Page 15 - Hemas_Piyawara_Book

Jaffna’s ‘Garage’ Preschool (left) before Piyawara and the first preschool built during the war (above).
The Model Preschool soon after the war ended (below).
the land or to chat to the preschool teachers, they were tailed day and night by Tiger
cadres in civvies, listening in on all that they were engaged in.

That first trip to Jaffna is seared forever in the minds of Shiromi and her team. Roughing
out was the order of the day, with no comfortable hotel bed to lay their weary bodies
after journeys down dusty paths in the shimmering heat during the day. There were
“special” rates for those from the south whenever they stopped for a quick meal at tiny
saivar kades (eating places) – treble the price charged from people in the area. If an
item was Rs. 10, as food was not that costly at these places, they paid Rs. 30.
The Hemas team focused on a small preschool to refurbish and improve – but hopes
and plans came to naught, as the Tigers deemed it not necessary and work had to
be halted halfway. This was even after explaining to LTTE representatives, both in
English and Sinhala with translations on site, what the Hemas Group was planning,
with photographs as proof.
Grit and determination against all odds had won the day and in 2003, the Hemas
Group did open the very first preschool under Piyawara in Jaffna, the start of a long-
lasting national impact.

7