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The Ranviru Seva Authority (RVSA) was set up to address the social needs of the combatants and their families. RVSA has been successful in dealing with many welfare issues of the families including housing, scholarships, utilities etc.

A large part of our clientele has been women and along with them, invariably children who come to us seeking solace, hoping for merely a listening ear, a few minutes to share their tale of woe.

A mother who cannot face the fact that she will not see her son again, a wife living in hope about the return of her "missing in action" husband, a single mother juggling with trying to bring up two children and hiding from her children the fact that the father has died in action and a wife who has to deal with the self pity and anger of a husband who has lost his limbs in the war.

In the past 19 years of internal conflict, many a NGO has been set up to address the psychosocial needs of "victims of war" and "displaced persons" which highlights the enormity of the psychosocial problem, the internal strife has brought upon our country.

However the concept of "victims of war" is a debatable issue considering the fact that a large "civilian group", namely the families of combatants, affected by war in many ways, as made clear by our illustration above, have not had access to or not been the recipients of services provided by these organisations.

A common reason cited is the fact that "military families" do not fall under their respective mandate or the common belief that military "should take care for their own".Most social concerns of these families such as compensation issues, education for children etc. have been addressed to a large extent by the military. Addressing social issues, no doubt eases ones burden, but does not "heal ones mind". The psychological scars left behind by war amongst the families of combatants, whether they are killed or missing, disabled or in service, is a matter (which should have been) and needs to be addressed with urgency.

In the past one and a half years of our existence, we have come across wives and mothers who have coped with loss of their loved ones in many a positive ways. Successful coping of mothers have helped children to cope with the loss of the father positively.

Successful coping have paved the way for some wives to be self-determined and economically independent. These examples, sadly are the exception to the rule. Most wives of those declared missing in action, which means that the bodies have not been recovered are in an unresolved state of grief, and continue to live in hope of the husband or son returning "some day", never wanting to think otherwise due to (maybe) the fear of the unknown and if one accepts death, the fear of future without the loved one.

Many single mothers have been unable to share with their children, the death of their father (especially if the fathers death has taken place before the birth or when the child was an infant). The children are told that the father continues to serve in the north or is on a "long journey" building hope that the father will be home soon. Sharing the truth with children, giving a clear picture, helps instill confidence in children and vice versa!

Mothers who are traumatised by the "chooti putha's" death and wives who are, apart from having to bring up children, being burdened by having to take over the duties of a husband who has been disabled and is unable to care for himself, amounts to hundreds of women, who require supportive help to cope with the stress associated.

The psychological needs of each of these groups of women differ due to the complexities of the issues concerned. We hope to highlight the specific psychosocial issues related to these groups of women in the following weeks.

Families of combatants, particularly women and children are most definitely the single largest civilian group affected directly as a result of the strife and those who will need continued psychological and emotional support for years to come.

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