02-26-2006, 07:22 AM
Sun, 26 February 2006 11:17:29
<b>Over Exposed</b>
Foreign exposure backfires on Sri Lanka's 'baby 81'
Sri Lanka's celebrated tsunami survivor, "Baby 81", was reunited with his parents after a highly publicised court drama, but almost a year later the family says the explosion of media attention has backfired on them.
Murugpillai Jeyarajah, 31, a barber from Sri Lanka's eastern coast, says the international publicity generated by the story is proving counter productive and they are being overlooked for aid at home.
The long-running saga captivated a global audience from the start, but mainly because it appears to have been sexed up.
International television networks reported nine mothers were battling for a two-month old boy who survived the tsunami. Some said that mothers were threatening to commit suicide.
Amid the competing claims the real parents had to wait weeks and undergo a DNA test before they could claim their offspring back.
The "heart-wrenching" story earned the parents a visit to New York and an appearance on the Good Morning America program of the US TV network ABC.
"We thought we could stay on in America, but in less than two weeks after our TV show in March we were asked to return," Jeyarajah told AFP in a telephone interview from his temporary home in the island's east.
"They (TV network) did not give us any money. All we got was 25,000 rupees (250 dollars) the Sri Lankans in New York collected and gave us. Abilash got a lot of soft toys. Thats all."
He said he regretted going to New York because after his return many villagers as well as local and foreign charities operating in his home area ignored them for tsunami aid believing they had got help from the US.
"I thought going to America would be a turning point in my life, but what has happened is that because of our American trip I have lost other sources of help.
"I don't get the help the others (in my village) get. So I regret my trip to America. All I got was publicity and nothing else."
He said he and his wife, Junita, 26, were "thoroughly frustrated" when they were told to go back to Sri Lanka where they had no home, no job and no prospects of earning a living while bringing up Abilash.
He was called "Baby 81" because his bedhead ticket was 81 when he was admitted to hospital by a neighbour who found him under a heap of rubbish after the tsunami swept the coastal region and left a trail of destruction.
"When we asked the hospital why we couldn't have the baby straight away, we were told that the media was reporting that several others were also claiming the child," Jeyarajah said.
The police, local child care officers and even the UNICEF representative in the area maintained that only the Jeyarajahs were claiming the child and that there were no others as claimed in international media reports.
However, the press hype forced a judge to order a DNA test which proved that the only couple claiming the child were indeed his biological parents. No one else turned up for a test or even lodged a claim for the baby.
To date, the media organisations which initially grabbed international headlines with the story of nine mothers have not given the names of any other claimant of Baby 81 other than Junita Jeyarajah, the real mother.
"No one else went to the police or the courts asking for the child," Jeyarajah said. "I don't know where the reporters found the nine mothers."
The US embassy here too jumped in on the "Baby 81" bandwagon and took the unusual step of issuing a statement when the couple was granted a visa by short circuiting the normal procedure.
"We're delighted to be able to grant baby Abilash and his parents the visas," US Consul General Marc Williams in a statement said at the time. "Millions of Americans will soon know about this wonderful story of reunion in the midst of so much tragedy after the tsunami."
The plight of Jeyarajahs is actually getting worse.
Jeyarajah said they have not received even a temporary shelter from the state after their home was washed away in the December 26 tsunami that killed some 31,000 people across Sri Lanka. They are staying with their parents who live in a house unaffected by the tsunami.
Jeyarajah supports his wife and child by working as a barber, though he earns less than 100 dollars a month.
"We are really finding it difficult to live. People think we have money because went to America, but we don't," he said. "We live in fear. There could be another tsunami." - AFP
-Amal Jayasinghe: win98win@gmail.com
<b>Over Exposed</b>
Foreign exposure backfires on Sri Lanka's 'baby 81'
Sri Lanka's celebrated tsunami survivor, "Baby 81", was reunited with his parents after a highly publicised court drama, but almost a year later the family says the explosion of media attention has backfired on them.
Murugpillai Jeyarajah, 31, a barber from Sri Lanka's eastern coast, says the international publicity generated by the story is proving counter productive and they are being overlooked for aid at home.
The long-running saga captivated a global audience from the start, but mainly because it appears to have been sexed up.
International television networks reported nine mothers were battling for a two-month old boy who survived the tsunami. Some said that mothers were threatening to commit suicide.
Amid the competing claims the real parents had to wait weeks and undergo a DNA test before they could claim their offspring back.
The "heart-wrenching" story earned the parents a visit to New York and an appearance on the Good Morning America program of the US TV network ABC.
"We thought we could stay on in America, but in less than two weeks after our TV show in March we were asked to return," Jeyarajah told AFP in a telephone interview from his temporary home in the island's east.
"They (TV network) did not give us any money. All we got was 25,000 rupees (250 dollars) the Sri Lankans in New York collected and gave us. Abilash got a lot of soft toys. Thats all."
He said he regretted going to New York because after his return many villagers as well as local and foreign charities operating in his home area ignored them for tsunami aid believing they had got help from the US.
"I thought going to America would be a turning point in my life, but what has happened is that because of our American trip I have lost other sources of help.
"I don't get the help the others (in my village) get. So I regret my trip to America. All I got was publicity and nothing else."
He said he and his wife, Junita, 26, were "thoroughly frustrated" when they were told to go back to Sri Lanka where they had no home, no job and no prospects of earning a living while bringing up Abilash.
He was called "Baby 81" because his bedhead ticket was 81 when he was admitted to hospital by a neighbour who found him under a heap of rubbish after the tsunami swept the coastal region and left a trail of destruction.
"When we asked the hospital why we couldn't have the baby straight away, we were told that the media was reporting that several others were also claiming the child," Jeyarajah said.
The police, local child care officers and even the UNICEF representative in the area maintained that only the Jeyarajahs were claiming the child and that there were no others as claimed in international media reports.
However, the press hype forced a judge to order a DNA test which proved that the only couple claiming the child were indeed his biological parents. No one else turned up for a test or even lodged a claim for the baby.
To date, the media organisations which initially grabbed international headlines with the story of nine mothers have not given the names of any other claimant of Baby 81 other than Junita Jeyarajah, the real mother.
"No one else went to the police or the courts asking for the child," Jeyarajah said. "I don't know where the reporters found the nine mothers."
The US embassy here too jumped in on the "Baby 81" bandwagon and took the unusual step of issuing a statement when the couple was granted a visa by short circuiting the normal procedure.
"We're delighted to be able to grant baby Abilash and his parents the visas," US Consul General Marc Williams in a statement said at the time. "Millions of Americans will soon know about this wonderful story of reunion in the midst of so much tragedy after the tsunami."
The plight of Jeyarajahs is actually getting worse.
Jeyarajah said they have not received even a temporary shelter from the state after their home was washed away in the December 26 tsunami that killed some 31,000 people across Sri Lanka. They are staying with their parents who live in a house unaffected by the tsunami.
Jeyarajah supports his wife and child by working as a barber, though he earns less than 100 dollars a month.
"We are really finding it difficult to live. People think we have money because went to America, but we don't," he said. "We live in fear. There could be another tsunami." - AFP
-Amal Jayasinghe: win98win@gmail.com