We departed India to reach Sri Lanka, a country with beautiful beaches, forests, national reserves with many exotic animals, numerous resources and a large production of tea and minerals, but with a tremendous history of trouble in military and politics. In Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon), Children Incorporated currently has three support programs: Chrishanti Lama Sevana Center, Touch a Life Home Center, and Wijewardane Home.
The Chrishanti Center is located in the Kirulapone area of Colombo, in the capital city. This area is strikingly divided between a well-developed area of Colombo and entwined slums for housing for low-income families. The Chrishanti Center is located at the border of both regions in one of the slums. Here, Dr. Nalini Rodrigo, from a well-to-do family, wanted to support those in need. Initially serving them from her and her husband’s own home, later, a local community provided a small plot of land in a poorly developed area to be used for the center.
They started the center very modestly with a makeshift hut to meet the needs of the children and families and provide Children Incorporated support to enrolled children there. A few years ago, we convinced Dr. Rodrigo to upgrade the facility, with intentions to continue providing sponsorship support but also to give more stability to the families, tend to other needs, and increase aid to those that needed more support. As a result, a small two-storied building was constructed. Here, they decided to use the first floor as a day care center to cater to the children of mothers who work during the day. The Children Incorporated sponsored children would use this area to receive monthly benefits as well. Everyone liked the center, as now it was more of their place.
The second floor is a place for dancing, arts and crafts and school work. After several years, the building was surrounded by other constructions and air circulation was no longer available, so the second floor was used sporadically because it was too hot for any activities. Fans were installed, and we recommended a touch of paint, open windows, and improved fans to utilize this area better. With our support, the children received food, school supplies, and school follow support, as did those in the upper grades.
In Sri Lanka, education is of very personal importance, as the literacy rate in this nation is up in the 90th percentile, and everyone wants to graduate from high school, and no one wants to quit education. Most parents of Children Incorporated children have never had the opportunity to attend high school. Still, every child in our program has finished high school, and many have participated in a university or a technical school. A Child named Gayan went for a Systems Engineering career, and he now works in a big IT company in Colombo; he still helps his parents, and he is very involved with the Chrishanti Center as an advocate and teacher in his spare time. He was our guide during the evaluation. Many others are in permanent working positions because of what the program support allowed them to do in school and university.
