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Review

A visit to the Cancer Hospital

One of the children’s wards at the
Maharagama Cancer Hospital

By Raisa Wickrematunge

It is medication time in Ward 15B at the Maharagama Cancer Hospital. Nurses rush about busily, while parents and relatives try to make the patients more comfortable. It’s been a while since I last visited this hospital, and it never fails to affect me. Cancer is many people’s worst nightmare – it speaks of a struggle to survive, the awful prospect of time cut short.

Things have changed since the last time I visited. I am told that I must take the packets of milk powder I brought along to another office, and that it must be examined and declared safe before I can bring it in. I notice that they examine the expiry dates of the products closely. A nurse on duty tells me that this measure has been enforced following an incident where rotten cheese was donated to the wards.

Many of the children had fallen violently ill after eating the cheese, so this strikes me as a sensible precaution to take. I can’t help but wonder, though, about the people who didn’t even care enough to check the expiry date on the food they were donating.

Another change I noticed was that the staff was unwilling to accept donations of money. One nurse said that would be possible, but only if we gave the money directly to the patients. Another doctor advised us to use the money to buy equipment instead. It appears that the staff have been instructed not to accept money in order to prevent allegations of corruption, and indeed it does make more sense to buy whatever items are needed, since in this way donors would know that their money was being put to good use.

At Ward 15B, a nurse announces my arrival and one by one, the occupants of the ward shuffle out. Some are shy and hide behind their parents when I smile at them. Some of them are mere infants. One plucks the packet of milk out of my hand, while staring at me curiously.

Father waits anxiously

Outside the nearby Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, a father anxiously waits. He tells me that he is an accounts and business studies teacher. His daughter has been sick for a year, and is now in the ICU. He says there are three children in the ICU at the moment. Through a window in the nurse’s station, I can see him talking to his daughter and holding her hand.

Another child lies right next to the window. Her eyes are shut, and it is only through the beeps of the machine she is attached to that I can tell she is breathing.

The hospital has just received one ventilator, a doctor in the ICU tells me, but they are looking for another. These ventilators cost around Rs. 2.5 million, so it is not going to be easy to find one. They also need a blood gas machine, and that is just as expensive. The Cancer Hospital is funded primarily by the government, which pays a significant amount towards each person’s treatment. However, often government expenditure cannot cover the entire cost, which is where donors come in. And after the money from donors trickles out, then patients have no choice but to seek private treatment or come up with the money themselves. This can be an impossible task.

The father I spoke to told me how his little girl urgently needed two drugs for treatment, and there was no money to pay for the procedure. He had to leave some gold jewellery as collateral in order to get a loan to pay for the procedure. However he counted himself as one of the better off people, for there were many who had inadequate finances to pay for cancer medication.

In one of the wards I also noticed two sheets spread out on the floor, and two children playing on the floor with their parents. There were bottles and bags next to them, and I was told that since the ward had run out of beds these children would have to lie on the floor until a bed became available. It seems that perhaps a new ward is needed, but again, where will the money come from?

Basic items needed

Most people think that the Cancer Hospital has plenty of financial support, and yet some of the staff said that even basic things like bed sheets, toothpaste and soap are needed. Some other things that were needed include a stethoscope, and sensors for the paediatric ICU. It is clear to me that although the government spends a significant amount of money treating the patients, support from donors is vital, especially for those who aren’t able to pay for the expensive treatment.

I remember the last time I visited the Cancer Hospital, watching in horror as a six year old boy vomited blood. The attending doctor explained that he needed two injections, each Rs. 10,000, to save his life. We managed to scrape together what money we had for the injections. I often wonder what happened to that little boy, and how many others are suffering the same way.

Even in difficult economic times like these, we shouldn’t forget those who aren’t as fortunate as us. The Cancer Hospital may be a difficult place to visit, if only because we don’t like to see people suffering. However if more people do take the trouble, perhaps even more could be done to alleviate the suffering of these patients.

Legends were made of this

It is a well known fact that in the years 1950 to 1960 St. Benedict’s College was the most outstanding school in sports and produced some of the best known names in basketball, cricket, gymnastics, hockey, and soccer and dominated these sports as ‘champions’ during this era. These outstanding sportsmen went on to represent nation with their individual brilliance and we could honestly call them legends in their respective fields.

In this era SBC dominated the sporting fields to such an extent that there were crowds of 10 to 15,000 spectators attending these events whether it was played at home or away. Spectators travelled happily and enthusiastically to see the teams perform.

We have read so much about these outstanding sportsmen in the years gone by and tend to forget the contributions made by some others who have shone in the music and entertainment industry. This article seeks to recognise the contributions they have made.

St. Benedict’s College was one of the pioneers in promoting and supporting its students in the music industry. Who would forget the original school lunch time request programme initiated by Rev. Bro. Edward where students could listen to their favourite songs played on air on payment of 10 cents for a request while standing in the school compound during lunch time?

Elvis Presley, Cliff Richards, Jim Reeves, Tom Jones, The Shadows, The Beatles to name a few were the most popular requests. Rev. Bro. Edward who was the brains behind this very popular programme went further and organised that famous yearly musical, titled Our Own Show between St. Benedict’s College and Good Shepherd Convent.

Incidentally brothers Fred and Dennis Herft (Sydney) were responsible for the stage lighting and went on to work in this field professionally in the West End in London. What a show it turned out to be. You had to go through auditions and rehearsals to qualify to sing or dance in the final and there were hundreds of applications to get into the final 12 performers.

Tough contest

It was a tough contest and many finalists went on to perform as professionals and made a good living out of it. Let me try to recall in my old age the ones I remember and I am sure you will forgive me should I leave out some of these guys by some oversight.

Premnath Moraes, Ravindra Randeniya, Vijaya Kumaratunga, Robin Fernando and Victor Fernando went on to perform as actors and writers in the film industry with outstanding success and ended being much loved household names. All credit must go to these guys who put St. Benedict’s College right up there in the film industry.

Let me highlight some of the other performers. The legendary Peter Prins (piano) and his combo, Telesphor Annandappa (drums), Neville Casiechitty (trumpet), the brothers Nihal, Valentine, Nasen and Lucky Manikawasagar (all reputed pianists and bass players and drummers) in the Morton Cole Combo.

The famous Jetliners with the original Felix Fernando (bass guitar) (Melbourne), Lucian Perera (guitar), Raj Seneviratne (guitar) and then Felix Leanage, Calvin Vangranberg and Evan Balasuriya (USA) (all guitarists) of the internationally famous groups The Savages and Gypsies.

The Savages made a great name for themselves when they played for the US armed forces in Vietnam. We had Nalaka Fernando, Tillet Perera and Chinti Perera of the popular Spitfires Group. Benjy Ranabahu and Donald Peiris of Amazing Grace. Conrad Gunaratne, Anil Wickrematunge (Germany) and Desmond de Silva (bass). The entirety of the Junior Rythmiers, brothers Pereras.

May I also recall Gamini Senadhira on that loved set of bongos which was a very popular instrument at the time, Brian Felthman (guitar) (Canada), and Clement Coomaravel (piano accordion) who was a regular at the Tropicana.

There was Nihal Candappa (piano) (London), the combination of Byrd and DeKauwe (vocals) who mastered the art of singing Negro spirituals, the "L" Brothers Lucian and Lennie Silva, the Dharmaratne Brothers who popularised the art of singing and harmonising Sinhalese songs.

Then there was the popular singing duo of Denzil Perera and Bosco Fonseka better known as Denzil & Bosco. Chirpy Lawrence Thuring well known to all of us as Dynamite Thuring. Terry Sousa famous for his rendition of the song Too Young.

Noel Caspersz famously known as "The Black Duke" as he played mostly on the black keys on the piano which is a very difficult thing to do. There was also the big burly Ryle Caspersz and Herman Zeiglaar who teamed together to sing as a great duo and entertained many an audience.

One would also remember that wonderful jazz pianist Trevor Alphonso who featured in many of the top bands in the sixties. I have been reminded of a great singing quartet in Blair Cramer (bass), Trevor De Kauwe (alto), Ryle Caspersz (tenor and lead) and Milroy Perera (soprano) who also created a great impact in the entertainment industry during this period of time. Our Own Show went on to produce some of the leading female singers from Good Shepherd Convent, namely Wilma Schuiling, Dalrene De Kretser and Kerima Musafer.

I have no doubt we could all remember the Brother Directors Oliver, Alban, Athenesius, and the teaching brothers Norbett, Flavian, Jerome, Alfred, Conrad, Alexander and many others. How could we forget our excellent teachers like Chapman, Atkinson, Emmanuel, Rozairo, Candappa, Suwaris, Rodrigo, Fonseka, Hassey, JP Perera, Gunasingham, Wilson, Ratnayake, Puvimanasingham and Gnanapragasams’ who gave us such wonderful lessons in life.

Every single teacher at the time was given nick names and I could recall some of them without mentioning as to who represented what. Names like Goucho, Koti, Anamaalu, Kota, Hitler and Botham come to mind and they accepted all of this with great humility. The relationship between master and student was exceptional.

Those were the days when we never looked at each other through colour, creed, race or religion. Even then we were all Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Hindu, and Burghers but no one looked at it like that. We were all Ceylonese and saw each other as decent fellow human beings. I wish to thank my mate Felix Fernando in Melbourne, Eric Motha in Canada and many other mates around the world who still keep in touch with me for their assistance in putting together this presentation of our wonderful life of that memorable era.

— Franklyn Holsinger Melbourne, Australia




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Legends were made of this

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