The History
Located in the far north of the island, Green Memorial Hospital had long served the local community. Yet thirty years of civil war had destroyed infrastructure, community and lives, leaving shattered pieces of a once-thriving region. The chance to rebuild the hospital and expand its services offered a compelling cause: to meet a real need and revive a community rent physically and emotionally by war.
The Jaffna Peninsula lies in the far north of Sri Lanka, connected to the mainland by a fragile strip of land. Yet this beautiful region of red earth, white sandy beaches, swaying coconut, palmyrah trees and lively communities had been decimated by the island's thirty year civil war, provoking a mass Jaffna diaspora overseas.
When the Boxing Day Asian tsunami hit Jaffna in 2004, it seemed one final, fatal blow. Yet from the sad story of war and migration, rose a flicker of hope from the diaspora community.
Anandan Arnold had migrated to England in 1983 at the outbreak of civil war. Television reporting of the 2004 tsunami sparked a desire to return home; but he was broken by what he was to encounter. Vivid childhood memories of a leafy, peaceful Manipay, with carefree days spent playing in the Manipay Green Hospital Gardens, were shot through with a new reality of barrenness and devastation. The landmark hospital lay in ruins, its clinical services dormant.
Upon his return to England, Anandan recounted stories of loss and desperation to the diaspora community. It was a call to arms that could not be ignored. And thus, the Friends of Manipay Hospital charitable trust was formed, to raise funds to rebuild and develop the hospital. As war ended and peace returned to the Peninsula, the hospital redevelopment project began.
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