Make a Difference

A few days ago we had a discussion in which we were reminded that we all must be grateful compared to what is happening elsewhere in the world. Points were made that we all knew that there are people suffering from war or poverty, but what is the purpose of highlighting this unless we do something about it. That is very true and I would like to share some of my life experiences here, and one way through which we can make a difference in someone’s life.

I was born and brought up in Jaffna, Sri Lanka during the war time. It was the war between the minorities (Tamils) and the majorities (Sinhalese) where minority were asking for a separate land. But let’s not get into that area. It is a WHOLE different topic.

What I wanted to explain here is the reality of life from one perspective. Our day to day childhood life consists of protecting us from shelling or air attacks. By looking at the plane type we know which kind of bomb they would drop on us and what kind of protection mechanism we should aim for. We will be cycling to school and at the sound of helicopter, we will jump from the cycle and lie down to minimise the damage from the gun fire. Until their children return home from school, parents wouldn’t know whether their children were having a safe day at school or not. As a mother of two children now I realise how much stress they went through every single day during the long 20 years of war. We all took it as they are part of our life and as a child I thought every body’s life is the same. But one thing we were all taught is that education was the only way to get out from the situation. Sri Lanka has three universities and only around 5% will get the University admission (it is a free education system). That means we would have to be top the class. Others will have to pursue some other studies and that will involve money and many of us didn’t have the financial means. So we all knew that we needed to battle hard to get the grades to enter university.

We didn’t have electricity, but mother earth provided us with nourishing land so we had water wells at each home to pull the water for the daily use and we used oil lamps to light the house or study. If we ran out of the oil for the month we would end up in dark and only the street lights could lighten the home. Our food consisted of home grown vegetables (that was our gourmet food and we didn’t know anything else). In 1995, we were all asked to leave our homes within few hours’ notice, and most of us ended up as refugees at far away camps.

With God’s grace, and after some long months, some of us were able to escape to Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka to pursue our studies. In Colombo, we didn’t have a war but had a different problem. During that time, the Sri Lankan army/police forces considered all Tamils terrorists hence we were to be aware and not to go anywhere without a reason or a supervision. Having a unique number in our identity card which stated that we were born in Jaffna didn’t help us either with the police. However we survived.

But through all these years, we were happy. We didn’t compare ourselves with others who are more fortunate than us. Truly we were cheerful and getting along with life. As kids we didn’t cry for chocolates or for toys, perhaps we didn’t know the taste of it or the joy of playing electronic games. We were content playing with stones, leaves and sand. We did our best to find each possible way to maximise our safety of our life and our success. We were hopeful and courageous and we would not easily give up.

Some fifteen years after this, here I am working in Maersk. When I think about it, what made me who I am today is the positivity and education taught to me by my parents and at school. I am very content and happy where I am in my life now, and I believe the only thing we can’t take away from a person is education.

So that brings me to, what I do to make it better now. I have sponsored a child, who lost his parents in the war in Killinochy, Sri Lanka. Currently he is studying at St Johns’ College, Jaffna and preparing for his Advanced Level Exams. I can’t replace what he has lost in his life but the small contribution which I give will make sure that he can complete his studies and supply his basic needs. I have been contributing to him for the last 5 years. It is a gratifying and healing experience for me. And what do I need to pay is such a small amount compared to the luxurious things we do, but it is a life changing experience for this child. I know there are many other ways to help, but this is what I am doing. Please have a think and we can make the world Simply Better. Every small step we take will contribute to a positive change.

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Make a Difference