Heroes to Remember

Here is a picture of a student leader who resides in Mulaithivu, who has been a part of Sri Lanka Unites for over 2 years as a volunteer and now as a staff member. He comes from an ordinary family with enough resources to survive. His life was directly affected by the brutality of war having to live in refugee camps half of his life, with minimum facilities. Family means everything to him, having to be his mom’s favourite son is a privilege according to him. Even though life has settled down with minimum chaos comparing to what it was back then during the war, bitter memories still haunt him every now and then. Beneath this handsome smile in his face there is a glimpse of hurt that cannot be settled overnight. Family that he lost during the war cannot be brought back to life. However, given these challenging circumstances, he strongly believes in his vision of being an agent for change has helped him to realize how important peace is for the country.

Nitharshan has been a key member of the Dream team 5, having the background of personal experience to share about war has been an important learning journey for everyone in the team. His energy and his outgoing personality was an important inclusion for the team to reach out to many communities. As the team went across the island found many leaders like Nitharshan, who were directly affected by war, now having the ability to live a normal-peaceful life.

As the brutalities and the devastation are easily remembered as results of the war, it’s important to recognize our heroes, the ordinary people who survived, having to compromise their livelihood and absorbing so much loss. Like Nitharshan there are many heroes who are true patriots living a meaningful and a peaceful life ensuring that there would be no more war in this country. As we go in this journey of reconciliation, we salute them, the heroes to remember.