Growing Pains: Back to School

Having first walked its hallways as a young girl, Ms. Banduni has a long history with Devapatiraja School in Galle, Sri Lanka. She has served as a teacher in the same classrooms where she once sat as a student. And in the 16 years since, she has educated the children of her friends, family and fellow community members. Now Ms. Banduni is the principal, overseeing the work of 65 teachers and 1,785 secondary-school students.

Nothing could have prepared Ms. Banduni for what she would face in the months following the devastating tsunami. Photo by CRS Staff

The year 2005 was a school year for which Ms. Banduni could have never been prepared. In the wake of the tsunami, she had to manage the recovery of her school — its structural integrity and the emotional stamina of staff and students — while upholding the quality of education.

When the tsunami struck in late December 2004, students had just completed their semester's final exams. Many were home with their families, their academic worries temporarily behind them. Three Devapatiraja students were on a train heading home that dreadful morning, but they would never make it. All were killed when the wave swept the train from its tracks.

It has been almost two years since the tsunami changed the lives of more than 500 students, 22 teachers and 6 school staff members. They lost their homes, their loved ones, their sense of security. In a way, the entire student body felt the effects. They lost their books and clothes; the school's canteen stopped functioning; the water supply system broke down; walls could barely stand; electrical speakers stopped working.

But, getting back to school was essential for establishing normalcy and overcoming trauma. Psychologically, students had difficulty concentrating in class and were visibly frightened whenever the ocean showed signs of change. Even the parents of students were afraid to send them back to school, given the building's location on the shore. Some of the families moved.

CRS' Caritas partner in Sri Lanka has worked with Ms. Banduni and the school since the tsunami hit. Our partner involved volunteers in the clearing of debris from the school grounds in those initial weeks; supplied essential clothing and uniforms to needy students; provided water tanks and furniture, including desks, tables, plastic chairs and cabinets; and constructed temporary classrooms for 300 ninth-graders.

Now, a walk down the hallways of Devapatiraja shows signs of remarkable progress. Despite the trauma of the tsunami, attendance rates have increased, ninth-graders are in new classrooms and enthusiasm has made it into the lessons again. It hasn't been easy and reconstruction is not yet complete, but, to Ms. Banduni, it's been an extraordinary time of highs and lows. Watching over her staff and students, she felt some of the harshest growing pains she could have imagined.

"I greatly appreciate the new buildings and am thankful to the Caritas staff, who go out of their way to coordinate activities with me for the students and school," she said.

Now, as Ms. Banduni walks the hallways, the class of 2006 is getting ready to graduate, and students excelling in their studies may one day follow in her footsteps as educators.

CRS and Caritas SED Galle are working to improve education in tsunami-affected and poor communities. Activities include rebuilding and renovating school facilities and providing necessary school materials.