A bit about me, by Babi Gunasekara

Hi, my name’s Babi – it’s a Sri Lankan name. I don’t really know what it means but most of my friends call me Baby which is kinda funny because I do have a bit of a baby face.

I live with my Mum and two sisters in Melbourne, Victoria. My Dad lives in Sri Lanka but comes over as often as he can. He works for his father’s business which means he is over there a lot of the time.  Mum and Dad came to Australia 20 years ago. They loved Australia and decided they would stay here because it is so peaceful and beautiful. I love Sri Lanka heaps (I’ve been there twice) but I call Australia my home because that’s where I’ve spent my whole life.

A map showing Sri Lanka (at the base of India)

I’m a young carer because my Mum has MS. That’s multiple sclerosis. I’m not great at explaining it, but basically it affects the way the brain works and the covering around each nerve cell.

Here is an image of a nerve cell - the part affected by MS is the Myelin Sheath. As it thins, it becomes less effective in transporting nerve messages - Make sense?



I don’t know if you ever watched the West Wing, but the President had MS in that show.  I didn’t really watch it until they started talking about MS and then I got hooked. Everyone at the MS Society (where Mum goes for support) thinks that they did a good job portraying the life of someone with MS. I just liked it because there was always happening and because the girls on the show were all cool and didn’t let the boys get away with anything.

Dr. Josiah Edward "Jed" Bartlet, the President, has MS and is a fictional character played by Martin Sheen

Because of Mum’s condition me and my sisters do a lot of stuff to help out. She’s not as strong as she used to so we have to help her around the house sometimes and have pretty much taken over the cooking and cleaning – although Mum always watches us and helps us with stuff. She’s always been great at making curries and she does most of it except like grinding the curry powders and that. There have been times when Mum’s been pretty paralysed which is scary – especially if you’re the only one around. I think it’s pretty scary for her too and frustrating because she has to rely on us a bit. But we’re cool with it. In fact it’s something most of us enjoy doing. For most of the time, anyhow.

So about me… Hmmm… Well I really like school. I’m a bit of a nerd actually. I get mainly As except in PE and Woodwork. I don’t know why – I just suppose I never got into it. I play the violin in the band and am in a drama group. My drama teacher is a bit like Mr G from Summer Heights High but only because he’s really enthusiastic (I think he has a little dog though LOL).

When I’m not at school or doing my clubs I usually hang out with my friends either at the library or the coffee shop. I love a good grande caramel latte with cream and sprinkles.  It always helps me calm down and de-stress. Well it’s probably more my friends paying me out or telling me a joke – but I do enjoy my coffee nonetheless.

I sometimes go to stuff with Carers Vic. The staff there are pretty cool and we do some great activities. It’s kinda cool getting to know lots of other young carers. It really puts stuff into perspective, you know. When I’m having a bad day I think about one of my friends from there and think ‘oh, why are you complaining Babi – get a grip!’. It’s also good helping each other out. It’s a kind of a way of giving back for all those people who helped you along the way too which is good. I spend a lot of time on msn talking to my friends from Carers.

Um, I’m not sure what else they wanted us to talk about in these profile things so they can come back and tell me if there’s more stuff they want me to add.

If you’re a young carer reading this – YOU ARE A LEGEND!

Make sure that you tell yourself that at least once a day and that you get help whenever you need it. I used to find that really hard, you know asking people if they could give you a hand or whatever and it was really bad for me. I got really sick and depressed myself and I think I was pretty hopeless for Mum too. So what am I trying to say? Get help when you can! A great way of finding out what’s around is to call your Carers Association their number is 1800 242 636. They can send you some cool stuff including this young carer mag which has got some good advice and ideas too.

OK I’m bored so you probably are too. Remember: YOU ARE A LEGEND!

Babi.