May this four-year-old peasant girl's dream come true

by Elmo Leonard in Madawatchchiya

Four-year-old Ishara Sevvandhi, from Atamagaskanda, one of the northernmost Sinhalese settings in Sri Lanka, wishes to attend a pre-school. But, there are many things around her, that such a little girl does not understand.

Among what she knows is that her father, (A Gunasinghe 51 a home guard) was killed along with three others by the LTTE terrorists a few months ago. She knows that she must spend the night miles away, in the sanctuary of a Buddhist temple, or risk the fire of men who come at night.

She does not know that there are no adult feet to walk her to the pre-school, coming up in Periyakulam ten miles from her home, and that her mother cannot afford to employ a person to take her to school; everyone here is involved in the human parade of survival.

For, her mother Vijitha Mallika 38, who is the bread-winner, of her family, has to keep herself available for odd jobs of agricultural nature, she does near, and miles away from home.

Mallika, has to support her daughter Sugandika Sarojanie 17, who cycles 14 miles to attend Madawatchchiya Maha Vidyalaya and her brother, Chathurage Kumara 15, also a schoolgoer. Sevvandi does not understand that the bus that leaves the border villages early morning comes back only after dusk.

Odds apart, the Periyakulam free pre-school intended to accommodate 40 tiny tots is being built near the Periyakulam Buddhist temple at a cost of Rs 1.4 million (rupees 109 to a U S dollar), which includes furniture, a sea-saw, swing and clay. The money comes from the Jephocott Charity Trust, UK.

It will cost Rs 10,000 per month to run the school, with two teachers, including the qualified Montessori teacher, and head mistress Padma Ranasinghe. We could not identify the existence of another pre-school along these border villages.

The divisional secretary for Madawatchchiya Prasanna Madanayake will see to the running of the school, while the Karuna Trust, which built the school will provide the funds.

The Periyakulam Pre-School is the work of the Karuna Trust, set up by Mahinda Karunaratne 74. On Karunaratne's 70th birthday, he gave over the administration of the company, Karunaratne and Sons Ltd, Homagama (a leading printer in the island) to his children.

Karunaratne who had his education in the English medium, yet, from a humble dwelling, began life as a cooperative clerk. Through honesty and hard work, he built the printing establishment, he handed over. He is also a past president of the Sri Lanka Institute of Printing and helped many in the industry to establish themselves.

Since 1983, this Indian Ocean island nation is in a state of civil conflict. A minority community of the island, well extended through the developed world wants to establish its only homeland in Sri Lanka.

Blunder and virtue on either side, apart, around 65,000 citizens of this island, many innocent civilians, women and children are among those who have lost their lives. An unestimated thousands are maimed.

Many thousands, who belong to the island's main races, being Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims are refugees of the conflict and remain displaced from the soil they inherited.

Some refugees are housed in India, but, everyone wants to come back. Many of the educated people have run away from the country, causing a brain drain.

The LTTE terrorist group, banned in the United States, UK, the EU, Canada and India are extorting money from Tamil people living in Sri Lanka and outside the island's borders. To disobey the LTTE, means to pay with one's life, anywhere in the world.

The latest killing of importance was in early February, being that of the Hindu high priest of Batticaloa in the east, Selliah Parameswara Kurukkal 63, shot dead because he welcomed the president of Sri Lanka, by garlanding him.

Widespread demonstrations of Tamils in the East followed the killing. The mission of the Karuna Trust is to provide support to surviving children and spouses who have lost a loved one or who have sustained a serious disability due to terrorist acts.

The villages that are under threat of terrorist acts are the poor villages in the very remote areas of north central and eastern provinces. "Our intention is to honour the fallen and make a difference for the families they have left behind," Karunaratne said. The home guards recruited from among these villages are frequently picked out, by the guerilla activists. One was shot a few days ago, for guarding an army camp.

Mahinda Karunaratne, who retains the chairmanship of his company, donates his monthly salary of Rs 150,000 to the trust. The money got from selling waste paper and old plates also goes into the trust.

The suppliers to the company, give them hampers, each year-end. These hampers are politely refused, instead, they are requested to give them the value of the hamper in cash. This money amounts to around Rs 350,000 per year, and with it a house is built on the border villages.

This year, the second house is being built in Atamagaskanda, for a poor family of six who live in a straw hut. Fourteen houses have been built, 11 in these border villages, two in Attanagala on compassionate grounds, and one for a tsunami affected family in Galle.

The Karuna trust gives Rs 500 per month to 175 school children who are victims of terrorist atrocities and have got through the Year 5 scholarship examinations. These schoolgoers now attend Ananda and Nalanda Vidyalaya, Royal College, Colombo, Devi Balika and Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo, Anuradhapura Central College, Mahinda College Galle, to name a few.

There are also 25 tsunami affected children who are such beneficiaries, and the money will be paid for eight years until they complete Year 13. This year the number of scholarships are expected to increase by hundred.

Karunaratne's wife, Mrs Senalatha Karunaratne as director of the company, draws a salary of Rs 150,000 per month and this money is used for their upkeep and to administrate the Karuna Trust. All donations from home and abroad go direct to the beneficiaries; nothing is deducted for administrating the fund, even for travelling, to the border villages.

Mahinda Karunaratne travels to these boarders regularly to oversea the work. Much of the money comes from Sri Lankans living overseas, in UK, Australia, USA, Canada, besides,some overseas Buddhist and Christian organisations are among the donors and there are no conversions.

There is no politics in choosing recipients and politicians are not asked to attend, when Buddhist temples are completed, science laboratories are built, or any other work is completed and handed over to recipients.

Mahinda Karunaratne is aware of the Christian maxim that the right hand should not know what the left hand does. And being a Buddhist, the words of the Buddha that one who says what good he has done without being asked, is ignoble. But, it is the work of the media to interview such philanthropists, for the public has the right to know. Besides, it being a norm of the media to help such causes.

Anyone who wishes to sponsor a family who has lost their loved one due to terrorist activity can do so through the Karuna Trust with a minimum of $10.00 per month to cover the cost of schooling of the children. Please refer website, www.karunalanka.org

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