page_title: Mariampillai Sarathjeevan
section_title: Memorials
hierarchical_section_title: Mariampillai Sarathjeevan / Memorials
caption_attribution_description: English: This is the statue of late Rev. Fr. Sarathjeevan who died in Sri Lankan war zone along with refugees whom he was helping. In May 2009, a 30 year civil war in Sri Lanka was won by the Sri Lankan government with thousands of causalities. Most of the causalities were civilians trapped in the war zone. Only eight catholic priests remained to help people even after the International Red Cross and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees left because of the concern about their safety. One of those eight priest Rev. Fr. Sarathjeeven died on the last day, May 18, 2009.
context_page_description: Mariampillai Thaddeus Sarathjeevan was a catholic priest from Jaffna, Sri Lanka. He was one of the few priests who remained with the refugees until the end of war in northern parts of Sri Lanka. He died while he was leading the last batch of refugees to safety from war zone.
  He was 41 years old and in good health. Unconfirmed reports indicate that he was assaulted by soldiers.
  Rev. Fr. Sarathjeevan, known as "Father Sara", was the coordinator of Jesuit Refugee Service for Kilinochchi district in Sri Lanka. He refused to abandon the refugees, including orphan children, when other volunteers and international organizations left the war zone because of severity of the war. He and his people did not have food or water for three days, until he was able to bring them to safety. They all had to stay underground in a bunker. In recognition of his service and heroic death, the Jesuit Refugee Service established Sara Project on his name.
context_section_description: A statue was unveiled in his memory during his first year memorial service on 18 May 2010.
  Rev. Fr. Yavis, director of HUDEC-Caritas Vanni, built a preschool and dedicated to Rev. Fr. Sarathjeevan on July 31, 2012.
  A charitable organization named Fr.Sarathjeevan Foundation was established in 2013 by the family members of the late Rev. Fr. Sarathjeevan with the patronage of the Bishop of Jaffna Diocese, and managed by a board of five members. Fr.Sarathjeevan Foundation provides financial support for children's education, housing, basic needs such as toilets and medical assistance for families affected by the civil war.
caption: Statue of late Rev. Fr. Sarathjeevan who died in Sri Lankan war zone along with refugees whom  he was helping.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-W210", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2010:06:25 11:23:01", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "258", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Make": "SONY", "Thumbnail Model": "DSC-W210", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail DateTime": "2010:06:25 11:23:01", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "9768", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "13118", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/400", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "125", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:06:25 11:23:01", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:06:25 11:23:01", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, return light detected", "EXIF FocalLength": "107/20", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2592", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1944", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "9560", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}