end of last month Rani and her husband David returned for the first time in five years.

"The orphanage is beautiful, the kids are smiling and happy," Rani, who was born in Sri Lanka told the Gazette

"It shows we really can make a difference.

"There's very little industry there. The boys generally go on to be fishermen and girls end up on the streets.

"But the exposure we have given them has been great.

"One boy has left and now works in a bank in the capital, Colombo.

"Another young boy could not hear and we raised money for him to have an operation.

"He's now gone to work in an ice-cream factory and he brings ice-cream back to his 'brothers and sisters'."

Stepping Stones for Sri Lanka focused its attention on Rawatha Children's Home in Trincomalee, in the north of the country, and elderly widows in the south in Ambalangoda.

The orphanage housed 40 children in one room in the heart of Tamil Tiger territory and had even been bombed.

"When the tsunami hit I was incredibly shocked," said Rani.

"Some of these horrific scenes were in places I knew.

"I was so shocked I jumped on a plane with my older sister and we went to see for ourselves what needed to be done.

"We came back and I didn't know what to do.

"I looked up the paper's address and showed up on their doorstep.

"I saw the editor at the time and said I wanted to do something and it grew and grew from there."

At the time the borough council had just finished Stepping Stones, a three-year project that saw them help build wells in India.

"So we ended up setting up the Stepping Stones for Sri Lanka Trust," said Rani, who now lives in Basildon.

If anybody wants to help, contact Rani on raniking@ btinternet.com

Picture couretsy - Brentwood Gazette.