HERSTORIES

I work in a nursery school. My husband is a labourer. I have 5 children. There are many children who come to the nursery school whose parents have died. Some of the parents have gone abroad. So we have to act like parents.

We left our village because of the war. Then we were in the camps and finally ended up here. I didn’t really want to go back. When I think about my village I feel a lot of fear. We got this plot of land from Sri TELO. It’s still difficult being here, but I still feel better here than I felt in my own village.

My son has done his O-levels but he wants to find a job. He wants to make sure that his sisters continue to study. My husband too is not entirely well; he has a piece of shrapnel embedded in his body.

I would like to tell the President to let there be peace like this all the time and to please make it possible for our children to have a good education. I would also like to tell him that there are many children without parents who need to be looked after.

When the war stopped I was happy. I feel more secure. There’s a sense of peace now. It is important that we coexist. I pray that there will never be another war.