The 'Peace Nursery' at Trincomellee: "Today the little white building stands as a testament to hope". PICTURES: Courtesy of Christian World Service

25th November, 2004

KIM CAIN

Christian World Service

The little brick building, painted white and looking scrubbed and clean, is a bit like a country church basking in the tropical sun.

But farther down the road at a military checkpoint, guards with machine-guns cast suspicious looks at passing cars and trucks from behind pillboxes adorned with flowerbeds.

This is Trincomellee, in north-eastern Sri Lanka, and the peace in this region is fragile.

Twenty years of war has gutted the area once renowned for silver beaches and holiday resorts. A brutal battle has pitched Muslims, Christians and Buddhists against each other in a complicated conflict of Tamil versus Singhalese.

Today the little white building stands as a testament to hope. It’s not a church. It’s a kindergarten or, as the sign out the front says, ‘Peace Nursery’.

It is one of the few buildings in the area not bombed or battered from the fighting, although it’s not long since it was in the middle of no-man’s land. The war raged around here, as the building’s bullet pockmarks show.

Now, today, about 20 kids - three to five year olds - gather inside to learn, to play and to eat together. They are from Christian, Muslim and Buddhist families. Just having them here together is a sign that their parents are sick of war and want peace.

Scavenging hope through learning Images of people, including children, scavenging over rotting garbage for a living is one that has confronted many people in the past. It certainly still happens in many Asian cities, but a program that is breaking the cycle of poverty and disease amongst the children of 'scavenger families' is under way in Trincomellee, north-east Sri Lanka. In a cramped room at the back of a Methodist Church a score of pre-schoolers are chanting out the alphabet. Laughter and giggling is in the air. They are happy. A combination of poverty and 20 years of civil war means their mums and dads still have to work the rubbish heap for survival, but these kids are getting something their parents could never have hoped for: they are learning to read and write. The children are also given school uniforms, a nutritious lunch, and supplementary vitamins. They are also part of a vaccination program. Teaching about sanitation and health is important, and those lessons go home with each child to their parents. Education is seen as the best way out of poverty, and it’s starting here in this little room. Literacy and numeracy is leading them into life. The room doesn't look much, but it is giving hope to one of the most marginalised groups in this war torn place. Gifts to the Christmas Bowl of the National Council of Churches in Australia, help the church in Trincomelee do the job of breaking the cycle of poverty and hopelessness that engulfs so many. - KIM CAIN, Christian World Service

The Methodist Church runs the peace nursery with money provided through the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka. Some of the funds are from the Australian churches’ Christmas Bowl program.

“We wanted this [the nursery] to be a sign of reconciliation,” says the local Methodist minister, whom they call Father Terrence.

“The pre-school director, Ms Gananeswery, went around and invited all the mothers to come and see the nursery, and many did come, but the Muslim ladies did not come.

“So the director went to visit them personally, each family, telling them how it was a place for all children, and that we had a nutrition program, too.

“Sharing food was a master stroke. We said everyone could come, and this time they did.”

Ms Gananeswery provided evidence of her peace commitment by employing a Muslim woman as the peace nursery cook. Now she knows her work is successful “because the mothers keep on telling me not to leave”.

“Besides,” she says, “(this) is more than a pre-school. It’s a soul school for the children and the community.”

Father Terrence adds: “This building was once just a pre-school for our (Christian) families, but with the peace process under way we wanted to make it an interfaith nursery.

“The main task is to develop trust, which is hard to do if you believe someone from ‘the other side’ has killed a member from your village.

“But we all know that for the children’s sake we must overcome the pain and live together. So what better way than starting with the children themselves?”

As a sign of that trust being reciprocated, the Muslim imam from the nearby village was invited to the opening. His presence gave everyone confidence that people of good intentions and faith can work together for peace. As Father Terrence puts it: “A child shall lead them” - he’s quoting from scripture - “and these little ones are leading us into hope and
peace.”

It’s suggested to him that this one small project is inspirational, way beyond the 20 or so families it helps.

He responds by simply shrugging his shoulders and rocking his head in the manner of south Asian people. “It is what any prophet would do,” he says.

Please give generously to the 2004 Christmas Bowl. Get your Christmas Bowl kits, posters, corflute signs and other resources by emailing or phoning christmasbowl@ncca.org.au/freecall 1800 025 101