2016 Oct 31
As the sunlight spreads over Sri Lanka, Trail SL completes day 26 of 28 on their 670km walk towards helping the lives of cancer-ridden patients. Trail began as a coming together of idea and purpose between two friends and colleagues – Sarinda Unamboowe who had pledged that if the civil war were to end, he would walk the length of his homeland as a commitment to peace, and Nathan Sivagananathan who was touched by a personal loss to cancer and felt this walk was the most impactful way to help the many others struggling with the disease.
Trail is more than just about raising funds in aid of cancer treatment; it’s more than just walking from one end of the nation to the other. It’s about more than two thousand humans coming together to fight for what they believe in. It’s about the unity among every single soul taking part in this journey. It’s about braving the heat, the torrential rain and every single obstacle life can throw at you, but still finding the strength to push forward because some things in life are just greater than us.
Mapping the North to the South, they are walking to raise USD 5 Million (An approximate value of LKR 735 Million) to build a new cancer unit at the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital in Galle. Trail SL has managed to raise USD 2,855,427 courtesy of 9061 donors and the help of the 2662 walkers supporting the cause; numbers which are increasing as we speak.
This walk, however, is not only for cancer patients. It’s for the people who have lost loved ones and unforgettable people to the disease. Those, like Nathan Sivagananathan, who have lost people because of cancer, are given new-found hope to help someone when they couldn’t before. It is somewhat of a walk towards closure for them.
Two other patrons of the cause is one of Lanka’s greatest power couples, beloved cricketer Mahela and wife, Christina Jayawardena. They’ve been at it right from the start, being there every possible day, walking through sunshine and rain, being stopped every five minutes for selfies with fans and being apart from their baby girl, Sansa. Chris and Mahela recounted, “One of the highlights for us was a little girl and her family who donated a large portion of their savings. They were eagerly waiting for me to pass their house and when we stopped by, they were so happy to see all of us and make their contribution to Trail. It is amazing to see so many people who believe in this cause as much as we do and give so generously despite not having a very large income.”
This year’s Trail participants also include Brand Ambassadors such as pop idols Bathiya and Santhush, cricketer Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lankan born Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez and celebrated entrepreneur Otara Gunawardene among many other popular personalities, who have committed to join the walk at various stages.
It’s not too late to contribute to the cause! Join them as they blaze a Trail across Sri Lanka!
Visit https://trailsl.com/ for more details.
