SRI LANKAN-born Pushpa Jayasekera’s hope of sending a few tea chests with goods to help the people of her tsunami-hit homeland has turned into something bigger than she could have imagined.
The generosity of people all over Brisbane and especially at Pushpa’s parish of St Johns Wood/The Gap has helped to fill more than three shipping containers.
And there is still more rolling in, including eight demountable houses from a parish on Brisbane’s southside.
As soon as she heard news of the devastation caused by the Boxing Day tsunami in Sri Lanka and other Asian countries around the Indian Ocean, 44 year-old Pushpa phoned the Sri Lankan High Commission in Canberra and volunteered to co-ordinate an appeal in Brisbane.
Armed with a list of what was most urgently needed, she approached her parish priest, Marist Father Tony Kennedy, and he immediately offered his support.
Pushpa said people from all walks of life, young and old, including some outside the parish and from other Churches had helped.
The goods are being shipped free of charge by the interdenominational Christian group, Mercy Ships.
To donate or to help with the packing, phone Pushpa Jayasekera on (07) 3300 9911 or Pam McDonald on (0437) 726 368.
