He had three sons. Only one son is still living.

Two died in the civil wars.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) killed his first son. The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) killed his second. His wife died of a heart attack in 2009.

He has only one son left. He has no family. His family, he said, “is his church.”

You can feel how real the war is, in the East. Minefields still kill, perhaps 120 in the last year. Almost everyone has been affected. Batticaloa suffered its share, being a hub of Tamil culture. (The civil wars in Sri Lanka were between ethnic Tamils in the North and East and Singhalese in the South and West.

On June 11, 1990 the LTTE massacred 600 police officers. LTTE soldiers surrounded the Batticaloa police station, separated the Tamil and Sinhalese officers, and brought the Sinhalese officers deep into the jungle in the Northeastern part of the country. There they tied the hands of the officers and shot them, leaving the bodies in the jungle. This atrocity existed among others committed by both sides during the twenty year way that divided the country.

The Singhalese Government defeated the LTTE after those long years in 2009. As I anticipate further trips to the North and East, I expect to see more damage from the civil wars. Most of all, I have noticed how hidden the damage is—you have to search to see it. Still, I am a newcomer and expect to learn more.

But, things ended on the brighter side with the rickshaw driver, as I hope they will remain for Sri Lanka. When asked, “what is your favorite thing about Sri Lanka?” He replied, “I love the shrimps.” The man’s got his mind in the right place.