Thank you and goodbye

Loved helpers and supporters, loved friends,

thank you and thank you again for believing in Little Smile and me.

The catastrophe in South East Asia, this horrible flood wave has changed a lot. I believe, we can talk about a time before and after the flood wave.

Not only the natural disaster but also the cooperativeness, especially in Germany were matchless. There will, of course, be talk about lack of organisation, problems in cooperation. The one or other waste of means and donations will be denounced. Maybe this is inevitable due to the huge amount of emergency aid.

On behalf of Little Smile I can tell you, that we did not waste a single Euro, on the contrary. Many people have helped, have been committed and active, have supported us, because we neither had our own Little Smile office nor one single employee.

Without the tireless help of my wife and the support by my family, Birgit Stecher and other volunteers, we would not have been able to meet the challenges of the past two weeks. I will never forget the picture of my critically ill mother, who helped answering your phone calls in spite of her pain. I will take it with me into this other world. Your confidence and your humanity helped us here in Eichstätt, in the children's village of Koslanda and especially at the east coast around the city of Kalmunai. It seems that this horrible flood has touched many among us so that we are able to act spontaneously as human being for human beings in trouble.

I would like to say THANK YOU to all, who have accompanied us over the years. With the help of these people we were always able to help children in trouble. This way Little Smile could offer a way out of misery, distress, violence or war. Until the 2nd day after Christmas in 2004 it had been people and not nature that turned these children into victims. And now people, have helped them overcome their misery.

"Study", Thank you also to the people, who joined us during the days after the disastrous catastrophe. Thank you to everybody, who helped and still helps via us or another organisation to relieve the distress and to dry tears.

I have been able to conduct a lot of very useful conversations. I have learned via phone, email and personal talks, how many people share my vision and my dream, - that I am not alone.

I will never forget the days after the flood, hardly any sleep, fear about my son Manuel, about my colleagues and especially about entrusted children in houses on the east coast. Days full of sorrow and relief, tears and great sadness. I was allowed to share biggest sympathies with complete strangers, who had to face a very hard stroke of fate - and there was their confidence. A confidence that Little Smile will make its contribution to a lasting alleviation, that Little Smile will give hope, maybe even send a smile to the destroyed regions around Kalmunai and the east coast.

In a couple of hours I will depart and do, what I can do and what I have to do, because I firmly believe, that every human being and especially every child is entitled to a little bit of fortune, a humane life, a smile.

Everyone that helped me help at the east coast and elsewhere with their confidence, I would like to say THANK YOU on behalf of all those, who can hope again, because of you. You build a bridge of humanity across countries, continents, seas. This bridge will bring me to the east coast of Sri Lanka to nameless and partly disappeared villages. I will probably stay there till the end of April and hope, that I am able to send a sign of life every now and then.

I am dead tired, beat from the last weeks, but yet full of energy and confidence. I know, the Little Smile family, our strength, our opportunities have grown and our love, our help will reach more people and more children will get their lost smiles back.

Goodbye
Yours,
Michael Kreitmeir