Little Survivor

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

By Damitha Hemachandra

It was early morning last Monday nearly 24 hours after the Tsunami waves hit the southern shores of Sri Lanka. Displaced people from Parathotamulla and Thotamune were taking refuge at Rahula Vidyalaya Matara and among them was little Nirosha.
He was from the shores of Parathotamulla and seem to have forgotten yesterday’s tragedy and did not pay much attention to the fact that his parents not been around. He did not question nor grumble but was skylarking with his friends and was posing for the camera despite his injured leg. However what little Nirosha did not know was that both his parents were gone forever. Nirosha made an odd one among the others, who were mourning the death of their children.
He has an injury in a leg and had been rescued by a neighbour while he was being carried away by the waves.
Nirosha had been playing with a group of friends and many of them had been lucky to survive as a group of youths nearby had helped them to higher grounds. Yet Nirosha’s parents, who were at home had been carried away not knowing that their son was safe and Nirosha was yet to know the destiny of the his parents.
Many people at the refugee camps and the hospital were mourning the death of their children. Children seemed to be the worst hit by the giant waves as they failed to realize how to react which engulfed them in seconds.
Some have died during their sleep tangled in a mosquito net along with their siblings while another had been washed to sea while studying at a tuition class.
Asia UNICEF expressed fears that children are likely to account for more than one third of those killed since virtually no country has a population with less than one third of its population aged 18 years or below.
Children who had survived the first hit of the waves are exposed to epidemics of disease like diarrhea, food poisoning and cholera due to poor sanitation.
First relief supplies destined for Sri Lanka including health supplies for 15,000 people for three moths, 15,000 sachets of oral rehydration salts and 20 tents were air shifted to Sri Lanka from Denmark.
These reliefs also include school-in-box kits to compensate for the school timing lost for the children at refugee camps. Their schoolbooks and other schooling items all gone with the waves these kids would have to start from scratch when returning to school.
However the attention is yet to be shifted to children who had survived the tragedy and were left alone in the world. The tragedy could have left many orphaned children alone and helpless without a proper system to track them and start helping them standup physically and psychologically.
As in the case of Nirosha, who was playing along with his friends not knowing he has to stand alone in the world from that day there could be many children lost and helpless in refugee camps.
While Nirosha was lucky to be among the known people and friends others could be lost among strangers frightened and helpless not knowing whom to turn for help.
The chance of them being traumatized and abused by strangers increase while the state is yet to set up a mechanism, which could establish help and future for these children