Discusión y Conclusiones

The information in this section is divided into two: information from Batticaloa and information from Lunugamwehera. Therefore, the following coding system was used for

wo communities were selected on the back of the evaluation and assessment Mainly because of the direct evaluation and assessment did not provided narratives of mental health and wellbeing.

interviews presented the complexity of individual and group oriented issues within communities that are indicative of mental health and wellbeing

i. Batticaloa Field Information

B/SL – 01: Children without parents

Before 2004 these children (girl – 07, boy – 02) were living with their parents. After the tsunami they had to move in with their maternal grandparents. During this period the father started drinking heavily and eventually became an alcoholic. This led to arguments between the father and mother. In turn these arguments led to violence within the family as the father would beat his wife and children. One day he came home and burned his wife in front of the daughter. The mother died and the father was taken in by the police and is currently on bail. The daughter is scared and does not want to see her father. The children are living with their grandparents in a very small hut. Also, both the grandparents are very old (over 80 years) and have no income. They do not receive any poverty reduction assistance (Samurdhi) nor are they included in the two- tsunami housing schemes in the area. Although, they have received some financial support for the damaged house in their original village, (Nawaladi – the place these children used to live with their parents before the tsunami) it was helpful for building only half of their house. Their grandparents are determined to send them to school and take care of them; but they are worried for their grand-children’s futures after their deaths.

B/SL – 2: 14 years Jaya

Jaya has four sisters. Her father is a labourer and her mother is a housewife. When she was an infant she had a heavy fever (according to doctors this would have been typhoid) and after that she used to show abnormal behaviour and reactions. According to doctors, the fever has affected her brain and neurons. She prefers to walk on her toes; cannot talk clearly; is always removing her clothes and bathing at any time. Sometimes she gathers garbage in her dress. Sometimes her eyes go up and she turns her neck around and runs here and there– but she does not always show these. The most dangerous aspect of her condition is that if anyone asks her she will go with them. Being an adolescent, this is a worry for her parents and sisters. Also, when she goes like this, she cannot find her way back home. The parents took her to the psychiatric clinic in the hospital, but due to their poor living conditions they find it difficult to continue. They want to send Jaya to a mental health home.

B/SL – 03: A 5 years old boy called Arjun

According to Arjun’s parents he had a small penis when he was born. When they took him to the doctors they said that he has a smaller hole to urinate through than the normal and suggested an operation when he is about five. Due to their poor living situation they cannot take Arjun for the operation now. Arjun protests by saying that he wants to face the operation. The mother is already pregnant and the Arjun sister is two years older than him. The family finds it very difficult to deal with Arjun as he is now getting angry and upset about his situation. After the tsunami things have become more complicated as his parents do not have any work to do and no proper income to the family. They are worried that Arjun will suffer with his problem as an adult.

B/SL – 04: Shiva

Shiva is 14-year-old boy from a family in which the father is making illegal alcohol. One day he fell down in the school and a teacher asked him whether Shiva had drunk what his father is producing. After this sarcastic comment Shiva dropped from the school. He hates his teacher and does not want to go to school again. No matter how much his parents and elders try to convince him to go to school, Shiva keeps to his decision. Now he is quite aggressive and wants to do a job. Whenever he sees the staff of the agency he runs away and does not want to speak to them.

“I work as a helper to the builders in the area. They give me good money and I am happy with that. I do not want to go to school again as no one is friendly with me. They treat me like a bad person. I am angry with everyone in this area including my parents. They do not understand me and my situation. I hate this place. As soon as I save enough money and grow old enough, I am planning to leave this place to find a better job. When I leave I will never come back to this area.

If the tsunami did not happen things would have been different. The school I used to go before the tsunami was good and teachers loved me. They thought that I am a good student and helped me. Also, I had lots of friends. But I know that I will never get to go back to that same life again”

B/SL – 05: Velu

Velu is a five-year-old boy who was born with a different anatomy to his shoulder and facial deformity. The parents and community thinks that he is disabled. When they took Velu to the doctors they were told that a successful operation could not be guaranteed. Now the family do not know what to do and worry about Velu.

B/SL – 06: Chithra

Chithra is a 22-year-old married woman with a two year old child. After the tsunami her brother and his wife came to stay with them. After two or three months there was a rumour that Chithra’s husband and her sister-in-law were having an affair. There were so many arguments within the family because of this rumour. One day both Chithra’s husband and her sister-in-low went missing. Chithra and the family thought that they had run away. However the sister-in-law came back after a while and said that she did not know anything about Chithra’s husband. Up to now he is still missing.

Chithra’s brother and wife were separated for a while and are now back together. They blame Chithra for making up stories for their separation. Chithra is worried about her husband and still loves him. She keeps looking for him, but without success. For a living she used to sell illegal alcohol and one day the man next-door beat her up for selling alcohol to his relatives. Now she has a small shop, but the people next-door steel from her shop. Chithra does not want go abroad, or to another area of the country, to find a job, so that her child would lose its mother’s love. She wants to be in her home and wants to have her husband back as she is determined that her child needs the love of a father. Chithra thinks that the tsunami bought a curse to her; she’s angry about everyone around her.

B/SL – 07: Magdalene

Magdalena is a 31-year-old woman with two daughters. When her mother passed away, her neighbours helped her and her father. Among these neighbouring communities there was a man who became closer to Magdalena and after sometime they started an affair. Although he is a married man, he promised her that he would divorce his wife as soon as she comes back from abroad. They had a child and he gave his name as the father on the birth certificate. When Magdalena was pregnant with the second child, the wife of her partner came back and he went back to live with her again. Currently Magdalena’s partner is still living as a neighbour with his wife. He is also a famous NGO leader in the community. Magdalena was upset and frustrated. She spent many sleepless nights crying about the situation. After a while she knew that she could not go on like this and had to take care of her life and children.

After that Magdalena went abroad to make some money for her family and her father used to look after her children. Now the father is old and he cannot look after them any longer.

She has not informed her children about the truth of their father. She has told them that he is dead. She does not feel that there is a need for a legal case or social battle as it will bring shame to her family and children. However, Magdalena is worried that her children do not have the love of a father. Her only determination is to get her children a good education and make them good citizens.

B/SL – 08: Two Young Women

There are two young women, who lost their parents and elder sister to the tsunami in 2004. These two sisters are 28 and 30, live alone, and run the small family farm. The problem is that they have not yet reached puberty; therefore they have been unable to get married. They are unhappy and frustrated about their situation. They find it difficult to eat and sleep. They do not want to be friends with anyone and keep to themselves. According to their neighbours they do not come out from the house for days or sometimes weeks.

Communities in Batticaloa deals with conflict and disasters as presented in above interviews. However, the following community interviews from Lunugamwehera present a development induced disaster.

ii. Lunugamwehera Field Information

L/SL – 01: Kumara – the Spokes person for the affected community

This is a soft loan from the Asian Development Bank that we [Sri Lankans] have to repay within forty years. Apart from this Germany and Canada also granted loans for this project. Loan money had been spent before the completion of the project. Since relocation we received enough water in 1988 to farm. In 1992, due to pressure from our community, a technical committee was formed – representing government officials, farmer representatives and experts. This committee developed a plan that everyone will receive water according to their needs, but the problem now is that there is no water. The reason for lack of water is that the upper watersheds are being polluted and forests are being destroyed. It is all about corruption, lack of proper planning and inappropriate national policy implementation. In these situations we can only hope that our younger generation would be healthy and productive. According to the health department in 2002, 49 percent of children in this area are suffering from malnutrition. Village schools do not have enough teachers, children are becoming labourers and we cannot guide them to become good citizens. Ninety percent of our farming lands are

not in use at the moment. There are also huge problems of social and moral significance among these communities. If these problems continue we are going to produce criminals and people with anti-social behaviour from these areas. The depressing fact of this whole story is that almost all the farmers who are in the area were better off and wealthy before they came here. Some of them even came to this area as vehicle owners and now they do not have a bicycle.

I think that being a farmer and not being able to farm is a torturous experience. Most people in this place feel hopeless and helpless due to this situation. They are proud to be farmers, but that has been taken away by this water problem. The Government and the Asian Development Bank are responsible for this development induced disaster and we as a community curse all of them for this.

L/SL – 02: Shattered Dreams

[Sepala – 25]

I was a little child when I first came to settle down here with my parents and four siblings. We are a traditional farming family. But we have been twisted due to lack of water. We are now very poor and I had even stopped going to school due to our financial problems. Now I am just a worker doing odd labour work. I want to do a good job, build a house, marry a woman and have children. These are just dreams that I have, but I do not see any ways to make these a reality. No one is interested in giving us a solution. This is really frustrating and I am quite angry with the government and the donor agency to this project. But, I think that the time may solve our problems and I am determined to find a solution. I work hard and expect to overcome this poverty one day.

L/SL – 03: I can’t afford to live

[Manjula – 28]

Since 1989 we are trying to make a living through making bricks, though we are traditionally farmers. We cannot even make a decent living through the brick industry, as we do not receive enough water at least for drinking. I had to leave school without completing my education due to all these problems. After my wife gave birth to my daughter within 28 days we realized that the mother and the child have to leave this area; simply because lack of water. For more than two years my wife and the child have lived with her parents. Although they are now back, I am sad and frustrated about

this water problem. At the same time I think and talk to everyone I meet, so that I can find a solution to overcome this situation.

L/SL – 04: I am suffering from high blood pressure!

[Dayawathi – 72]

I used to be a pre-school teacher. I came in to this area as a young mother of three children. I continued to be a pre-school teacher in this area and was the bread winner of this family, as my husband could not farm due to lack of water. Ten years ago he became paralyzed, which made us poorer. At age 69, I am working continuously to keep my family going. My elder son who was very good in studies had to stop his education due to all these problems. I am now old and weak. I have high blood pressure, which makes it more difficult to work. I cannot struggle with eleven other families to get water from one water pipe once in two days. I think that this is bad kamma that I am dealing with now. So, I try to be good to others and do good deeds, where I will get a better chance in my future lives. My only hope is to die in a tiled house, but I know it is just a hopeless dream.

L/SL – 05: What can we do?

[Chandrani – 43]

I came into this area with my husband as a newlywed bride with lots of dreams. I was proud that my husband is a farmer like my father. It is a proud thing to be a farmer. Since 1988 up until now we are in a situation where we cannot be proud of being farmers. We cannot even do dry farming, as we do not receive water. We receive drinking water once every two days. That is the water we are supposed to drink, use for cooking and washing, as well as now for our home garden. I have four children who are going to school. I receive some support from my parents for their education and my brother comes to see me sometimes. We do not have any relatives in this area as my home village is far away. I want to go to see my parents frequently, but with this poor financial condition we try at least to go to see them once a year. My only hope is to educate my children and I am determined to do that somehow.

L/SL – 06: I hope that my hopes are not just hopes

[Dhammika – 42]

I came to this village in 1988. As any new bride I had my ideas to have our own house, successful paddy, children who study well and a life that keeps us happy. At the moment we are living for the sake of living. I want my daughter, at least, to study well

and find a good job. However, there are not enough teachers in the village school. I am suffering through this life, though I want to enjoy life. We are in a living hell without water. I want to go back to where we were in our lives. I expect that someone like a politician or an influential person would come and help us.

L/SL – 07: Why we don’t have toys as the children in the TV?

[Kumari – 11]

I want to be a doctor, but my mother says that they can’t afford to get me into a better school. Most days we eat two times a day, but that is not enough. I see these children in the TV and they seem to have everything they want. They got nice toys, they look happy and their parents seem to have everything. But we don’t have anything those people got. I sometimes get angry with my siblings as they could be the reason that I don’t have what I want. I was better off before they were born. I just want to be away from all of this.

L/SL – 08: I want to be an engineer

[Saman – 12]

After seeing engineers around this area, I want to be an engineer. But I don’t like school. I got to the better school in the town, but my friends laugh at me, because I wear old and dirty clothes. My parents don’t have enough money to buy me new clothes and there is less water for washing. After school I help my father to make bricks