Sena

　Sena Athugala was unusually busy in his grocery shop and restaurant, The Blue Elephant in Braddon,china Inflatable Obstacle Canberra. It was two days after last year’s tsunami struck several Asian and African countries, including his motherland, Sri Lanka, with devastating effect. In addition to answering queries from customers concerned about his family back in Sri Lanka, Sena was taking in clothes and other items donated by generous locals.
　　There were no sign boards to indicate he was collecting aid for the tsunami survivors, but in a spontaneous gesture repeated in many suburbs, people were giving whatever they could to anyone who had connections to a tsunami-hit country. During a break in the flow of customers, Sena noticed a woman standing to one side. Dressed in a dark coat with a brooch of two small koalas pinned to the lapel, she appeared to be in her sixties. The moment he made eye contact the woman darted forward and thrust an envelope at Sena, telling him its contents should be sent to the victims in Sri Lanka. She seemed agitated and was about to leave the shop when Sena opened the envelope. Seeing a bundle of $50 notes inside, he asked her to wait until he wrote her a receipt. The woman hesitated so Sena offered her a cold drink and showed her to a seat in the restaurant while he counted the money—all $1500 of it!
　　When Sena told the woman he was hesitant to take her money, she broke down and spoke about her own children and grandchildren. She said she was horrified and saddened to see the devastation the tsunami caused among the people of Sri Lanka. “Why are you giving it to me?” Sena asked. “Why not give it to some reputable organisation?” “You are from Sri Lanka,” she said. “I trust you and know you will use it to help your people. You have a good heart, I know.” Then she explained how, several months earlier, she was walking past and was drawn into the shop by an aroma. “You told me it came from cooking Sri Lankan food and invited me to have lunch,” she said. “I did not have enough money on me to pay for a meal—and amid my protests—you served me lunch in a box to be taken away. You did not take any money. That is why I know you have a good heart.” The woman then removed her coat to also send to the tsunami victims. She also gave Sena a matchbox full of trinkets.
　　Sena could not recall the particular incident. However, he knew full well the age-old custom he had picked up from his parents. In most villages in Sri Lanka, it was the practice to cook a little bit of extra food when preparing a meal. It ensured that should a wayfaring stranger drop by during meal times he or she would not go away hungry.
　　Sena’s hospitable gesture could ensure that a family who lost everything in Sri Lanka may gain a roof over its head. He plans to use the money given to him by the woman to build a house for a family made destitute by the tsunami’s surging waves. “I am so touched by her gesture that I would like to go there and oversee the work to make sure we can do something very special,” he says.