{"id":138111,"date":"2023-11-07T16:22:34","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T23:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=138111"},"modified":"2023-11-07T16:22:34","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T23:22:34","slug":"anula-ratnayaka-49-sri-lankan-caregiver-hid-her-elderly-client","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2023\/11\/07\/anula-ratnayaka-49-sri-lankan-caregiver-hid-her-elderly-client\/","title":{"rendered":"Anula Ratnayaka, 49: Sri Lankan caregiver hid her elderly client"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy The Times of Israel<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

After working in Israel for a decade with families who considered her one of their own, she was murdered in Kibbutz Be\u2019eri on October 7<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Anula Ratnayaka (Facebook)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anula Ratnayaka, 49, spent 10 years as a caregiver in Israel before she was murdered by Hamas terrorists in the October 7 assault on Kibbutz Be\u2019eri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sri Lanka Daily News reported<\/a> that Anula was shot dead after managing to hide Ettie Morado, the Israeli woman she was taking care of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report stated that the elderly woman of the house who was rescued has said, \u2018I am blind. Anula was my eyes. She hid me under the bed and went forward to see what was happening.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On October 28, Anula\u2019s body was repatriated to Sri Lanka and was buried in the north Colombo suburb of Kelaniya, India Today reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a Facebook post, Nimisha K Varghese wrote: We have been 5 years of friendship. You are my best friend who I can run to and talk to without an introduction\u2026 language or country was not a barrier\u2026 you have been my best friend since I came to Kibutz Be\u2019eri\u2026 I will never forget you\u2026 thank you for everything, for loving me, For all the support and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Facebook post, Anula can be seen in photos hanging out with friends at a branch of the Golda\u201d ice cream chain in Israel, and in what appears to be the very familiar surroundings of a kibbutz assembly hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The news site BNN Breaking wrote that<\/a> Anula was a resident of the town of Eriyawetiya whose hopes for a better life were tragically cut short miles away from home on foreign soil.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article referred to Anula as an island daughter in the heart of the conflict.\u201d It stated that Anula was not merely a statistic\u201d in the bloodshed of an intractable conflict, but rather, she was a 49-year-old mother of two who worked tirelessly for a decade in Israel, far from the familiar landscapes of her hometown, Eriyawetiya.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article added, in the grand scheme of war, Ratnayake may represent a single life lost, but she also stands as a poignant emblem of the cost of conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On October 25, a memorial was held in Petach Tikva for Anula. Friends and loved ones \u2014 Israelis, Sri Lankans and others from points beyond \u2014 came to pay their respects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a Facebook post, Israeli Efrat Vaknin spoke of her love for Anula, who took care of her late mother-in-law Aliza before her death a few years ago. Efrat wrote that even after Aliza died they would drive down to Be\u2019eri to visit Anula and Etti, the elderly woman she took care of. Efrat wrote that Anula is the one who set up the WhatsApp group Family\u201d and that we were a family in every way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Efrat wrote of a woman who loved people and life and always put others before herself. She also wrote that she misses the messages from Anula on Fridays wishing her Shabbat Shalom\u201d and the sweetness she spread to all who crossed her path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can\u2019t send you pictures and videos of [Efrat\u2019s child] Cleo, and you won\u2019t send me pictures of your trips around the kibbutz and kibbutz events, and we won\u2019t be able to drink your tea or the delicious cookies you made. We can\u2019t hug you anymore\u2026 Anula, we miss you so much.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yael Gilboa, Aliza\u2019s niece, also eulogized Anula as devoted and with a heart of gold, she also took care of the cats in the yard, and probably also birds and other creatures\u2026 We grieve with Anula\u2019s family and friends and send them our condolences. She will not be forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy The Times of Israel After working in Israel for a decade with families who considered her one of their own, she was murdered in Kibbutz Be\u2019eri on October 7 Anula Ratnayaka (Facebook) Anula Ratnayaka, 49, spent 10 years as a caregiver in Israel before she was murdered by Hamas terrorists in the October 7 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[167],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-138111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138111\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}