Past
1st Participant
I am from Malsiripura. I am 42 years old. I am Sinhala Buddhist.
When I got married in 1994, I was 22 years old. It was a love affair.
He had talked to my aunt and proposed that he would like to marry me. I was hoping for someone who worked in the Army. So, I started an affair with him.
I have 3 children. The first one was born in 1995; second one in 2000 and the third one in 2005. All three are daughters. They are still studying.
2nd Participant
My hometown is Malsiripura. I am 42. I am a Sinhala Buddhist.
I got married in 1991. I was 20 then. It was an arranged marriage. In those days my husband worked in the harbor.
The person I was to get married to, served in the Army in Jaffna. In 1989, he died. I experienced unbearable pain. I could not even see the body. The coffin was sealed. I had to face a very painful life.
My present husband joined the Army in 2005. I liked that.
I have two children. My first child was born in 1993. He was a son. The second child is a daughter, and she was born in 2006.
3rd participant
I’m from Kandy. I’m 43 years old and I’m a Sinhala Buddhist.
At 25, I got married. It was an arranged marriage to a distant cousin.
After marriage, we lived in Anuradhapura in a rented house as he was stationed there. My daughter was born there.
There are 10 children in my family; 7 boys and 3 girls. I’m the eldest girl.
My father was a driver and my mother looked after us.
My husband has never scolded me or beaten me. We live very happily no matter what challenges comes our way. He never tells me what do to. I have absolute freedom to do whatever I want. Because of this, I don’t misuse it. I have 2 daughters and 1 son.
War
1st Participant
My husband served in Jaffna during the war. I lived alone with my three children. I missed him a lot.
We were given a house. I was caged within the walls of that house. When I was living in the village, I lived in fear, because I had to look after the children all by myself.
I am glad that there is no war anymore. The Tamils in the North came here to share their experiences. They talked about their sad stories. We also went to Vavuniya to meet them. They told us how their relatives died in front of their own eyes.
2nd Participant
My husband served in Vavuniya during the war. I lived alone with my two children. I missed him a lot.
We didn’t receive a house. We built the house on our own.
I am happy that the war is no more. People in the North live better now.
My husband is still in the Army. He is currently in Vavuniya. So, even now I live alone with children. We have no fear now, because the war is over.
3rd Particpant
My husband served in Saliyapura earlier. We received a house here and came to settle there on the 30.08.1995. The day I came here I cried saying that I can’t live here. The house had two small rooms and a kitchen. While my husband was at work, I lived alone in the house with my two and a half year old daughter.
During the war we lived in great fear. Those days the JVP terror was rising up. One of those days, when I was living in Galagedara, a letter had been slipped into the house. That letter said ‘ Ask him to leave the Army immediately’. When I was living with my parents, I was not even let out to put washing on the line outdoors. We lived in such a fear.
Our children see the disabled soldiers every day. So, they know about their sufferings. Since their childhood they had seen the soldiers without limbs. There are some people in the country who don’t respect these war heroes. Sometimes people don’t even offer a seat on the bus to a disabled soldier.
Present
1st Participant
I now live in Ranavirugama.
We live a busy life. But we have financial problems.
My house is not built yet. I hope to build it one day. We have to spend a lot for our children’s education. I run a shop and am self-employed.
My elder daughter sat for the O/L exam. My only hope is to give a good education to my children.
We had no problems with the people in this village. We were living in harmony with our neighbors.
2nd Participant
I now live in Ranavirugama,.
We live a busy life, facing lot of financial problems.
My children study. They face lot of hardships due to financial problems. Sometimes I cannot pay for their tuition classes.
My house is just half built. Since we don’t have enough money even to spend for children’s education, the house is left half built.
I came to this village 6 years ago. We had no problems with the villagers.
Everybody in the village lives in unity.
3rd Participant
I currently live in Ranavirugama. I am 43 years old. I am Sinhala Buddhist.
We live a very busy life today. We have lot of financial constraints. But I live happily.
The house is not completed yet. We have to spend a lot for the education of our children. My husband is a disabled war here. Therefore he cannot do hard work. I grow ornamental flowers as a means of self-employment. Sometimes I face problems, due to the fluctuations in the market.
When there are serious financial problems, I feel so burdened. I have sent letters to various organizations requesting assistance to support my children’s education.
Future
1st participant
I hope that my children will be happy.
I wish to see my children get a good education and live successful lives in the future.
I hope that my daughter will get good results at the O/Ls. The neighbors in the village are very good. We all live in unity.
I wish there will be peace and unity in the country.
We want to live freely.
I like to see this village developed.
2nd Participant
My wish for the future is to live happily.
I hope my children get a good education and do good jobs one day. I like to see them getting married to good partners. I like to see the faces of my grand children someday.
I like to see development in my country. I like to have a free country with no war. I wish there will be no racial problems in my country.
I like to see this village getting developed.
I like to see people living in harmony in the village.
Women should be able to live freely.
3rd Participant
My future hope is my elder daughter.
My daughter is the head prefect in the school. My only dream is to see her becoming an engineer one day. Currently she is a teacher at the Sunday school.
If my elder daughter takes the correct path, then other two will also follow her. So, I have no worries about that.
All of us who live in this country have the same blood.
If we live happily with everybody, we can die in peace, without fear one day.
I like to see my village and country developed and people living in unity and harmony as the children of one mother.