Cyclone Ditwah and her devastation

We Sri Lankans are reeling from the unimaginable consequences of what Cyclone Ditwah left in her trail. The human suffering through death and isolation, hunger and homelessness, loss of property and sources of income, the bleakness of any hope for tomorrow. In addition, the country’s infrastructure, such as roads, rail tracks, factories, water sources, agricultural lands, which are vital for the daily turning of the economic wheel have been ruined. And, the unimaginable impact that all that devastation will have on our country’s ability to service her debts, about which were complacent only a week ago.

It’s time to realise that we have been through such trauma before: the tsunami, a man-made war stretching over decades and an economic crisis.

Now, it is time for us citizens, our motherland’s backbone, to put aside the weeping and wallowing. It is time for us to rise, stand tall, square our shoulders, 

and raise our motherland to where she deserves to be again! 

Let us, each one of us, be positive. We did it before; we can and will do it again, and better. We cannot all go to the affected areas to distribute care; let us do it where we can, right outside our homes, with compassion. 

Through our humanity, let us be the proud and courageous citizens, who will yet again restore our motherland Sri Lanka to the glory that is hers.

Rise, fellow citizens, and raise our motherland on our shoulders! 

Mahendra Fernando