The following letters were written by Doris Thambyrajah, our AIM representative on the ground in Sri Lanka. Doris manages to get through to the East Coast in and visit the nutrition centers to give us an update on the situation. What she has to report is heart-breaking and we share it with you to remind us of why we continue to do this work:
March 2008,
I went on the 26th of last month and got back on the 30th. This time with the greatest difficulty I managed to go to the center through the other horrible and dangerous road.
The center is totally destroyed and they have done a temporary covering and on and off cooking is done for the kids who come regularly and the two teachers are great ladies to travel such a long distance every day.
Police post and army camps are all around the village which disturbs the daily life of the people. Wild elephants attack during the night times. The people in the village are going through much suffering and struggling to survive for the day. Right now things are heating up in Batti because the local election, municipal election will be held very soon. There have been many killings and candidates are been abducted over night. Thank God I got back safely. I will visit once the elections are held.
Please dont think of coming in March because we do not know at what moment what will happen, so wait, watch the situation and decide.
Pray for our country,
Doris Thambyrajah
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING THE YEAR [SEP, 2006\2007]
September 2006
the center had the parents and community gathering and many things were discussed pertaining the children such as importance of education, nutrition, first aid and health
November 2006,
The children celebrated Diwali, children, enjoyed eating different sweet items, drawings depicting Diwali was put up in the class room also small clay oil lamps were painted by teachers and older children and taken home
December 2006,
Christmas was celebrated in a big way by the entire community after many years. The entire village was helping in many was and there was fun, laughter and fellowship. Children’s activities such as dance, singing, drama, recitation both in English and Tamil and also in Sinhala were the highlights of the day. Children received gifts from the Santa and also the teachers
January 2007,
The year began with much enthusiasm planning to implement many program such as having three day workshop for the teachers also getting them down to Colombo to see other pre-school and nutrition centres run by other organization.
Planning for :
Evening classes for girls and boys
Skill training classes for young women
The center will be used on the week-end for meditation.
Children celebrated Thai pongal in the month of January. This the time for farmers to thank God for the land, rain and the food crops given to them, this harvest festival was celebrated by making milk rice which the children enjoyed.
March 2007,
We were to have a sports meet in a small way and plans were on there way but could not have because of the tension between the forces and the LTTE. War broke out and the entire village was in desolation and people began to move out. Our village people were the last to move. I visited them in the IDPs (internally displaced peoples) camp thrice and saw for myself all our kids and parents living in three different camps. The Government agent gave them small space for the centre to function in two camps. They were unable to cook food because of short age of firewood, heat and transportation of food items. However the children were given milk and different kinds of lentil and biscuits. They remained in the camp till June and were resettled again by the government who are now in control of the area.
July and August 2007,
resettlement took placed and people were taken by batches. Many people were forced to go and they had no choice. These two months even the teachers were not allowed to go to the area.
September, October, and November 2007
the centre started to function with few children and now we have about 40 children. The centre and the toilet being built are totally damaged, kitchen utensils and furniture missing. The normal route to go to the centre was blocked and the teachers have been traveling through Batticaloa a much dangerous and long and costly way. Each day they had to spend Rs.100\= for traveling and so to cut down the cost both teachers stayed in the area and came home for the weekend. The community was not too happy of this arrangement as they were young and the army forces were around them and anything could happen and that they would be in a helpless situation to protect... Fortunately the old road is now open and the teachers are able to travel daily from their homes. On many occasion I was not allowed to go to the area and I came back frustrated and disappointed. I was requested to get a letter of permission and have now received a pass to enter the area.
May the love of Christmas the coming month bring these people and all the citizen of our land Good tidings of hope, faith, love and peace to our mother Land Blessed Christmas and a prosperous New year
-Doris recommends that we wait until the political tensions decrease before we rebuild the centre. Meanwhile the programs will run in the existing centre.
May 30, 2007
My visit to the Eastern province last month was most depressing and spending five days fell sick and could not come to reality that there was so much of human suffering just for a piece of land. We the humankind who never created this land or worked hard to purchase it yet fight and kill each other at the expenses of innocent poor people who want to live peacefully in their little huts with their kith and kin enjoying the sun and rain and their surroundings. They don’t want a Palace, a BMW car nor a bank book. All they want is to live for the day and live peacefully.
Our children had been displaced from their village from the 1st of March and I have been made to understand that this people of the village were the last to move while other village people were moving from the month of February due to heavy shelling and artillery. The teachers and the priest did not know where our children were for about one week as all of them were running to various directions for safety. All the 49 children were discovered by the two teachers and the priest in three IDP camps on their search.
The temporary feeding centre started on the 20th of March with the greatest difficulty in getting a shed from the G.A of that area. There are 50 children in the centre out of which 29 are our original children. The children come to the centre as early as 8 a.m. to avoid the heat and leave by 11.30 a.m. because there is no facility for cooking and it is impossible to cook standing in that heat; finding fire wood is another problem. The children are given a glass of milk and biscuits in the morning and different kinds of Grams everyday as they leave.
I spent two days at the IDP camps saw the children and parents and other families living in the three camps. The sheds are very small and covered with tin sheets and polythin covers around and on the floor. Inside the shed was like an oven and I could not stay more than half hour. Most of the children were coughing or had a running nose and some children were crying due to the heat. There are 675 families living in Palacholi and 535 in Koralangkerni.
The NGO’s and the churches are doing their best to look after them but how long and how can they. There is already food scarcity and medical. I hope and pray that some settlement will come for these people to get back and live in their land. The question is are the people willing to go? And can the government guarantee their safety?
With Love
Doris Thambyrajah
Go to the Nutrition Centre Page for photos and more information
We are in the process of applying for grants for our south Sri Lankan project in Galle. The Children’s Village is a cooperative project between AIM and Global Action, a large NGO (non-governmental organization) that supplies aid to over 54 countries. I am especially excited about this project because it will give AIM an opportunity to learn from an experienced NGO. The Children’s Village has the potential to grow from the nutrition centre we are currently building for 50 children into a fully functioning village dedicated to the health and education of over 500 children. It will serve as a healing and rehabilitation centre for the children and a place to encourage tolerance between the two cultures, the Tamil and the Sinhalese.
We ask you to reach out and help the children of Sri Lanka so that the next generation will be one of acceptance and peace.
Sincerely,
Eden
Founder and Chairperson
Go to the Children's Village for photos and more information
