The Power of Good People: Surviving Sri Lanka's Civil War

In May 2009 Sri Lanka's long and dreadful civil war was finally brought to an horrific end. Ruthlessly driven to a small strip of land on the tip of the island's north-east coast, tens of thousands of innocent civilians died, smashed by artillery, killed by snipers, denied medical treatment and starved to death beneath the baking sun. This ferocious battle consolidated and highlighted the terrors of the preceding twenty-six years of war, characterised by vicious murders and desperate acts from both sides, where civilians were bombarded, kidnapped, raped and tortured with impunity.

In such a vicious war, was there any room for humanity?

Para Paheer's story could be one of tens of thousands, except that he lived to tell the world of the horrors; but more importantly, to record and pay tribute to those, often courageous, people without whom he would probably not be alive. He was thirty-one when he was rescued from the Indian Ocean while sailing to Australia to seek asylum. While in Christmas Island Detention Centre, Para became penfriends with Alison Corke, a member of the Apollo Bay branch of Rural Australians for Refugees, in Victoria. On his release from detention in 2011, Para moved in with the Corke family. The Power of Good People is the literary collaboration between Para and Ali.

ISBN-13: 9780648066323

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Wild Dingo Press

Publication Date: 11-01-2017

Pages: 306

Product Dimensions: 8.00h x 5.25w x 0.64d

Paheer, Para: - Para Paheer (Paheertharan Pararasasingam) was born in 1978 to an impoverished Tamil family in northern Sri Lanka. He was just five years old when civil war erupted and engulfed the country for nearly three decades. Imprisoned and tortured because of his student activism, Para was forced to flee to India in May 2008. In October 2009 he boarded a tiny fishing boat bound for Australia. Following rescue from the ocean in November 2009, Para was taken to Christmas Island Detention Centre where he began a pen-friendship with Alison Corke. On his release in 2011, Para moved in with the Corke family. He has recently been granted Australian citizenship.Corke, Alison: - Alison Corke is a freelance writer, living in Apollo Bay. A career in advertising and publishing taught Ali the importance of telling a story in an honest and engaging way, encouraging people to have the confidence to share their lives. The author of several books on advertising and public relations, Ali also wrote books for The Body Shop and British Airways, and has produced many publications for non-profit organisations. The increasing demonisation of innocent asylum seekers and the plight of refugees encouraged her to join Rural Australians for Refugees. In 2009, extremely concerned for the plight of the victims of a tiny boat of asylum seekers that sank in the Indian Ocean, she had no idea that a few months later she would become pen friends with Para, one of the young men from that boat. Their friendship grew and on his release from detention on Christmas Island in 2011, Para moved in with the Corke family.