Roots
My name is Kiruthika. My native place is Point Pedro. I have 3 brothers and 1 sister. My fathers name is Arulrajah and my mother’s name is Jeyakumari. Our father does not provide us food. He consumes alcohol and assaults our mother.
We go to our aunt’s (mother’s elder sister) place and tell her about our grievances. The love she showed towards us is the one thing that makes us live happily today.
She is our life and without her help, we would have been on the streets. Our food and education are all what she gives us.
Ground
As at present we are living on the plot of land provided by Sri TELO. I live together with our maternal grandfather and grandmother, uncle and aunt and their children (brother and sister) and my own elder brother, younger brother and younger sister. Because our difficult living conditions my mother has gone to work in Saudi Arabia. My brother, sister and I are studying in the grades 8, 10 and 11 respectively.
Since my mother is not with us, I am writing this on behalf of her. The family with which I am living, looks after me well. Their expectation is to fulfill my dreams.
The earnings of my brothers and the money sent by my mother is helping us a lot. However the income that we get is not sufficient for our school education and external classes. As a result of the Indian army’s attacks earlier, our uncle is unable to any work. RWF organization is helping us for our education.
Bark
The continuous sound of explosions and the fearful sight of people were running helter-skelter used to horrify me. The sounds of people screaming and weeping, and my school mates becoming wounded made me so sad. There was bloodshed everywhere . My mother carried my brother and myself and ran.
We were hungry and severely affected by sleeplessness, starvation and sickness. My mother would pull us onto her lap and weep. After hearing that bread was being distributed in a co-op society, we went there at 1.00 a.m. to stand in the queue to get bread. Sometimes elders will come and chase us and they will get the bread. Then we will go back to our mother crying. At that stage even our relatives were not helping us.
Once while returning after shopping there was a deafening sound of explosions. My mother carried us and ran with the sound of explosion behind us. She carried us into an old ruined building and held us close to her. My mother’s wish was to educate us and make us good children. She was telling this even during the war. Our mother’s state made us feel very sad. We were always posed with a question whether we would survive.
Branches
I wish that, peace should prevail in our country, the people of this country should co-exist and live in solidarity without any differences. The grievances of all the people in our village should be addressed. I hope that the sorrows of all the affected children like me and that of the affected population will be overcome in the future, and people can live happily again.
I hope that my dreams will come true one day and the situation of my family will improve. I will support my brother and sister in all their difficulties. I have not lost hope. I will fulfill all of the expectations of our family and make them happy. My sister (daughter of my aunt) has been very helpful towards all my attempts.
Our village should have good roads, irrigation facilities and all the people should be provided with proper houses. The people of our village should also have the right attitude.
I pray that all the difficulties in our family would be over. My mother, younger brother, sister and elder brother should live happily. They should be educated and be good citizens of the country. They should keep in mind that there is nothing that is impossible. They should think that it is possible.
Leaves
The most important person in my life is my aunt (my mother’s sister). Her advice was the driving force for our improvement. The fatherly affection shown by our uncle was very helpful.
The support given by my elder brother and sister were very encouraging that we never lost hope. The support provided by them has really changed us.
We could easily pursue our studies as a result of the assistance provided by the Sri TELO. We had to stay in the school at times, when there were no buses. I was a little frustrated because of this.
Fruits
As a result of the assistance provided by the Sri TELO we were able to get a land and construct a house for us. We live there today.
I am grateful for the love and affection shown by our family members, their encouragement and attitude and the help from our mother.
I receive some consolation by writing this today.