The 30 year-long Sri Lankan Civil War has left the lives of those who survived it in shambles. Thousands of children have been unwilling witnesses to the conflict. Forced to watch as their fathers were dragged away to fight in the war, as their mothers were beaten before them, and their siblings forced into the bleak future of being child soldiers, they are now orphaned and alone, in a country that is in no way able to support them.
Girls, forced into marriage in hopes of saving those they loved from being conscripted into the fighting, find themselves widows as young as 15, stigmatized in a society that looks upon them as a burden. As though they hadn’t enough loss to deal with, thousands more have been torn from their homes. They are now housed in temporary Internally Displaced Peoples camps: no belongings, and no place to return to. The Foursquare Church in Sri Lanka seeks to help alleviate the pain of those where we can and bring their plight to the attention of others who can help them.
The children's home in Vavuniya was established in September 2009 and is currently home to 17 girls between the ages of 8-20 with the capacity to hold at least 35 girls altogether. The vision of the home is to be a place that provides refuge for young girls who have originated from the IDP Camps in the North as a result of the War. The girls come from homes where their parents are too poor to look after them, abandoned them or were killed in the War.
We are committed to take care of them and provide them with a safe environment to finish their education, learn new skills and experience a new life of hope and security. We have live-in volunteers and a home matron who nurture the girls spiritually, mentally and emotionally. We ensure that they are fed 3 healthy meals daily and all their medical needs are attended to. A few girls had serious war wounds and we ensure that they are treated appropriately by doctors in Vavuniya or in Colombo as needed.
We have a Vocational Training Centre in Vavuniya where the girls from the Home go to be trained in vocational skills in beauty culture, leather crafts, information technology, sewing and fabric art. We want to be able to teach them skills in order for them to be self-sufficient as they venture back out in the world and start families of their own.
The Vocational Training Centre has been recognised by the Vocational Training Authority of Vavuniya (VTA) and we collaborate with them on the training programs. The youths graduate with a certificate from the VTA at the end of their training course. A recent batch of 73 girls just graduated from the complete training programme.
Recently, the Vocational Training Centre held an Exhibition displaying to the community the products that were handmade by these young ladies, including shoes, ladies handbags, children’s toys, ladies dresses and rugs for the home. The products were of marketable quality and were priced according to standard pricing in the market. The event was a huge success.
We would like to invite you to Partner with us and make a difference in the lives of these girls and their families.
