She had gone to the same school

Today I delivered a lecture to the inmates of a rehabilitation center. Most of the inmates there were either raped or sexually abused. During the question time, one of the girls asked about the schools that I have attended. When I told them about the schools, the girl who posed the question smiled, pointed towards her friend and said "මෙයා ගිහින් තියෙන්නෙත් ඒ ඉස්කෝලෙට" [she had gone to the same school]. The smile and the eyes said, "you see, you are correct. Deeps is educated in the same school as yours"


I turned my head a little to see a sight that I would never forget. I frankly do not remember her name, but I remember her face. She had been in the same school with me, probably in the same class because the face was so familiar.

The moment was shocking for me due to two reasons.

1. We have started our lives in the same place but today we are so different.
2. I was delivering a lecture to a classmate of mine. My presence there was meant to be an inspiration, help or a guidance for the girls to overcome their problems. Instead, I probably would have created a fire inside my classmate-inmate :(

I did not want to talk to her because I thought it would make her sad. I did not want to make her feel small in front of me, therefore, I pretended that I did not recognize her. But in hearts, we both knew that we were once class mates.

I still do not know her story and I will never try to find it out. This blog post is just to immortalize a shocking moment of my entire life.

Rape, sexual abuse, violence are too common to talk about. But the girls who go through such experience are most of the times silent and we never know what do they have hidden inside. 

The behavior and the attitude of the most of the girls reminded me of my life after the O/L exam. I have done the exam and was waiting till the A/L classes start. That was a time I enjoyed doing a little bit of everything.

These girls are also doing a little bit of everything : cooking, making cards, learning life skills etc.  But the difference between my O/L time and their life is that they do not have a hope to cling on to. They do not have an A/L class to wait for. Some girls are already rejected from their families and some are afraid to go back to the society. The memories of the violence they experienced come back even with a very small stimuli. It truly is a hard life. 

Ok, I will never say bad about my relations. I should be happy to have them around even if they are annoying! Well that is a #NoteToSelf

I have one wish to make before I sleep today : may all the people in this world respect each other!

That will reduce the number of classmates who meet at rehabilitation centers as inmates and guest lecturers.