Carefree times are back for Kavi and his family

Little Kavi (3) pulls the brown goat into the shade of the goat shed. "Come here naughty Mani," he calls out to him. This is his favourite goat – the one he always plays with. He had named him Mani, but since Mani had a small wound in his leg and was limping, he began to call him Ella-Mani (Mani who can't).

"But now he is ok because we put medicine," says Kavi.

Kavi and his family lives in Karumpulliyan, Manthai (north Sri Lanka) - once the heart of the war. In 2008 when the hostilities moved closer to their home, the entire community was forced to flee the area in search of safety. Kavi was just a one-year-old baby when his parents left their home.

"We never thought we would come back home again," says Thiruchelvam, Kavi's father.

During the next year, they were displaced over 15 times as they kept moving from one place to another searching for a safe refuge away from the war. By the time they reached the displacement camp in Manik Farm in Vavuniya they had traveled nearly 100 km from their own village. Thiruchelvam had lost his brother and sister and his wife's sister had lost an arm and a limb.

In October 2009, five months after the guns fell silent, the family was able to leave the camp. Naveendini, Thiruchelvam's wife was pregnant at the time and they stayed with a relative for the delivery and for the first four months after the birth of the baby, returning home in February this year.

"I used to take paddy lands on rent and cultivate, before the war and the income I received was enough to take care of my family," says Thiruchelvam, "But I had no idea what I would do to support my family after we return.".

Economic recovery is one of the key tasks in helping returning families resettle, rebuild their lives and return to normalcy. While the government provided Thiruchelvam with cultivation work to help him earn an income in the initial months, World Vision provided him with 6 goats (one male, 5 female) under its livelihood - livestock project.

"I am very happy to receive these goats. My parents used to rear cattle and goats too, so I have a fair knowledge about goat rearing. They are easy to look after and very economical. Although they cannot give me an immediate income, they will provide me with a good income by next year." says Thiruchelvam.

"Also, with a new addition to our family, cultivation alone won't be enough to provide for all their needs," he says, "And goats will help me have a very stable income by the time Kavi starts preschool."

Kavi is too small to understand how Mani and the rest of the goat herd would support his father to take care of him, his mother and baby sister, but he is very glad they are there to play with him. He already assists his father to look after them and even found two puppies to look after them when he is not around.

With no more evils of war to disturb them, Kavi and his little cousins run carefree after the goats and laugh and play in the fields.