Prashanthi Rajanikanth was flooded with images of Sri Lanka’s bombing attacks when she woke up at 5:30 on Sunday morning.
The 17-year old from Red Deer had been watching Sri Lankan news the night before while her parents made nervous phone calls to family in Colombo, the country’s capital.
Their family was safe, but Sri Lanka was reeling after a string of coordinated bombs ripped through churches and hotels, killing more than two hundred people and wounding hundreds more.
“I felt as if I didn’t have any power at all,” said Rajanikanth, who immigrated to Canada with her family in 2007. “I wanted to do the best I could do and that was to help raise a lot of money for them.”
She launched a GoFundMe page that morning, with the proceeds going towards two hospitals in Colombo. The page garnered more than half of its $1000 goal by Thursday night.
“I’m just doing the only thing I can do,” she told CBC News.
Sri Lanka has been on edge following the Easter Sunday bombings, with authorities reportedly warning people to stay away from places of worship amid fears of more attacks this weekend.
The county’s top health official revised the death toll Thursday to 253, down from 359, highlighting the challenges in identifying the victims.
“I don’t know if my former classmates are dead or my neighbourhood kids are dead,” Rajanikanth said.
The proceeds from the GoFundMe campaign will go towards the Colombo General Hospital and the Asiri Medical Hospital, where her aunt works as a doctor. The general hospital has put out calls for supplies and donations over social media.
“I’m very proud of her,” said Vanitha Rajanikanth, Prashanthi’s mother. “She was really small when we left Sri Lanka, but she can understand the pain now.”
Prashanthi Rajanikanth and her family on a trip to their native Sri Lanka three years ago. (Prashanthi Rajanikanth)
Growing up in Colombo, Prashanthi would pass by St. Anthony’s church — the target of one of the bombings — on her way to visit aunts or grandparents.
The church was a place for people of all faiths to commune. Her family is Hindu, but they would often go to church every Tuesday to light votive candles and pray. It was one of their last stops on a trip to Colombo earlier this year.
“When I think of St Anthony’s now, I still think of it as a very peaceful and beautiful place. Just because a terrorist attack happened there doesn’t take away the amazement of the place,” she said.
“I’ve never seen people pray like that before. They come there to release all of their emotions, all their problems, to take them to God.”
At least 76 suspects have been detained in the attacks, with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claiming responsibility. Authorities remain unsure of the groups connection to the attack, though they are investigating links between the local bombers and foreign militants.