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Sri Lanka's French connection

By Ranee Mohamed

Sri Lankan born Clementine is 19 years old. Her mother had been poor and  unmarried. And when this lovely French couple saw her in Colombo, she had not been very unhappy, for she was with an infant, barely a few days old.

This infant today is Clementine, who speaks fluent French, but not a word of Sinhala. With a few English words here and there, she explains the wonders of her motherland. But she explains more explicitly of the shelter and comfort she experienced in the  family of Martine and Antoinne, whose  love has enveloped her for the past 19 years.

Ever since the day she was adopted as a baby, everything that surrounded her has been French.

"I like France and I like Sri Lanka, but I love French food because Sri Lankan food is spicy and very hot," said Clementine.

Strong bond

When asked whether she would leave her French family if her biological mother comes back and claims her, Clementine shook her head violently and said a firm "No," the tears filling her eyes at the mere thought. "This is my family," she hugged the French couple.

"Like all babies, Clementine cried too," recalls her father Antoinne. "I still remember her as a baby and the way she cuddled up to us on the flight," said Antoinne. He said that they had not paid any money to get Clementine, except some money to the courts.

Next to Clementine stands a handsome Frenchman. Soft-spoken, handsome Mathew is Clementine's boyfriend. What a change in life if she was brought up in Sri Lanka. She may have been married to a Sri Lankan youth, and not this Frenchman.

Mathew is 16 years old. He reminds one of a young Elvis Presley. But life has not been a song for him as an infant.  Mathew had been barely 19 days old when this French couple had him. The mother's name is the only thing that the couple know, for her name was mentioned in some documents at the  Mount Lavinia courts. Apart from this the couple has no information about Mathew's family. Today, he is studying in France. His mother is Martine and his father is Gerard. And it is the strength of their love that brings out the confidence of the character of Mathew.

The couple says that they are very happy with Mathew. His mother begins to cry as Mathew hugs her.In the eyes of the couple were happiness, pride and love all intermingled. It was obvious that Sri Lankan born Mathew was a source of strength for them.

Sri Lankan born Marie Madhushani is 10 years old.  Her parents had got this little girl through a lady in France. "She was barely three weeks old and was born in Kalutara," said her mother. Marie's French father is a geographer and his wife is a professor of geography. Today, her happy home is in the east of France, in the Alps. It would be a different life for this Sri Lankan born girl, whose fate remains unknown if she was kept here, possibly in an orphanage.

  Pasqual and his wife  Corinne treat their Sri Lankan born daughter with emotion beause it was after her that they got another daughter. Though she was named Ameli in French, she has a second name called Shiromi which is Sri Lankan. Shiromi has been born in Kalutara. She has been the first child of a 17 year old girl. "Her mother had no family, no money and no work," said this French family sadly.  "Shiromi was barely a few weeks old when we got her. Today she goes to a good school and is doing very well. She likes swimming and many other sports," says the proud father. With a nine year old sister called Mathilda, Ameli Shiromi remains a treasure to this French couple, for in their minds, it is Shiromi that helped them to get another daughter.

"We always think of her and treat her with emotion. The two sisters have an age difference of seven months" said the father, protective of both his children.

Celebration

It was a memorable day for these French families who were busy taking pictures of these Sri Lankan children whom they considered their very own. Protective and  concerned, each French mother and father was standing on their toes looking out for the whereabouts of these  children.

Their fears seem to be that they may get lost in the land of their birth. For these generous families from France, losing these Sri Lankan born children could now easily break their hearts.

This get together was organised by Aralliya, the French association for parents with adopted children from Sri Lanka. This happy tour was conducted  by Connaisance de Ceylan Ltd., under the Chairmanship of Chandra  Wickremasinghe and his team.

Love for one's children, brothers and sisters are not different, be it French, German or English. Here among approximately 80 Sri Lankan children adopted by French families it was plain to see that love like perfume has an eternal fragrance, be it splashed in Sri Lanka or in France.

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