Relief eludes family, struck twice by tragedy

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 September 2005, 11:26 GMT]
Vijeyaratnam Balendrarasa (47), a fisherman from Thondamannar, a coastal village located 20km northeast of Jaffna town, only wanted to work hard and stand on his own. He borrowed, invested in a boat and nets, and hoped his son would continue to prosper in his trade. Balendrarasa was slowly coming to terms with death of his eldest daughter killed by a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shell in 1996, when tragedy struck again. On December 26, the tsunami consumed his son, Balendran (17), and a 46-year relative of his, the only two in Thondamannar to die that day.

"December 26, Sunday morning the three of us, my son, cousin and I, were near the sandbank close to the shore trying to get some catch for our daily consumption. The sea was unusually dark that morning and around 8.45am or so we started hearing a hissing noise. I thought either the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) boats were on patrol or some helicopters were approaching," Balendrarasa said, starting to narrate the events on that fateful morning.

"Within a few minutes, I realized the sea was turing rough and I shouted at my son who was further away in the sea to rush to the shores. It was too late. Two large waves hit and I didn't see my son after the waves receded," he recounted.

"We recovered my son's body later two miles west of the point where he disappeared," Balendrarasa added.

In mouring the next few weeks, the family did not pay attention to registering for relief. Other than three installments of Rs 4,500 given as a handout by the Government of Sri Lanka, the family says it has not received any assistance from any agency providing relief assistance to tsunami affected families in Jaffna.

"He has lost faith in everything and is reluctant to go to sea again. He also has had health issues following our son's death," said Thavaratnam (45), the wife of Balendrarasa.

Their surviving daughters Malarvili (21) helps take the catch to the market and Vasantharany (18) is a student in 10th grade at the local school.

In 1995 the Balendrarasa family fled Thondamannar and was living in Udupiddy a few kilometers east of Thondamannar with other displaced families when the family was struck with the first tragedy. The eldest daughter Kayalvili then 13 years old was trying to get into the bunker when a shell fired from SLA's Palaly base got her.



Pictures of both children adorn a corner of their modest home.

Uncertain of the future, the family hangs on.