Rehabilitating wrecked lives
A couple’s holiday trail took a twist when they stumbled on the battle scars in northern Sri Lanka.
WHEN Wijen Randhawa and his wife Mathy returned from a holiday in Sri Lanka a couple of years ago, they were captivated by the beauty of the country and the generosity of its people. They immediately decided to make a repeat trip to visit places that they had not yet discovered.
“We went to Colombo, Kandy, Nuwerea Eliya, Dambulla and Sigriya on that first trip. The places were so beautiful and we were impressed by the hospitality and friendliness of the people.
“We decided we would return, and began looking up new places in Sri Lanka that we could visit on our next trip,” says Wijen, who works as a researcher for Petronas. Their plan took a different turn, however, when the two stumbled upon a site which described not the tourist attractions of the country, but the warravaged areas in the north.
“We found a website on Jaffna (the capital city of the Northern province of Sri Lanka) and saw the devastating effects of the civil war on the city and its people, and we were moved. We wanted to do something for these people. We decided that instead of booking another holiday to Sri Lanka, we’d go to Jaffna and see what we could do to help,” says Wijen.
Sri Lanka suffered a civil war for close to two decades right up to 2009. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE or the Tamil Tigers), a separatist militant organisation, were fighting for an independent Tamil state in the north and east of the island. The war killed an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 people, including thousands of innocent civilians. Much of the northern provinces of Sri Lanka still bare the scars of the 26-year war.
Mission
Having decided to go to Sri Lanka on a mission rather than a holiday, the two begun searching for a non-governmental organisation in Jaffna that they could offer their assistance. They found the Chinmaya Mission of Jaffna and made arrangements to meet with them on their trip.
The Randhawas left for their mission in December last year. Realising that their strengths lie in teaching (both Wijen and Mathy have a strong background in education; Mathy is a corporate trainer), they decided to focus their attention on the children in some villages in Jaffna. The Chinmaya Mission has several education programmes for children in the northern and eastern provinces of the country.
Upon their arrival in Kilnochi, a small town 60km south-east of Jaffna, the duo met Emma Cook, a young Australian volunteer who was also in Jaffna doing voluntary work. Led by a field officer from the Chinmaya mission, the three headed to a school in Kilnochi.
“I was taken aback by the scene that greeted me in Kilnochi. The buildings were run-down and damaged by years of war. The roofs of the school buildings were made from atap and were in desperate need of repairs. Some refurbishments had been made to the school building but they weren’t much,” Wijen relates.
Although Wijen, Mathy and Cook planned on conducting English classes for the children in the village, they changed their agenda once they got to the village. They realised that though the children needed help academically, what they needed more urgently was encouragement, motivation and support.
Devastation
“These children have been through devastation. Some of them lost their parents and families to the war and live in an orphanage or with relatives or neighbours.
“Many have lost their homes. Although they greeted us with smiles, we could see that they needed moral support and encouragement to boost their self-esteem.
“Instead of just teaching them English, we organised a fun session aimed at motivating them to study and stay in school. We spoke of the importance of education and what they could achieve if they studied hard. Then we did some fun classroom activities where they had to present their work to the class in English. By the end of the class, they were all laughing and having fun,” says Wijen.
The three volunteers ran similar programmes at eight different schools in and around Kilnochi over three days. Being with the students really moved Wijen and Mathy beyond their expectations.
“They didn’t have much but they were so positive and hopeful. And, they really wanted to learn. There was one boy who came up to us and held my wife’s hand. He told us he wanted to be a doctor just like his sister. He looked at us, expecting us to help him achieve his dream.
“It was really heart-breaking. We later learnt that he had lost his parents in the war and was living with relatives. We encouraged him to stick to his dream and left, but we were determined to do whatever we could to help,” he says.
It has been three months since their trip to Sri Lanka, and Wijen and Mathy are planning a return trip. This time, they are hoping to recruit university students to come along with them and run a series of educational workshops in and around Jaffna.
“We hope to work with an NGO to help facilitate this. We have approached the Education, Welfare and Research Foundation and they seem receptive to our idea. We plan to go in August after training the team of students to run the workshops,” says Wijen, adding that they are also
Concerned: looking for funding to cover airfare, food and accommodation for the volunteers.
“We were inspired by the villagers we met, by the determination and willingness to spend what little they have for their children. The women especially were very entrepreneurial. Some of them set up small home businesses to help support their families. They have a vision and we want to help them realise their hopes,” Wijen adds.