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THIRAIMADU, Sri Lanka, 30 December 2009 Five years ago in the tsunami, Sundaralingham Gnanasekaram, 10, lost both of his parents as well as two younger siblings, leaving him with one older brother and sister to look after him. He counts himself lucky to be able to attend school.
"My brother and sister both work and they can support me to go to school, he said, taking a break from rehearsal and still in his costume and make-up. So I want to do well, and in the future I will be able to support them."
The school he attends, built with the support of UNICEF, still has an aura of newness about it. The original school at Thiraimadu on the nearby coast of eastern Sri Lanka was completely destroyed by the tsunami, claiming the lives of 119 children.
Now with 434 children enrolled here, teaching methods have been vastly improved, thanks to the adoption of child-friendly school (CFS) approaches.
"If the children first want to play before they study, then they should, explained Rajamahendran Indumathy, one of the teachers who has undergone training in CFS methods, supported by UNICEF. And they learn a lot better, she added.
