Reuters AlertNet
Full site
Homepage |
Newsdesk |
NGO Latest |
Crisis briefings |
Country profiles |
MediaWatch |
Jobs |
Alerting |
Login
FROM THE FIELD
New School; New Hope
24 Sep 2007 05:23:00 GMT
Source: Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) - Norway
By Neomi Kodikara
Website: Website: http://www.nrc.no
Eleven-year-old Karmahen sits in the front row of his new classroom - in Kalkudah Namagal School standing on the tsunami-ravaged landscape of the Batticaloa coast, in eastern Sri Lanka.
On that terrible morning in December when the wave came, Karmahen saw his mother for the last time, as he ran to safety ahead of the advancing waters. When he came back few days after, there was nothing left in his home, it was all reduced to rubble. He is now staying with his father and grandmother.
His personal tragedy sets him apart even from most of his classmates. "I can smile now and play with my friends," he says. "But, yes, when I think about it, it still makes me cry."
Not surprisingly, Karmahen prefers to think happier thoughts. "I want to be a music teacher when I grow up," he says. "And my dream is to be a singer."
Spirited and bright, Karmahen is one of the star pupils at Namagal School. He is also a talented singer. He sang emotionally about his mother at the school opening ceremony, captivating the audience.
This is the last school completed under the NRC-supported School Rehabilitation Programme- which has rebuilt 24 of the badly damaged schools benefiting more than 12,000 children and teachers across the country.
In a country that prides itself on offering free education for all, the emergence of a brand new Kalkuda Namagal school justified the spectacle of a two-hour opening ceremony for local dignitaries, teachers, parents and children. The final product, at an investment of Rs. 26 million, includes a three-storey building, with its five large classrooms, bright corridors, science lab and assembly hall, stands 500 metres back from the sea. Two other classrooms and teachers' quarters have also been built. In addition NRC repaired other buildings which were damaged by the tsunami. NRC also supplied furniture and equipment for the new and rehabilitated buildings and landscaped the school compound. A boundary wall, water and sanitation facilities have also been provided. The reconstruction efforts of Kalkuda Namagal School were funded mainly by the Choice Hotels, Norway with support from the Norwegian government. Petter Stordalen, CEO of Choice Hotels came for the foundation stone laying ceremony two years back.
In the hours before the opening ceremony, the principal, V. Arasarathnam, is overseeing the final touches. "This is a momentous day for us," he says. "The building is of such high calibre. We have classrooms here that we never had before. These children are the future for Sri Lanka and now we have a school which will help them find jobs, make the best of themselves."
Batticaloa District was severely affected by the tsunami where there were a reported 3,321 deaths and 63,717 people displaced. Thirty-three schools were damaged, 15 fully and 18 were partially damaged. Namagal School is a combined primary and secondary Tamil school with 418 students and 27 teachers.
NRC is clear about why it chose to take on the School Rehabilitation Programme in the troubled east. But no one could have predicted the problems that lay ahead when the agency signed up with the Ministry of Education to take on the project. Over the past several months, problems have increased as fighting has intensified. Military roadblocks sprang up everywhere and attacks by both sides were continuing, with a resulting displacement of around 300,000 people, many of whom were taking shelter in the schools that once housed tsunami refugees. Contractors refused to work in the unstable east; contractors who signed fixed-payment contracts demanded higher and higher fees; workers downed their tools during frequent harthals (curfew); inflation soared by 20 per cent and prices of building material skyrocketed. "It's been a bit of a nightmare," says Kristen Glerup, Programme Manager of NRC School Project. "I don't think any of us realised how hard it was going to be."
Particularly, the Kalkudah Namagal School, which is located in an area controlled by the Sri Lanka Government, bordering on to a heavy controlled LTTE area, caused constant tensions and sometimes hostilities related to the changing political situation between the parties. The population is caught in the middle of the conflict and often risk of being accused of supporting the one or the other side. Killing of civilians, abductions and forceful recruitment of children are rampant.
Watching the ribbons being cut at Kalkuda Namagal makes the frustration and hard graft worthwhile, however. "You do feel a huge sense of achievement," says Joern Kristensen, Country Director of NRC. For the pupils, the opening represents a new beginning, after two years in which they have struggled to learn in tin huts and hastily built shacks. Many are still coping with the trauma of losing family members and seeing friends die.
For Karmahen personally, the revival of the Kalkuda Namagal School represents a new start and new hope.
"When I first came to the school after tsunami, it looked like a pile of garbage, but today it is like a heaven," says Karmahen. He says he has a message for Petter Stordalen, who gifted him this school, "We have no words to thank you, please come here one day to see how proud you have made us, by giving us the biggest school in the area."
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Email this article
Send comments
•
Refugees & displacement
•
Reuters Tsunami AidWatch
•
Sri Lanka conflict
•
Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) - Norway
![Small country map
© 2004 Europa Technologies Ltd.]()
•
Sri Lanka profile
· View map
•
New School; New Hope
NRC - Norway
•
International Medical Corps Assists Thousands Displaced by Fighting in Eastern Congo
IMC - USA
•
Africa Flood Appeal launched
Red Cross - UK
•
New "East Asia - Pacific" hub for global HR network People In Aid, global
People In Aid - UK
•
World Vision reports on short-medium term needs; following flood response trip to North Korea.
WV - Asia Pacific
•
Sri Lanka: Clash in north kills 3 rebels, 1 soldier
•
AFGHANISTAN: Floods cause destruction and displacement in Nangarhar
•
IRAQ-BRAZIL: First group of Palestinians arrive in Brazil from desert camp
•
MIDDLE EAST: IRIN-ME Weekly round up 144 for 15 – 21 September 2007
•
Sri Lanka jets bomb rebels, bus ambushed
Disclaimers |
Copyright |
Privacy |
Contact Us |
Feedback |
About Us |
RSS 
Last updated:Mon Sep 24 05:38:52 2007
