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Association of Tamils of Sri Lanka in the USA
Tsunami Stirs Fear, Need to Help in Kids
BY RAVIYA H. ISMAIL, Newark, NJ Star-Ledger
They see the pictures, and they see themselves.
For the children of Sri Lankan, Indian or Indonesian descent, the devastation of the Dec. 26 tsunami has hit close to home, even though it's a half a world away.
At Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim religious schools and cultural centers across New Jersey, the tsunami has dominated all conversation. Relief efforts have usurped all other curriculum.
"I'd feel connected to (the tragedy) even if it wasn't in Sri Lanka because it still happened to people," said Avantha Arachchi, 13, of Howell, who attends the Dhamma School of the New Jersey Buddhist Vihara in Franklin Township. "Still, it makes me more connected because it's where my parents are from and where my heritage is."
"Because Indonesia is a Muslim country, my first reaction was disheartenment and sadness because a lot of our Muslim brothers and sisters were affected," said Reham Mobarak, 15, of South Brunswick, a ninth-grader at Noor-Ul-Iman, the school adjoining the Islamic Center of Central New Jersey in South Brunswick.
"They're at home. They see the pictures on the television," said Janet Nazif, principal of Noor-Ul-Iman, a school for preschoolers through 12th-graders. "They see the pictures, and they see themselves."
For the Sugumar sisters, who attend weekly programs at the New Jersey Tamil Arts and Cultural Society at Rutgers University's Douglass College, the tragedy was even more personal.
"Our aunt and uncle died, so that was a big deal to us," said Sophia Sugumar, 17, of South Brunswick.
The aunt and uncle, Sri Lankan natives who lived in Ohio, were at a resort hotel in Trincomalee in the country's northeast when water rushed up to the third floor. They had no way to escape.
Sophia and her sisters, 15-year-old twins Sonia and Julia, have tried to make sense of the tragedy. They attended their aunt and uncle's funeral in Ohio after their bodies were flown there.
"The government wouldn't let us open the casket," Sonia said. "They sealed it shut" to prevent the spread of disease.
It made my eyes ache because so many people were dying, so many were suffering. Sometimes I just have to go out of the room.
For some children, the horror of the news footage made them feel insecure about their own safety.
"When I'm watching the news I feel sad and frightened because maybe one day this could happen to us," said 8-year-old Zahra Bukhari, of South Brunswick, during a class discussion at Noor-Ul-Iman led by third-grade teacher Surayya Catovic. "What if a big wave came all over New Jersey and my mom and dad were missing?"
"They said on the news that some children were so small they couldn't run away from the waves," classmate Abdurrahman Hajaj, 8, of Belle Mead, added.
For 10-year-old Aswina Ranasinghe, who lives in Edison and attends the Dhamma School, the pictures brought back memories.
Aswina, whose parents are from the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, has visited the island twice, the last time when he was 5. He remembers the funny smells, plants hanging on houses, traveling on a three-wheeler and going to an arcade. A landscape he knew firsthand was now in shambles.
"It made my eyes ache because so many people were dying, so many were suffering," Aswina said. "Sometimes I just have to go out of the room."
I feel like I just want to go there and adopt them all.
In the wake of the tragedy, what emerged was the impulse to help. A lot. And fast.
Aswina said his older brother, Achchana, 16, collected $900 with his Boy Scout troop by just standing outside the local ShopRite.
Avantha Arachchi, a Dhamma School student, spent a few hours on New Year's Eve going door-to-door in his neighborhood, asking for donations for the tsunami relief fund. He collected almost $600.
Sureja Sundaralingam, 16, of Piscataway, who attends the Tamil cultural and arts program, raised $2,000 by asking her friends to donate. One friend gave $500.
Yasmin Ranasinghe of South Brunswick, who is not related to Aswina, said she brought her children to the Buddhist Vihara the night of the disaster.
"Most of the kids were here," said the Colombo native. "They wanted to get involved; they needed to do something."
And in many cases, the need to help beckons the children to return to their ancestral homeland.
"It makes me want to go there right now," Sophia Sugumar said. "Give (the children) clothes, give them money. I feel like I just want to go there and adopt them all. ... It hurts you because we've been brought up here and we've been privileged to live here."
Santhiya Mahilkanthan, 14, of Princeton Junction, another Tamil cultural society student, wants other people to adopt children from Sri Lanka -- like her parents did two years ago when they brought over her 5-year-old brother.
"Some people may think your family is not killed so you're fine," she said. "My life has changed entirely. I know when I grow up, I'm going to go back there."
They all know that God has control over everything.
At Noor-Ul-Iman, third-graders decorated a classroom door in an ocean motif --accompanied with prayers for those who died.
"Please help the people who died and were left homeless in the tsunami go to heaven," reads one third-grader's scrawl.
"Please heal the people who are suffering from the tsunami," reads another.
Abir Catovic, a religious studies teacher at the school, said students have made sense of the disaster through religious terms and understand life consists of both tragedy and good fortune.
"They all know that God has control over everything," she said. "They also have a concept that this is not the only world we live in. ... It also gives us the opportunity to help people out."
Janet Nazif, the principal, said, "One of the things we tell kids is even if you're young, you can make dua (prayer)."
Raviya H. Ismail works in the Somerset County bureau. She can be reached at rismail@starledger.com or (908) 429-9925.
| POSTED JANUARY 13, 2005 | The views and opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Ilankai Tamil Sangam, USA, Inc., its members, or its affiliates. |
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