A chance at life
Hasi, a Sri Lankan girl who was severely burned as an infant, will get better because of a Groton woman's love
Hasi, as the little girl from Sri Lanka is known, has slipped effortlessly into her new American lifestyle. She lives in a big house with a huge lawn in a new development in Groton. She loves mashed potatoes. She calls all cartoons "Scooby-Doo," and she gets sloppy kisses from her family's frisky old Weimaraner.
"She's amazing," said Liz Smith, an apparel-industry consultant who is sponsoring the 3-year-old girl's indefinite stay in America. "If you take something away from her, she will not cry."
When acquaintances see Hasi for the first time, however, it is immediately apparent just how much has been taken from her. As an infant, she was burned on more than 70 percent of her body when her father allegedly doused the girl and her mother with kerosene and set them on fire. Her mother did not survive the attack, and Hasi was badly deformed.
She lost almost all of her right ear and the fingers on her right hand. Her right eye cannot shut completely. Scars on her scalp have prevented hair from growing on one side.
For all of that physical trauma, Hasi is adorable, said Smith, who has opened her home to the girl and her full-time nurse while Hasi undergoes extensive treatment at Shriners Hospital for Children - Boston.
The facility has agreed to take Hasi's case for free. Upon her arrival a few weeks ago, doctors determined that they will need to see her regularly until she is 21. One of their first orders of business will be to address the rings of scar tissue around her arm and leg, which have affected her walking and prevented her from growing normally. After that, they will try reconstructive surgery on her ear, eye, and hand.
Even in the best-case scenario, said Dr. Michael B. Lewis, Hasi's plastic surgeon, "there will still be evidence of the injury, especially in the facial area."
But the overall prognosis is good, he said. "There have been hundreds of others, believe it or not, who were significantly worse [than Hasi] who have done very well - grown up, gotten married, had kids, the whole works."
Such comprehensive care was not available to Hasi in Sri Lanka, where she lived in an orphanage for most of her life and, more recently, in a home for children with medical difficulties such as cerebral palsy. Her journey to America is the result of the philanthropic efforts of Sarvodaya, a major nongovernmental organization in Sri Lanka named for Indian independence leader Mohandas Gandhi's term for his concept of universal empowerment.
On a recent afternoon, Smith sat at her kitchen table discussing Hasi's prospects while the girl drew in a "Dora the Explorer" coloring book. Her nurse, Ruveni Balasooriya, alternately tended to the child and composed e-mails to her family back home.
Smith became involved with Hasi through her sponsorship of a Sri Lankan girl named Darsha. Formerly an executive with a sourcing subsidiary of The Limited clothing chain, Smith lived for several years in Hong Kong and Taiwan, traveling regularly to manufacturing facilities in Sri Lanka. She met Darsha at an orphanage and bought one of the girl's crayon drawings.
After many visits during which she brought shoes, backpacks, and other gifts to the girls in the home, she inquired about the possibility of adopting Darsha. The girl's complicated family situation made that impossible, though they have stayed in touch and saw each other in March.
"Clearly, my relationship with Darsha fulfilled an unmet need for parenting a girl," Smith said. "I wasn't convinced my family was complete."
After living in Newburyport for five years, the upstate New York native moved to Groton recently after marrying Evan Katz. They have three boys, ages 16 to 20, from their previous marriages.
When Smith was introducted to Hasi last August by a sponsor-relations coordinator at Sarvokaya's nutrition center near the city of Colombo, she was instantly overwhelmed.
"I was rubbing her legs, and she was falling asleep," Smith said. "I was taken."
Hasi had come into the home "like a wild girl," Balasooriya said. Her hair was unruly, and many of her wounds were open and sore. In just a few weeks, both caretakers said, the dry New England climate has worked wonders on her scars.
As Hasi settles into her new home, Balasooriya said she is prepared to stay a year or more.
Depending on the outcome of the case against the father, who will be tried soon in Sri Lanki, Smith said she is exploring the possibility of adopting the child.
"The boys have been very responsive to her," said Smith, whom Hasi calls "Liz Auntie." "I'm sure they were thinking, 'What the heck is Liz doing now?' "
In a neighborhood full of families, Hasi has jumped right into the daily routine of after-school play.
The youngsters like to gather in Smith's front yard, climbing on the gigantic boulder there.
Though it is impossible not to notice Hasi's physical impairments, most of the children have been "phenomenal," Smith said.
"She gets some mixed reactions, but she's kind of used to that. We're trying to be very matter-of-fact about it."
In Sri Lanka, Smith said, "it was so clear they couldn't do anything for her there. Here, she's going to have a different life."
Information about Sarvodaya and a fund to help Hasi may be viewed at sarvodayausa.org.
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