TEARFUND.ORG.NZ
ISSUE / OCTOBER 2013
ACTION PUT TRAFFICKERS OUT OF BUSINESSPAGE 4
BUYING FREEDOM
PAGE 7
SYRIA WINTER IS COMING PAGE 6
LEGACY OF WAR
LOST INNOCENCE: Children exposed to conflict are never the same.
Story and picture by Helen Manson
W
ith its sunny skies, swaying coconut trees and luscious palms it’s easy to see Sri Lanka for its beautiful beaches, fertile surrounds and soaring temperatures. But beneath the surface, you find a land recovering from a 25-year civil war that has left an indelible mark upon its people. My briefing before my trip to Sri Lanka was with our programmes officer who plonked a map on the table, followed by a land mine. That was a conversation starter. The civil war, fought between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and the government troops, took the lives of over 70,000 people and displaced more than 280,000. The LTTE were fighting to establish a separate state in the north. On August 22, we headed into the north of Sri Lanka with TEAR Fund’s partner, World Concern. We handed over our passports at the check-point and after the security procedures were complete, made the 1.5 hour trip into what was the centre of the war zone a mere four years earlier. As I looked out the car window with land mine fields, burnt-out buildings, and bullet holes filling every blink; my heart sank. How
had I missed this? We arrived at the home of a farmer and his family. Outside their house there was a massive hole about four metres in circumference. He told us it was from a bombshell. The trees in front of his home were riddled with bullet holes and his former home was a pile of rubble. He told me: “My wife and I were forced to flee our home due to the war, 11 days after our first child was born. I took everything I could carry.” Both his mother in-law and brother died. Because they had little food to eat, his wife was unable to breastfeed their daughter. “I had to take out a loan of US $100 and give a pint of my blood to buy 400gms of milk powder.” They moved 25 times before they settled at the refugee camp. “I saw shell attacks and plenty of bombing and thought I would die. When we were told we could finally re-settle, I couldn’t even get to the road to reach my land. Even though our situation is improving, I still believe I will never have a good future. My only hope is my children’s future. I do not feel safe. I wish I could leave.” Later that day, we drove through the place where the war was concentrated. As you look out the window, all you can see are houses, libraries, orphanages, businesses and buildings that are
nothing but a taunting reminder of the aftermath of the conflict that ended in 2009. Bullet holes fill everything from concrete to palm trees. Abandoned ruins line the streets. The silence and stillness as people carry out their lives amidst this backdrop, is palpable and haunting. We finished our day in silence, standing on the beach where the war was reported to have come to its bloody end. Digging my toes into the warm sand and watching the sunset felt surreal. It was here that tens of thousands lost their lives in a designated `no fire zone’; many of them were civilians. I can’t even begin to describe how I felt driving away in my air-conditioned car to the safety of my motel an hour-and-a-half away from the war zone these resilient people call home. For these people, I have no deeply satisfying answers. I can’t see justice on the horizon for them. But I can see the first ray of hope. Justice is God’s and he promises this life is not the end. When I came home I was so deeply moved by the time I spent in Sri Lanka that I spent hours ‘debriefing’ with my husband. You know it’s an important conversation when your 6’1 hunter-gatherer has tears running down his cheeks. Of course, that set me off.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about the scene in the Book of Esther where Mordecai is outside the gates of the palace pleading for Queen Esther to save her people. We too could have been the ones outside the gate. This ‘accident of latitude’ means we could have been the ones born into war, raped for profit or starving. This Christmas, TEAR Fund is doing all we can for these people. Our campaign, Wipe Away their Tears is our opportunity to declare God’s promise in Revelations 21: “He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good— tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.” May your kingdom come. Read more about how TEAR Fund is Wiping Away Their Tears and rebuilding communities in Sri Lanka, on page 6.
PRAY • Pray for the healing of those whose lives have been torn apart by Sri Lanka’s civil war. • Pray for the strength of our partner, World Concern, as they play their part in rebuilding the country. • Pray for generous support of our Wipe Away Their Tears campaign.
PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • 0800 800 777 • tearfund.org.nz