Giving Three Children

The struggle started for the protection of our land, our language, from beneath strangers, from oppression, from daily losses, from torture, to protect our people and language. The struggle was created for our ethnicity to grow freely...

I didn't expect my first son to join because we are a poor family and we trusted him to take care of our family. He often said he'd study and take care of us. When he was in school he helped the LTTE secretly, and then someone sent a letter to inform the Army of this. The Army came to our house looking for him, but he wasn't home, so they took my husband, and I went with him. We went to the Army's base at Elephant Pass and there the Army threatened us, saying we had six daughters, what would happen if something happened to one of our sons. They said whenever they come to our house, our son has to be there. If he was not at home or at school, they said they would find him and take him. After that incident, he worked like a machine for the LTTE. After he left to join the LTTE, it was hard for my heart, I won't lie….I thought he would stay and help our family, so it was hard to believe he'd leave us...

Once when he came back he told his younger brother that if he fell, his brother must take up his weapon...

I didn't want to send my children initially, but I understand why we need to fight. It's for our country that we're working towards.

-Kristin Pon Thilainaayakam, 45 years