Tsunami

Be your memory in our mind for ever....

Tsunami destroyed whatever that stood on its way. But it gave rise to human sympathy that most certainly equal the height of murderous tsunami waves. We at Lankanet could not do much to improve the plight of the coastal dwellers but we thought that we can help them especially the youths of the area by equipping them with IT knowledge not only to be gainfully employed but also to be engaged that may help to overcome the trauma of that painful memory. Thus the concept of IT training for youths affected by Tsunami became a priority in our planning. It became a reality through the generous support from Cafod.

But there were other man made factors that we possibly could not take into account. Tsunami subsided for a moment the ethnic war that was raging for more than two decades in the North and East of Sri Lanka. Sympathy and the brotherliness lasted only for very brief period. We planned this training programme during this interval, thinking that we may be able to conduct the training in North and East also. That could have been a great opportunity to have a rapprochement of youth from North and East with the youth from South thereby creating a small opening for national unity. But the crumbling of the peace process with the thunder and boom of multi barrel guns things went from bad to worse.

We planned to conduct training classes covering all the districts affected by Tsunami except Colombo and Kalutara. For one thing these two districts were not so severely affected by tsunami when compared with other areas and on the other hand being more developed, people have easy access to most facilities.

Batticaloa district intimated their inability to send youths for the training course which is to be held at the Lankanet office, Colombo. Frequent security checks in Colombo and suburbs and unsettled conditions in the East contributed to this decision. So we selected an Organization from Moratuwa in the Colombo district to participate in the programme.

A preparatory meeting of the organizations participating in programme was held on 6th August at the Lankanet office. Eight organizations involved in tsunami relief and reconstruction work took part in the meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to explain the selection procedure of the trainees. These organizations are expected make available office space and other facilities for youth to develop their IT skills and also to help others in the area to gain from the training. A representative from Jaffna Human Rights Protection Committee also attended the meeting.

The classes for the first batch of trainees were started from 26th September to 29 the September. Six girls and four boys selected by two organizations in the Galle district took part in the training. One girl left the training after two days complaining of gastric condition. Her both parents were lost in the tsunami and she living with her grandmother still suffers from the trauma. All except one girl had some sort of previous exposure to the IT field. But she picked up rapidly and at the end of the second training she felt that she can independently handle a simple IT related problem.

Our assessment is that these youths are resourceful and grasp the lessons very well and they can improve their knowledge independently. We will hand over the computers soon so that they can develop their skills and impart that knowledge to other boys and girls of the area voluntarily. We selected two from each organization to maintain constant contact and to monitor their progress.

A free verse written in Sinhala and translated into English in haste, as a tribute to our teaching staff at the session will testify as to how understood our effort.

The amount of knowledge

That we have to

Posses to go

Fearlessly

Into the future

Is limitless, and

Exciting

As the Universe.

The courage that you give us

The youth striving

To be awaken to the

New millennium,

To barge into

A new society

In a new world

We will oblige for ever.

Be your memory in our mind for ever.