Page 63 - Hemas_Piyawara_Book

CHAPTER 09

Model Preschools rise from tsunami rubble

he first priority in the largest tsunami welfare camps was the establishment of for Nilantha and Jiffrey, slapping mosquitoes until they could resume their journey to
Ttemporary preschools to keep the little ones engaged and channel their thoughts Colombo the next morning.
away from the tragedy that had befallen them.
Jiffrey says that even though others had volunteered to undertake this important
While planning was underway for these preschools, the Administration Manager of the mercy mission earlier, explosions set off by the LTTE had deterred many from doing
Hemas Group, Nilantha Fonseka, and the Premises Manager, Jiffrey Mohamed, were so. But he and Nilantha had taken on the task willingly.
fully involved in the distribution of aid to these camps along the Ampara-Kalmunai
coastline with the Executive Director of the Hemas Tsunami Foundation, Shiromi “Initially, I was scared, but it was a worthwhile cause. The scenes in Ampara and
Masakorala in 2005. Pottuvil were terrible. There were lots of little children in the camps and whenever
we arrived, they would surround the vehicles. People were in the same clothes they
Describing it as a “loku ath dakeemak” (a big experience), Nilantha says that they had been wearing when the tsunami hit. The camps were very crowded. There was a
packed clothes and dry rations into about 150 individual parcels, loaded them onto shortage of food and the people were hungry. Drinking water was scarce and the small
two lorries and followed in a van, distributing the stuff to the families in need. bottles of water we took were a boon to them,” says Jiffrey.

There was no place to stay the night and for Nilantha the most vivid memory is the The mobilization of funds helped the Hemas Group to ‘get up’ 27 temporary preschools
hordes of flies everywhere. within the camps themselves in the south and east catering to 1,600 little ones – 2
were in the Kalutara district; 7 in the Galle district; 8 in the Matara district; 3 in the
The routes were dangerous because in the east, potential threats by the Liberation Hambantota district; and 7 in the Ampara district.
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were always on their minds, while coming upon a wild
elephant in the middle of the night was also a risk they faced. Even though the Hemas team visited the north to help set up preschools there, the
LTTE which was in control of some areas had frowned on this gesture.
On the way back after 2 days of strenuous work, visiting numerous camps, they had a
near miss when their driver fell asleep at the wheel somewhere in Ratnapura. Nilantha For the temporary preschools in the south and the east, all the equipment, furniture
had grabbed the steering wheel just in time and halted the van. Thereafter, while the and play items had been provided under Piyawara, with teachers being nominated
driver took a nap to ward off the weariness, it had been sitting on the steps of a temple from among those living in the same camps, trained and paid a monthly allowance

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