By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya
The Easter Attack in 2019 is still fresh in our minds – what is usually a joyful celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ will forever be remembered as a day the country stood still. Churches as well as hotels were bombed and over 250 people were killed.
The survivors of the Easter Attack have over the years shared their memories of the day, what they lost, and delayed justice they keep waiting for. One platform through which these stories are told is the Easter Attack Survivors Project (EASP), which was formed in 2020. They recently launched a collection of interfaith stories surrounding the Easter Attack, titled To Live and To Learn.
According to the editor of the book, Aamina Muhsin, the EASP consists of about 40 volunteers from all communities, who came together to contribute towards the cause.
“At EASP, we use storytelling to raise awareness, spread understanding, and contribute towards peacebuilding,” Muhsin said, adding that they have released a video series titled The Survivors Speak, where they interview survivors at their homes. They have also conducted workshops for educational institutes on the changing role of education in the post Easter Attack context, and hosted interfaith conversations around the Easter Attack.
Story recorder Tassy Dahlan told us that the To Live and To Learn ebook is a collection of memories and stories from participants at the event titled “Human Library”.
“Just as we open a book at a library to gather information or use as a resource, here we have people who we have listened to and learned from,” Dahlan shared.
Meanwhile, Book Designer Shihara Ferdinando said: “I truly hope more people will read this book and share it with as many people as possible. We did have a doubt that since social media alone was fixated on the current economic and political crisis, this book won’t garner much attention. But all in all, we are proud of our efforts because people such as yourselves reached out to us to share our work.”
Aamina Muhsin, book editor
Aamina Muhsin described herself as a Sri Lankan Muslim who was absolutely shocked by the Easter Attack of 2019, leading her to become the Co-Founder of the Easter Attack Survivors Project.
What went into creating the e-book? Why did you think of sharing these stories in this format?
This book is a collection of interfaith stories shared in light of the Easter Attack at the Human Library, an interfaith conversation organised by the Rotaract Club of the Colombo University Medical faculty.
We were a collaborating partner at the event, and our volunteers were keen to create as much value as possible from the event. Nahdiya from the team suggested we do an easy-to-read collection of stories, so that these stories will live forever and people who couldn’t attend the event will have access to them. Tassy volunteered to record every single story from her phone, and then I took them all and edited them into a book, after which Shihara handled designing.
As the book editor, what was your experience like editing the book, and why did you do it?
The task of transcribing the recordings and then editing the stories itself was hard work, but through it all, I knew for certain these stories were so valuable that any hard work going into it was worth it! Plus, having a team that provides good feedback, superb ideas all of the time, and help throughout the process definitely made me feel like it was more of a team effort than a job done by myself.
I did it because, one, it was a great idea put forward by my fellow volunteer as mentioned above; and two, documenting interfaith stories regarding a terror attack that targeted and sprung from religious groups is something I believe is imperative – for the sake of history, for the sake of (attempting to) repair relations between said communities, for the sake of opening minds and hearts and facilitating reconciliation, and for the sake of (hopefully) preventing other such attacks! These are our hopes.
How can people access it, and what will they find on those pages?
The book can be downloaded for free on our website: www.easterattacksurvivors.org.
It is a short catalogue of diverse stories from various backgrounds; for example, there is the honest, and unexpected telling of a Tamil boy about his experience of the attack, there is the story of a girl who decided to take off her hijab due to the attack, and there is the story of a Sinhalese doctor who tried his level best to build broken community relations in the hospitals he worked at.
How has it helped survivors to share their stories, and what is the impact of storytelling, especially of this nature?
Previous to the publication of this book of interfaith stories, we created a video series of the survivors of the Katuwapitiya Church bombing called The Survivors Speak – it’s up on YouTube and on our website. These were direct victims who lost their loved ones.
Sharing your story, especially when you have been through something as traumatising as that, is something all of the survivors deserve. Not all of them will be willing to do it right now, but those that were taught us many lessons.
When people have survived conflict, it is the right of the victims and the duty of the state to give them the platform to share their truths. Memorialisation in the aftermath of conflicts, and abuses such as terror attacks, civil wars, and tragedies is essential to education, building reconciliation, achieving accountability, and providing justice.
So, storytelling is in essence, something they deserve. As a group of volunteers, we also knew it would help other survivors to hear these stories and know that they are not alone. But what we didn’t expect was for our survivors to become peace ambassadors in the process.
Is the Easter Attack Survivors Project working on anything else at the moment?
Yes, we are. We’re expanding to work on peacebuilding across the many conflicts this country of ours has suffered from. The Easter Attack was one, and the Easter Attack Survivors Project: our first project taught us so much.
With the expansion and launch of the Sri Lanka Reconciliation Movement (SLRM), the organisation that will function as the parent organisation of EASP and other projects – we hope to do so much more, and can’t wait to work with anyone interested!
Shihara Ferdinando, book designer
Shihara Ferdinando is the Head of Public Relations at the Easter Attack Survivors Project, and has been part of the team for little over a year, assisting with communications, designing and content strategy. On an academic level, Ferdinando is a second-year undergraduate at the Colombo University Faculty of Arts.
As the book designer, what was your experience like designing the book, and why did you do it?
I have an internal process when I conceptualise how I want something to look. So I tried a few designs first and ended with the one that’s published now. I wanted readers to feel each story while reading it but also to realise that it is a memory.
This is why you would find illustrated imagery as opposed to actual images in each page. This final design is a product resulting from multiple consultations of a few members within the team, namely Seth, Aamina and Aamilah. We worked to make sure that each aspect of it is done to perfection.
What was the reason behind choosing the name ‘To Live and To Learn’?
If I’m being blunt, this was purely random. The reason being that the phrase “to live and to learn” was constantly in my mind in the months I was designing this book, because on a personal level too life has truly been worth living whilst learning. So, I thought I’ll tentatively name this book likewise since it was rather fitting at the time. And coincidentally when we showed the final draft to the rest of the team it resonated with them, and we decided to keep it.
Why is it important to tell these stories and remember those we lost in 2019?
Since storytelling is EASP’s specialty, it was only fitting that we went ahead with this project. The beauty of these stories, however, is that there’s at least one thing that we can relate to even though we may have not experienced it. And that itself acts as a factor that we can hold on to and empathise with those that were directly or otherwise impacted by the Easter Sunday attacks of 2019, which is why these aren’t just stories – they are memories and events that we feel once, but others relive every day. I think that needs to be understood by not just us but those in power.
What did you hope would be the outcomes of this project?
All of the projects that we’ve been doing have boiled down to (in my opinion) one core value, which is empathy. We wanted this project and the e-book to make people feel and empathise with others. Division and biases will persist provided that we don’t rationalise our thoughts and question what we feel. Sri Lanka needs fearless individuals, and by extension, a society that respects and values each other – without it, we are truly nothing.
Tassy Dahlan, story recorder
Tassy Dahlan is an educationist and social activist. Due to her upbringing and vast travels, and having lived overseas for a major part of her life, Dahlan became a very open-minded person, respectful and tolerant of everyone and everything around her. It has also brought about a distinct hate for injustice in any form or reason.
As the person responsible for recording these stories, what was your experience like doing the job?
It was a really fulfilling and rewarding experience for me. What I envisioned was going to be an arduous task, filled with enrapture and enjoyment. The stories I listened to, and recorded were scintillating, and often I would lose myself as I listened in awe as men and women from different ethnicities narrated events of their lives.
Why did you do it?
I am a volunteer for the Easter Attack Survivors Project and was thrilled to be part of this unique event. The empathy I feel for the survivors of this brutal attack was once again brought to the fore as I listened to many vivid stories centering around this attack on innocent lives.
Why is it important to tell these stories and remember those we lost in 2019?
This attack was not against one community; it was against humanity. The perpetrators brought an entire nation to unite in solidarity with the Christian community, at this very difficult time. The people who died in the bombings were innocent, and their families do not deserve the pain and torture they have had to endure.
It is important for each and every one of us to feel their pain and anguish, so hearing these stories makes one realise the depths of despair some families have reached, how their worlds have been shattered in one single moment.
What did you hope would be the outcomes of this project?
I hope that through this ebook, the people who shared stories of their life experiences are honoured; recognition is given to all those whose lives were changed drastically; empathy is created for those unfortunate to have been part of this attack; understanding is given for those who felt the repercussions after the attack; and unity in our diversity is attained, with a celebration of our similarities.