"There's very much pain," he says quietly. "It's all over the place and I vomit."

Aravinda and his parents flew for 16 hours from their home in Sri Lanka on Monday for a risky operation to repair an aneurysm in his brain. He doesn't know much about the neurosurgeon who will operate on him this week or next, but he does know this: "He'll help me with my headaches."

Aravinda loves Bible stories; his favorite is of Jesus walking on water. His parents say God will get their son through the operation.

The boy and his parents are staying with Ali Tahiri of Poway, president of San Diego North Rotary Club, who helped raise money to pay for the surgery through the Rotary Club.

Tahiri met the family while visiting Sri Lanka. The Rotary Club does charitable work there, including a program that sets up nurseries and hires teachers for children living with their mothers in prison.

Aravinda started complaining of headaches about six months ago. Doctors thought it might be a problem with his eyesight, but found that his vision was fine. Aravinda's headaches got so bad they made him cry and left him unable to do his schoolwork. He told his mother it felt like something vibrating in his head and that his head felt tight. The headaches usually last a couple of hours.

A CT scan in April revealed the aneurysm – a weakening of the wall of a blood vessel that causes it to balloon out. Aravinda is lucky in one respect. Many people with aneurysms have no symptoms until the blood vessel ruptures, causing brain damage or death.

Aravinda could have had the surgery in India, but his parents wanted the best surgeon.

"We wanted to give our child to the proper hands," said Asha Seneviratne, his mother.

Tahiri and Aravinda's parents have collected about $15,000 so far for the surgery. Although such an operation normally costs about $56,000, neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Levy and Children's Hospital have reduced the cost to $35,000. The family is working to raise the remaining amount.

Aneurysms are rare in children, and Aravinda's type of aneurysm is even rarer. The most common type, and the easiest to repair, is called a saccular aneurysm, in which a pouch forms into the shape of a small ball with a stem. The stem can be clipped to cut off the blood supply to the pouch.

Aravinda has a large fusiform aneurysm in his carotid artery. In that type, two sides of the artery bulge with no stem. To repair such an aneurysm, a surgeon cuts out the bulge and inserts a graft made from a vein.

The graft will come from Aravinda's leg or from a cadaver. But the procedure is difficult and risky. "The biggest risk is that he could have a major stroke in the period of time we're trying to do the reconstruction," Dr. Levy said.

The aneurysm is in the part of the brain that controls memory. A stroke could kill Aravinda or cause weakness on the left side of his body.

But Aravinda's parents, Nihal and Asha, say they have confidence in Dr. Levy's abilities. They chose him, they said, because most pediatric neurosurgeons have done only one or two such operations, but Dr. Levy has done seven successfully.

Nihal and Asha say they also have put their faith in God.

"Everything is possible with God," Asha said.