Trinity & Rostrevor's great gift to Kubendran

Here's a good news story from Trinity and Rostrevor...

HE TRINITY COLLEGE AND ROSTREVOR COLLEGE COMMUNITIES have jointly raised enough money to bring a young man from Chennai to Adelaide’s Australian Craniofacial Unit to have follow up surgery for his severely disfigured face.

Kubendran will arrive in Adelaide at the end of February and undergo facial surgery two days later. The boys from Trinity on the last two Indian Pilgrimages have met Kubendran and his family. And it was during the last visit to Chennai that Brother Rob was able to tell Kubendran and his family that we had enough money to complete the necessary surgery.

It was in 1988 on Rostrevor College’s first Indian Pilgrimage that the boys from that school met Kubendran at M.I.T.H.R.A. (Madras Institute to Habilitate Retarded Afflicted) and one of the boys' mothers spotted Kubendran in one of their photos when they returned home. This mother contacted the Australian Craniofacial Unit and asked Dr David David whether he and his team would be prepared to perform the necessary surgery to rectify this young lad’s severe deformity. The answer was in the affirmative and in 1989, Kubendran accompanied by his grandmother left Madras for the first time and travelled to Adelaide. For three months the doctors worked on transplanting bone from Kubendran’s hip to create a whole section of his face and skull. The transformation was very good, but not perfect and the doctors said that further surgery would be required when Kubendran became a man and the face finished forming.

It’s good news that the Pilgrims from 2002 were determined to bring Kubendran to Australia, but it was bad news when we were told that the cost would be $24,000. And it wasn’t until we received an anonymous donation of $10,000 that we were able to proceed. Rostrevor and Trinity are fundraising to make up the difference, and it is with sheer optimism that we have proceeded to book the surgery, book the flights and make all the other necessary arrangements for Kubendran, accompanied by his brother, to come to Adelaide on February 26th 2005.

Please pray for the successful completion of this operation, and thank God for everyone’s generosity. If anyone would like to make a contribution to this special project, please call Brother Rob Callen at Trinity College, Perth on (08) 9325 3655. You can also contact Brother Rob by email at: callen.robert@trinity.wa.edu.au.

Br Rob Callan cfc
Campus Minister, Trinity