When an artillery shell fell on her home in northern Sri Lanka in 2009, Sathiyaruban Tharskika’s world changed. Her husband was killed in the explosion. She and her two children were injured. A decade later, she still walks with a limp on a badly scarred leg. Pieces of ordnance remain embedded in her skull; doctors say it’s too dangerous to try to remove them.

As the sole breadwinner for herself and her two children, Tharskika found a job at a cooperative restaurant, but what she earns isn’t enough to pay the school fees for both her children. So she sent her daughter off to a boarding school run by a Sri Lankan charity; education there is free for war orphans. Her son remains with her.

“We’re not living well, but we’re surviving,” she said. It’s a common refrain from war widows in Sri Lanka’s conflict-torn north. “If I had more income I could ensure that my kids get a good education and then a good job. That’s all I care about.”

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This episode originally appeared in the July/August 2019 issue of response magazine.

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