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Learning to live again
By Dhanuusha Pathirana
The devastation which years of conflict has etched on the lives of the children of Jaffna, is slowly receding. Destroyed by the shelling of 2000, the Madduvil Chandrapura Skandavirodaya Madhya Maha Vidyalaya in Chavakachcheri is gradually being rebuilt to provide much needed education to a new generation in the area.

Based on their experiences in the Balkans and the Middle East, the Danish Red Cross, in association with the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society and funded by the European Union is also implementing a psychosocial programme for conflict-affected children in Jaffna.

“Some students were not talking to each other or with the teachers. Now they are,” says teacher Sooriyan Ganeshethurai. “Such activities are good because they give children more relief than they get at home. Now they come and tell us about their problems.”

The Danish Red Cross’ Programme Consultant Karin Erikson says, “Having been displaced by the war and having lost family members, half the students are not attending school, which indicates that the future of half of the community has been affected by the conflict.”

“We need to increase the confidence of the kids to speak their hearts, and make them realize that they are not the only ones who have lost someone in the family or experienced the brutality of war.”

To date 85 teachers from 19 schools have been given basic psychosocial and health training, and have learnt how to use play therapy, art therapy, dancing and traditional exercises with the children. A total of 1, 729 children and 3, 000 parents in Jaffna are taking part in the activities.

Teachers and parents are positive about the Red Cross effort and say that the children’s behaviour has improved since the programme started. In some schools, attendance has gone up and the number of drop-outs has decreased as a result of the programme.

Low attendance is common due to several reasons such as the students being needed to work on farming the available land. In families where parents are separated and which have lost the father the children have to contribute to the family income.

Alcohol abuse and illegal toddy brewing is common in the area, often leading to domestic problems and disagreements within the community. This also affects the upbringing of the children as some parents lose interest in raising their children.

The children are often without food in the morning, as their parents go to work early mostly for farming and fishing. The parents spend very little time with the children as they are burdened with the main concern of daily survival.
“Adjusting is always difficult,” says Kohila Mahendran, the Deputy Director of Education in the Valikamam Zone. “In addition, alcoholism in the family affects a lot of children in Jaffna. Many adults suffer from post-traumatic stress disorders and the parents’ problems spill over to the children. We ask the parents not to talk about violence in front of the children.”

Mrs. Mahendran said that one third of Jaffna’s children have been affected psychologically by the conflict and 96% of the children have witnessed the bloodshed of war. Nineteen students in the Madduvil Chandrapura Skandavirodaya School have lost either one parent or both due to war and other reasons.

Karin Erikson said that the main aim of the psychosocial programme is to build a new generation who are capable of facing the challenges the future holds for them.

Principal of the Madduvil Chandrapura Skandavirodaya Madhya Maha Vidyalaya M. Balasubramanium who was also a past pupil of the school relates how in 2003 when they returned to the school after the Cease Fire Agreement, the area was completely covered with shrubs and bushes as no human activity had taken place in the vicinity. “The Army was generous enough to come and clear the land for us so that we could recommence the work of the school,”he said.

Before the destruction, 1, 000 students attended the school, but now only 452 students are on the roll as only part of the former community has returned to the area, the rest still being displaced. Madduvil was the main area of conflict during 2000 and as a result most of the community moved to Vadamarachchi where they sought refuge in the homes of relatives or in camps.

Mr. Balasubramaniam said that the school now conducts classes from grade one to thirteen and there are 54 students who are studying in the Advanced Level classes in Arts and Commerce.

“NECOT and the GTZ helped us by providing desks and chairs. The Education Department has built two temporary blocks of open classrooms in which the school functions. Now two new permanent blocks of classrooms have been completed by G.T.Z and the Government and a third block is being completed with the help of the World Bank,” Mr. Balasubramanium said.

“Before the war, every District sports meet was held in our school ground as it was the ground with the best facilities in Jaffna,”he added. Last week, 42 Grade six children in white and blue school uniforms, sat on straw mats on the floor in their new temporary building. They were having lunch, laughing happily between mouthfuls of rice and curry. A stranger to the place would notice the ruins of the school’s former buildings but for 12-year- old Sanuri, the remnants of the shelled Science lab serve merely as a play area.

“Close your eyes and think about the feelings that you go through during a day. Draw the one feeling that you can’t forget,” teacher and Vice Principal V. Pragasam instructs them. Some children draw happy faces. Many draw faces that express anger, or have tears running down them.

Before finishing for the day, the children are asked to make clay figures. Some make figures of animals or household objects. Sanuri’s little figure has one arm and a leg. “It is a landmine victim,” she explains. Her sister was injured by a landmine while playing in their neighbourhood.

Sharing her feelings with her classmates and teachers, Sanuri is applauded by the other children. She has made a small step forward. With time, it is hoped that Sanuri and the other children will not bear the scars of war.

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