Woman power to the fore:
Seva Vanitha Units - caring for the welfare of war
heroes
By Dhaneshi YATAWARA
Wounded? not quite. Still enjoying the energy of their
youth. War heroes at the Ragama Ranaviru Sevana. |
At every turning point in Sri Lanka's history, women
have played a decisive role, both individually and collectively.
Whether she is the queen or a 'Kumarihami' of the aristocracy, or
Dingirimenike and Thangamani from the rural community, they always
played their vital role silently. She has been the true force behind
every success, though her role may not have been spoken of much.
This was the same over the strenuous three years we
encountered in fighting ruthless terrorism. Once a Major in the Army
said, "If not for my wife, who takes care of my children and parents
back at home, I would be unable to steadily stand on my feet."
To any soldier, the family back at home is the true
cause that keeps his morale high, to succeed in each and every
mission he faces. Thus it is the woman, be it the wife, mother or
sister, who is truly behind the successful soldier. And it is this
same woman who will be left alone when the soldier gets killed in
action during his mission to save the motherland. The land that he
fought for does not belong to his wife, kids or his parents; it
belongs to every citizen from all ethnic cities.
Being the pillar of strength for the man behind the
weapon to fight the world's most ruthless terrorist organisation,
the Army, Navy and Air Force wives continue their service which is
most important in this post-war era. Now it's time to care for the
valiant soldier who sacrificed his well-being for the betterment of
the nation.
Chairperson of the MOD Seva Vanitha Unit Ioma Rajapaksa
enjoying the new year happiness at the pre-school of the
‘Ranajayapura’ housing scheme for war heroes at Ippalogama. |
Today, the wives are shouldering this responsibility
as the 'Seva Vanitha' Unit. They carry out the major portion of the
welfare activities of the three Forces.
MOD
Representing the three Forces and the Ministry of
Defence (MOD), four Seva Vanitha Units are functioning, extending
welfare activities not just for the soldiers, but for their wives,
children and parents as well. The Seva Vanitha Unit does not solely
focus on providing assistance to the soldiers as a long-term step,
they stress on empowering women as well as raising the level of
education of soldiers' children.
Being the main institute governing all three Forces,
the Ministry of Defence Seva Vanitha Unit plays a decisive role in
supporting all Security Forces personnel directly and indirectly, by
supporting all three Seva Vanitha Units, under the direction of its
Chairperson Ioma Rajapaksa, wife of the Defence Secretary Gotabaya
Rajapaksa. This Seva Vanitha Unit has taken numerous steps from
inception to serve war heroes and their families.
The more complicated and serious welfare matters
mostly reach the MOD Seva Vanitha Unit (SVU), giving them a greater
responsibility to shoulder. Though the demand is high the
Chairperson SVU and officials have never rejected any requests. Be
it the Api Wenuwen Api' project, Ranajayapura housing scheme or
different housing projects, the SVU plays a major part in the
successful accomplishments of all these projects.
Addressing the major problem faced by the soldiers,
houses are built for those who need them most and at certain
instances, housing loans are also provided on easy repayment
schemes. Disabled members of the tri-services and Police have been
provided with interest-free loans. Stage 14 of this project was
launched in 2008 at the MOD auditorium.
Many families of war heroes are not strong
financially. Thus, to avoid them feeling helpless in emergencies,
the MOD Seva Vanitha Unit aims at providing adequate welfare
measures and financial assistance to 'Ranaviru' families in
emergencies. Over the years, hundreds of philanthropists have made
contributions in cash and kind to the organisation in appreciation
of the sacrifices made by the war heroes.
Army wives
The Army comprises a larger part of the Security
Forces, thus greater responsibility falls on the shoulders of the
Army wives. The Seva Vanitha Army Branch commenced its work as a
volunteer group of Army wives nearly 25 years ago under the
leadership of Sonia Weeratunge, wife of the then Army Commander
Lieutenant General Tissa Weeratunge (1984 - 1985). Today it is led
by Manjulika Jayasuriya, wife of the present Army Commander Lt. Gen.
Jagath Jayasuriya.
Today, the Army SVU has 22 branches at regimental
levels, providing an incomprehensible source of strength to the
respective Regimental Commanders and Field Commanders by
methodically and swiftly taking over the burden of caring for the
welfare of the families of officers and soldiers Killed in Action, (KIA),
Missing in Action (MIA) and Wounded in Action (WIA) as well as
serving Army personnel. The Army SVU supports the families of war
heroes by providing them with housing, scholarships to children,
financial aid at times of need and medical requirements.
The Seva Vanitha Unit from its inception had been
providing the moral courage and care to the injured war heroes by
visiting them in hospital, inquiring over their welfare and
providing them with their basic needs as well as the care they need
and support during their convalescence. The Seva Vanitha Army branch
maintains welfare shops at Army Headquarters, Summit Flats, Manning
Town and Kandalanda at which groceries and other house-hold items
are sold at reasonable prices for the Army personnel and their
families. A bakery project provides the Army personnel with
reasonably priced goods, bringing in an income to the SVU.
Two pre-schools, namely the Udupila pre-school and
the Panagoda Rankete Montessori and Day Care Centre, were
established in the years 1998 and 1995 respectively. On the request
of many families of the Army personnel, six other Montessori schools
are functioning in Anuradhapura, Manning Town, Diyatalawa, Pallekele,
Kosgama and Galle. More than 500 children are receiving an education
in these schools.
And to date, over 2,000 schoolchildren of Army
personnel receive the benefit of scholarships. Over millions of
rupees were contributed to Army personnel as financial assistance on
requests for assistance for urgent medical surgeries.
Over the years, more than 144 houses have been
constructed by the Army SVU and handed over to widows and parents of
KIA and WIA war heroes. The houses are built in villages at Kosgama
Shalawa Estate, Kuruwita Paradise Estate, Lunawa in Ambalanthota and
Milleniya and Millewa in Horana.
SUV Navy
The Seva Vanitha Unit of the Sri Lanka Navy, now led
by Malathie Samarasinghe, wife of the present Navy Commander, Vice
Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe, has been serving the officers, sailors
and their families, in happiness and despair, for nearly 25 years.
Since its inception, it has functioned under eight Chairpersons.
Wives of Navy officers and sailors, women officers and women sailors
in the Navy are the members of this Seva Vanitha Unit.
Land for families of naval personnel Killed in
Action, Missing in Action or wounded in Action are provided through
the SVU as many of these families are from poor financial
backgrounds.
When these families lose, in most of the cases,
their sole bread-winner, the families start to shatter leaving
especially the children destitute. Such families also need
assistance to complete building their houses, provided with
assistance by the SVU. In addition, interest-free loans are provided
to these families. As a special need, toilets especially designed
for differently-abled persons are built for the wounded soldiers at
their homes.
Artificial limbs and wheelchairs are also provided
to naval personnel Wounded in Action.
A large number of children of naval personnel
benefited through the scholarship scheme. Montessori schools are
maintained by the Navy Seva Vanitha at Trincomalee and Sri Lanka
Naval Ship Gemunu at Welisara. Going for longer-term assistance to
the wounded in action, the SVU provides training and assistance for
such sailors to start self-employment projects.
Not confining their activities to the Navy, the SVU
is extending their services to the community, respecting their
social responsibility. Navy women have taken one step further to
care for the needy patients of Ward Number 17 at the Mulleriyawa
Mental Hospital by maintaining it on a regular basis.
Extending the services rendered by the Naval
officers and sailors, these women take care of the orphaned children
of displaced families now living in especially set up orphanages,
paying visits to them and providing them with meals in their effort
to bring the delight of being a family and parental care to these
innocent children. They also, as the necessity arises, arrange
donations for people of war-affected villages.
SLAF SVU
Aimed at providing assistance to the Air Force men
and women, the Sri Lanka Air Force Seva Vanitha Unit is today
chaired by Nelun Goonetilake, wife of Air Force Commander, Air Chief
Marshal Roshan Goonetilake who has been in service for nearly 25
years.
The SLAF SVU and Families Welfare Association are
primarily non-profitable organisations that facilitate the welfare
of SLAF personnel and their families and needy people in the
society.
Building new houses and providing interest-free
housing loans are the two separate modes implemented under the Anula
Fernando housing project in facilitating war heroes and their
dependents; this was initiated in 2007. The Marian Goonetileke
Scholarship Fund the SVU launched in 2006 supports schoolgoing
children of war heroes to pursue higher education. Through this, the
SVU believes that they could be a tower of strength to those needy
children who could lean on them for their psychological, educational
and social needs.
The Marian Goonetileke Scholarship Fund is intended
to provide educational scholarships for children and families of war
heroes, service personnel and civilians serving in the Air Force. At
the end of 2009, the SVU had offered 300 scholarships.
The SVU has launched several pre-schools to uplift
the standard of the pre-schools that were functioning in the SLAF
bases islandwide. In 2008, all pre-schools of the SLAF were upgraded
to international standard.
Interest-free loans are provided to service
personnel and families of personnel who have been declared missing,
wounded or killed during operations, disabled during service or
deserving assistance.
The SVU also provides grants for service personnel
and their children by way of opening fixed deposits for children,
donations to support next of kin of the service personnel to start
self-employment projects or sponsor higher studies. The Identity
Card Project provides identity cards for the membership so that they
will be recognised in society as spouses or widows of servicemen.
The Medical Project under the SVU carries out a
range of activities such as supporting battle casualties in
hospitals, conducting counselling programs on medical issues,
organising dental clinics for the public, blood donation campaigns
and gifting wheelchairs for the aged and differently abled
personnel. SVU also extends assistance to heart and cancer patients
and those with auditory and visual impairments.
The SVU, extending its social responsibilities, has
been maintaining Ward 13 of the Mulleriyawa Mental Hospital, caring
for these patients with special needs.
With the assistance of well-wishers from across the
globe and self-raised funds, the SVU women are determined to
continue their support. These women who never left the valiant
soldier, sailor or airman, the true heroes of our time, were the
pillars of strength in the unimaginable mission of eradicating
terrorism. Today, some of their members are facing life alone, yet
still strengthened in mind, they continue to serve and support the
war heroes, those who gave their today for the Motherland. Seva
Vanitha Units, being the most active social service institutes at
present, are an inspiration to the nation.
Source : Web pages of Seva Vanitha Units
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