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| Sunday, 16 January 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Back to school with: A bag full of memories by Neomi Kodikara It was a holiday seeker's haven, voyager's guide and provided a source of income for the poor.
The once benevolent sea as it unleashed its fury it not only devoured thousands of innocent children, confining them to a watery grave, it also altered the future of thousands and thousands leaving many lost and orphaned. With notices one plastered on walls up and down the coastline, advertisements in newspapers, on television and radio, in the hope that the survivors parents or relatives would find some vital clue about the whereabouts of missing kids, rumours have spread of child trafficking gangs smuggling children out of the country for child prostitution, child labour and so called `adoption'. However, Prof. Harendra de Silva, Chairperson National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) dismisses the rumour, saying that they have not received a single complaint of children, victims of the tsunami, being smuggled from the country though agency news reports have highlighted such cases in the Indonesian Aceh province and in Thailand. "But we are on the alert and are taking necessary precautions," he says. NCPA chairman Prof. Harendra de Silva has alerted the Controller, Immigration and Emigration through the Secretary, Ministry of Defence and all Diplomatic Missions in Sri Lanka through the Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs on preventing such possible incidents. Meanwhile, children in many areas of the country returned to schools on Monday following the tsunami disaster. Some found that their class mates and teachers were no longer with them and many along the coastal belt came to school in coloured dresses and slippers, instead of their customary white uniforms and white shoes. The authorities want schools to re-open so that children affected by the tsunami can regain a sense of normalcy and resume their education. However, on our visit up to Galle, we observed many children had not gone to school. Some parents say they sent their children to school expecting some aid and also it is a good break from the crowded shelters, "How can they go to school, with no books, clothes?" asks one parent. Still many child victims of tsunami bewildered by the enormity of the disaster befallen on them so suddenly, try to make out where life is taking them. Eleven-year-old Purnika Madhushani isn't sure how she feels after surviving the tsunami that hit nearly 2/3 of the island's coastal belt. The waves not only swallowed her whole hamlet in Kotuva Para, Galle, but also it took the lives of her mother, younger sister and several other relatives. "What happened really makes me cry. My father and I are left with nothing today." "We lived here, near the sea. On the day of the disaster, I was staying at home with my mother and sister. My father had gone to a nearby village, to see our relatives. I got very scared when I saw the wave. It was as tall as the tops of those coconut trees over there. When it hit, I thought we were going to die. My mother ran to the main road, with my little sister, calling me to come with her. Trauma "I just saw this wall of water coming towards us and then the screaming and the shouting. But I couldn't run, I was so scared," she says, still looking frightened. Rooted to the ground in fear, she was taken by the first wave. Luckily, a neighbour saw her, struggling and put the terrified girl on a broken piece of wood. "It's amazing, she was floating, then some men on a kottamba tree, picked her up. She and was shocked, couldn't even speak then," says a neighbour. Purnika and her father are now staying at a temporary shelter at a nearby temple with a few of their relatives. "My house was here, it's completely damaged. I do not have the courage to come back and live here again, let alone to swim in the sea, I'm afraid that such a terrible thing might happen again." She refuses to part with her father; as he came to see their `one time home'. She too has come with him, quite reluctantly. A neighbour told us that she still shouts in her dreams. "When she bathes, she puts a jug of water over her body, then turns and looks at the sea, as if to make sure it is not coming to her village, to swallow her." "I do not know how my mother died, if she was with me, on the piece of wood, she could have been saved," she adds. At the same time, she looks forward to going back to school. "My father says I should go to live with my grandmother. I want to go back to study, and my school will reopen on January 17, I do not have clothes or books. I like to be a dancing teacher, I like to study Sinhala, but not English very much," she says with a shy smile all over her face. Eight-year-old Thilina Supun was enjoying breakfast with his father when the killer waves slammed into his village in Hikkaduwa. "I was home alone with my child when the waves hit," recalls Supun's father, W. Wickramasiri (32). "I'm a fisherman and was out at sea. When I saw the waves coming, I quickly grabbed the little one (Supun's younger brother) and ran as fast as I could. The huge waves were rolling in after me and I hoped it wouldn't get to me because I can't swim with two children. I kept Supun on a wall and asked him to hold tight and I was hanging on a mango tree with the baby, then before the second wave we ran to a hillock. It was OK if I died, but I didn't want my children to die. They are still so young." They were saved, but not so lucky was, their mother who went to the market never came home. "We didn't even find the body." Supun is waiting for his mother to come and collect him. "I will only go home when amma comes," he says, trying to break the cover of a chocolate roll, he has got from a relief agency. "He still, too small to understand. He has many friends in the camp to play and not much time to worry, but in the night when we go to sleep, he asks `when are we going home?' `when is amma coming?' says Supun's nenda (father's younger sister), W. Damila (28), who is also trying to cope with the tragic death of her one year old son. Damila has become a mother to her brother's son, who lost his mum. "I try to console my pain, taking care of him, it's difficult, his movements, moods remind me of my son, they are of the same age," she laments. Dhanushka (20) and Dilani (15) brother and sister duo of Kanampitiya, Galle lost everything; parents, their eight year old younger sister, grand parents, house, boat. They only have each other today. "I was sleeping then; my sister woke me up when she heard the news from a friend. My mother, grandmother, two sisters and I were at home. My father had gone to the beach with our grandfather to pull the boats ashore. Our house was on the land side, I ran to the Galle Road to see what was happening, my little sister came behind me. When I saw the size of the wave, I thought it would be disastrous, I ran back and took my sister into my arms and started running, it wasn't easy, as the water came with such strong current." As the tsunami engulfed the whole area, he found himself stranded in the floods, cast adrift from his sister. "I lost control of her, the wave threw her into a bog, as I was running towards her, when the second wave came in few minutes I went there, but there was nothing, even her body was taken away by the second wave. Dilani too went through a terrific experience. "I was at home with my mother and grandmother. With the first wave chasing behind us, we were running to a two storeyed house. Havoc I cannot remember whether my achchi joined us, when I looked back, I saw our house was collapsing. Two days later we found achchi's body under the rubble. My mother was running ahead of me, I saw her falling with the second rush of floods. I wanted to help her up, but the current took me in another direction. That was the last time I saw her." Dilani managed to reach the two storeyed house. Floods were playing havoc there. Reeling from the waves the furniture spun over and over. Thinking they would hurt her, she hang on to a wire of a side lamp for few moments until it broke and she got hold of a fan. "I was hanging on for one and half hours, then the fan broke and I fell." She climbed upstairs and waited there until the water receded. Reunited, Danushka and his sister took sanctuary at the house of a family friend. Danushka works as a steward in a hotel in Colombo while Dilani is studying at Grade 10 in Olcott Vidyalaya, Galle. "I do not know how to start everything all over again," she says. Her brother wants to build a small house and live with a relative. "No, not in the same place, we cannot live there, it's a place with nothing but sad memories haunting us throughout the rest of our lives." He hopes the government would give them a plot of land to build a house. According to the Children's Desk of the Centre for National Operation's (CNO), some 33 children in the Galle district have been orphaned; 82 are without a mother and 37 have lost their father. In the Matara district 21 have lost their parents, while 103 lost their father and another 103 their mother. Some 46 children have been orphaned in the Hambantota district, while 175 are without a father and 172 are without a mother. Data from North and East are being collected by UNICEF and other NGOs working on behalf of children. However, sadly more than two weeks after the catastrophe, officials still cannot put a figure on the children affected by the tsunami. According to UNICEF internal sources nearly 50 per cent of the victims are believed to be children. The CNO spokesman says the figures only include data from relief camps and the actual number could be higher. She adds that the NCPA, the Social Services Department, the Probation and Child Care Services and the Provincial Councils in each of these affected areas have mobilised teams to identify and register all unaccompanied and separated children. "It is not an easy task. There are many practical problems such as, lack of communication, lack of transport facility, storage of staff and resources, and in many instances, we do not know where these children are. Some have been taken away by relatives and friends, some are not in the villages," she says. "It may take us some time to compile a complete database although we are working hard on it," she adds. The biggest challenge is taking care of their future once they are located and identified. In many camps set up to temporally shelter the 800,000 odd displaced people, unconfirmed reports of sexual abuse are being investigated. In most instances the victims have turned to be victimisers. Orphans are being farmed out among greedy relatives, to get the relief money offered by the government and other aid agencies and of course to claim their property. A few days ago the media reported UNICEF detecting a man trying to sell two tsunami orphans at Rs. 50,000 each. According to Prof. de Silva, identified orphans will be removed from the refugee camps and housed in temporary shelters provided with proper protection with immediate effect. However, such measures have not been taken yet. "We are still in the process of identifying and locating them. It is only when we have this data that we can start taking remedial steps to help these children. It is the first step towards rehabilitating them." While admitting that a few cases of sexual abuse of children have been reported, he also urges that the media should not sensationalise the present scenario. Best possible care The Authority will be tracing the children's closest relatives, in order to reunify them as quickly as possible. If relatives cannot be found, Probation Officers will make comprehensive assessments to plan for the best possible care. Options include fostering, adoption or as a last resort, a home for children. "In this part of the world, we are talking about extended families. Even if a child's parents or immediate family members are lost, there is still a very good chance that other members of the family will be able to offer them shelter and a home," he adds. He says that children will not be considered for adoption during the emergency phase, and until every opportunity to locate family members is exhausted. Adoption is a lengthy process and takes many months; the relevant authority for this is the Divisional Secretary or the Department of Probation and Child Care (DPCC). He stresses that family members or others who are caring for children who have lost their parents should also register with the DPCC. " While providing relief efforts such as clean water and sanitation, basic nutrition and routine medical care, focus should also be given to sustained counselling for traumatised children. While the intervention and hard work of the authorities are appreciated, it should also be noted that only speedy actions could avert a possible tragic end to the innocent orphans of this lethal natural disaster. Unless they are removed from camps and housed in safe places soon, they could easily fall prey to vultures of innocent blood. This is the mammoth challenge not only to the government or the child care authorities but for society as a whole. It is only timely intervention that can save the future of a whole generation. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
But on December 26th it exposed its fourth dimension a monster. Its
infuriating vengeance caused utter mayhem in this emerald isle, sparing
neither things animate nor inanimate, transforming the whole country to a
valley of wailing and lamentation.
