Trip to Annivilunthan- 25Km from-by Dr harold Gunatillake
Just after the LTTE war, about eight years back, my wife and I with another friend name late Ken Sellaya, paid a trip to a village called Anaiviluinthan, 25 km interior to Kilinochchi.
We travelled from Kandy and took about 10 hour’s drive to get to Kilinochchi. From the town area we turned left onto a sand tract and drove another 25km on Jeyapuram Road. It was all jungle area on both sides of the road, except for a few huts scattered all over. There was an army camp on the way, and just beyond was the village of Anaivilunthan.
The place we visited was a camp composed of about 500 Tamil families of Indian descent, all from the hill tea estates who fled during the 1983 riots. They walked all the way barefooted to Kilinochchi and the government settled them in little houses in this camp. There was no electricity, but the local army camp provided free electricity for two hours a day.
The women had only one saree each. So, when they walk to the bazaar for shopping needs, they keep on exchanging their sarees, as they were shy to wear the same saree each time.
Their main income is from a paddy field, and a hulling machine to process the rice grains, and with that income they managed a meagre living.
Sister Lourdes, a Catholic sister oversaw the camp and was administratively controlled by the Catholic Nuns Organization (Holy Family Sisters), in Jaffna.
Over the years, Sr Lourdes Joseph has been working with war affected people, especially with the disadvantaged children and women headed household in Anivilunthan, Kilinochchi. Now she is caring 500 families in their village, and 50 of them grouped as MALARUM MANGAIR MARUTHAM working for the livelihood to give hope for the future. Also Sr. Lourdes Joseph arrange evening
classes to the children at her village and provide them snacks to encourage them to perform well in
their studies.
We provided, solar lighting, books for the library including the full volumes of the Encyclopaedia,
furniture, money donations and clothing, among others
A classmate of Sister Lourdes Agnes Thambynayagam in Sugar Land, Texas, in US. Introduced us to
her, and she too gave much collective assistance from US.
We got so close to the families in this camp, we almost adopted the camp.
Then, the Nun’s headquarters (Holy Family Sisters) in Jaffna got the wind of it, and laid down a rule
that all donations in any form should be first directed to Jaffna and the Nuns in the headquarters
would distribute the goods to their various institutions. Sister Lourdes was retired. We lost interest
in the place and never visited anymore.
Sister Lourdes works in a disabled children’s orphanage in Kilinochchi after she left.
Her email address is josephlourdes708@gmail.com
Hope this article is informative and touching
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