Monday, January 22, 2007

Weather forecast: partly cloudy with sunny skies expected.

I am sorry that I could not write for a short while. I have been busy catching up with the parts of life that I have neglected due to this.

UAL has called me last week for more questions and again late last friday evening and left a message that they are ready to make some amends. I am scheduled to be having a very busy day today, so I left a message for UAL to contact me on tuesday.

On a different front, I received this heart breaking e-mail about an innocent young boy who is fighting for his life. If UAL is willing, here is a wonderful opportunity for UAL to participate in something very special. I am even willing to give up what I was expecting of UAL if they choose to donate our money for this good cause. Yes, thats right, all $2860 of it. Here is the e-mail I received, and you can read his blog here.


From: "manjulawick" manjulawick@hotmail.com
Subject: Fw: Appreciate your help in saving a young life
Date:Mon, 22 Jan 2007 02:45:07 -0800
Dear Friends,

Piyumal Abeysinha Gunawardane, a 3rd year student at the University of Moratuwa, is suffering from a cancer in his tongue and throat area.
 
At the moment he is in a critical situation at the Gleneagles Hospital, Singapore and needs emergency surgery. Now he is undergoing chemotherapy prior to the surgery. Doctors have estimated a total cost of 6-6.5 million SL Rupees (US $ 60185 @ 108 SL Rs./US$). (Breakdown: for chemotherapy (2 million) and the surgery (4-4.5 million)).
 
Piyumal’s parents cannot afford this vast amount of money, his father being a retired stationmaster and mother being a teacher. All his four siblings are still studying.
 
Today (Jan. 21, 2007) we talked to Piyumal’s sister in Sri Lanka and she informed us that chemotherapy treatment is underway and surgery is yet to be performed for which they need the money most.
 
If you wish to donate through us, please respond to this email. We will send your contributions to Piyumal’s family;
 
Or else you can send your donations directly to the following account: 
Account No.: 1661497– Bank of Ceylon Bazaar Branch, Matara (current account)
Name: M.A. Gunawardane / S.Gunawardane (Joint Account)
 
Thanking you,
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Manjula.
 

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I am sorry to hear of your parents' problems, and am pulling for you.

I would caution you, however, on the email about the young fellow with cancer. (at the risk of sounding heartless) Very often, such emails are complete scams. I would urge you to contact the local police in the city where he is supposedly located to check to see if his story is legitimate. Any time you receive unsolicited email like this, it should be taken with a very large amount of skepticism until you can confirm the details - $2860 is a lot of money.

Mahesh said...

Robert,

Thank you for your concern. I know Manjula and her husband, Sarath, personally when I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area around 2002. They have been involved with charities such as organizing scholarships for underprivileged children in rural Sri Lanka, through an organization called Yuthukama (which means "your duty" in Singhala) I doubt they would just take on something without checking it up first. However, I will write to them and ask to check up on it. Additionally, I doubt UAL will just give out that money to some one without checking the truth of the matter by at least contacting their local offices in Sri Lanka.

Yes, $2860 is a lot of money. But, I can earn that money many times over in my life time. Here is some one who can't and will pay the ultimate price because of it. Whose fight is greater? Besides, we have lost that money once, and this time it can do some good in saving an innocent life.

Mahesh

Anonymous said...

does anyone know the location of ual chief glenn tilton's family cemetery. it is my understanding that many retired ual employees would love to drop by and leave a sample of their respect....