ABDF

Suja, WWF fan.

Meet Sujanthan.

Suja (for short) is 10 years old and lives in the rural village on Navatkadu, the site of our water tank project. He likes to play cricket, and his hero is John Senna, the American wrestler. He’s only seen Senna on video a couple of times (World Wrestling Federation is very popular in Sri Lanka), but wants to be like him because “he’s very tall and I want to have a beautiful body like him.”

Suja was born and raised in Navatkadu and lived under LTTE rule until last year. He goes to the local school, and says he likes math, but doesn’t know what he wants to be when he grows up. His father works in the local rice paddies, and his mother sells excess vegetables from their garden.

Last year he and his family were displaced during the military offensive that saw the LTTE leave Eastern Province. He was first housed in the courtyard of a church outside Batticaloa, then as things became relatively more organized, he and his family were moved into an IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camp close to the town of Chenkallady. They lived in this camp for about six months; finally the military declared the Navatkadu area secure and allowed the villagers to return. Sujan’s house, an exposed brick and mortar structure with a tile roof, was largely destroyed. Since then, the walls have been repaired, but the roof is made of cajan, or woven palm leaves. His father hopes to have a tile roof again before the rains come in November.

Despite the general destruction of Navatkadu, despite the poverty, and despite the continued unrest and instability in the area, Sujan remains optimistic. After all, everyone has returned safely to the village, and so he’s surrounded by his friends, and playing impromptu cricket matches in the middle of the dusty street.