“I am glad there are no more shooting noises and we don’t have to run to the bunker anymore,” says Santhiya (8) who has returned home with her family from the displacement camp in Vavuniya in northern Sri Lanka.

“Amma (mother) closed the bunker in our garden because we won’t have to use it again,” she says, her toothless smile and radiant eyes bringing a special glow to her face.

“That is my home in the Wanni, that is me, that is my brother (twin), that is the tap in front of our home, that is a flower in our garden, that is our cat and that is the kite we used to fly,” Puhalini (4) describes the picture she has drawn.

Thursday, May 13, was a special day for the people of Pallikuda – a remote fishing village on the coast of Poonakary in Kilinochchi. World Vision distributed 28 fishing boats with outboard motors to families who had returned to the village and were striving to rebuild their lives once again.

World Vision is gearing up for the launch of its rehabilitation programme to support the families in the return and resettlement process in Sri Lanka’s war-torn north. Authorities recently granted World Vision access to all districts of the north where returns are taking place.