Growing up in the middle of a civil war, education was not a choice for children in Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka—survival was.
“Schooling was interrupted all the time,” says Subhashini, who was a student during the 1990s, when the conflict was in its second decade. “Every class had a bunker to hide in, and three or four times a day we would vacate the classes to go into the bunker. But still, we wanted to come to school every day.”
As the civil war intensified, education became a blurry dream.
“We all had a thirst to study and, just like other children, we had dreams,” she says. “I wanted to become a math teacher.”
Even with shell holes in the roof and bullet holes on the walls, children went to school whenever possible until the buildings were too damaged to function or had to house displaced families.
But there was another reason why children in Kilinochchi stopped attending school—they had to get married to avoid being forced to join the armed group. Subhashini, then 16, made that choice.
Scrambling for cover
“That was the only solution for boys and girls at that time,” she recalls. “So all the students began to drop out of school and get married to avoid recruitment. But those underage like me couldn’t register their marriage, so the next option was to have a child to prove you are a new family.”
She had a little boy, Pavithran, but they still weren’t safe.
“I looked too small to become a mother, and the armed group didn’t believe Pavithran was our baby, so they still forcibly recruited my husband,” she says. “It was only after I got Pavithran’s birth certificate did they release him. My husband’s sister [16 at that time] was forcibly recruited before she could get married and was killed in battle the following year.”
Subhashini could never imagine any children in her village getting educated, for she didn’t know if anyone would survive. But when the 26-year war ended in 2009, her family and many others had survived. And though they were broken and reeling from events of the war, they began to rebuild their lives.
Rebuilding schools
World Vision, along with the government and other organizations, assisted them in the process.
“World Vision provided us with goats to support livelihood recovery, and I trust I will be able to get a stable income from it,” she says.
Helping children return to school was a top priority for World Vision, and the organization quickly renovated and rebuilt their damaged school buildings, providing local children a safe place to study and catch up on the education they missed.
Achieving goals, dreams
Today, Subhashini is 25 and a mother of two, and she is hopeful once again. She sees Pavithran studying every morning—even during vacations—and nothing makes her happier than to see him with his books.
“I feel very proud and happy when I go through my son’s schoolbooks,” she says. “I can see that he excels in math. That was my favorite subject, too. My only dream is to see my children have a good education and be able to achieve their dreams."
Written by Hasanthi Jayamaha
