Sri Lanka’s coastal communities continue to reel from the devastation of last year’s Boxing Day tsunami. Help is still needed, however, not just for the survivors of the tsunami but also for survivors of the country’s protracted war, reports Action by Churches Together.
Wanni, which is made up of Kilinochchi and Mullaittivu districts, is just one of so many communities along Sri Lanka’s coast torn by the tsunami but also two decades of war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) and successive national governments of Sri Lanka.Not only the tsunami but also the war has left this region in ruins but it is the scars of the war that remain most deeply in the people.
Rev. S.D.P. Selvanal of St. Mattias Anglican Church in Thanneerootu, says that as terrible and destructive as the tsunami was it was essentially over in three minutes. People in Sri Lanka have suffering under decades of war “and nothing compared with that”, he said.
“Every day we knew people would die, just not how or when,” said Rev. Selvanal. “Every day we expected death. When a plane flew over, we knew someone would die.”
According to Rev. Selvanal, while only a small percentage of the people in the Wanni region have been affected by both the tsunami and the war, the vast majority of the people are survivors of the brutal conflict.
“We were starting to rebuild after so many years of war,” he said. “Then the tsunami came and destroyed even more.”Rev. Selvanal ministers at one of several churches which are members of the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka (NCCSL), itself a member of ACT International. Together NCCSL and ACT International have been assisting people in the regions who are suffering from both the tsunami and war.
