Thousands of children have lost their parents or lost the source of their family income. More than 1/3 of the homeless are children. These children are at risk of dropping off from their schools due to financial difficulties. Therefore it is essential to restore their normal life as much as possible. Under these circumstances, provision of shelters, financial aid, clothing, nutrition and books for the displaced children is an urgent requirement.

Hikkaduwa Jayanthi Junior School was not damaged by the tsunami while Kahawa Rathanasara School was heavily damaged by the Tsunami; however, many of the students from both schools are currently homeless. Over five hundred students from those two schools alone have been affected by the tsunami. Most of them are under ten years old.

A survey indicated that some students are in refugee camps, some are with their relatives, while some of them are missing. Some of these students have lost a parent or both. Most of the families have lost their means of living.

We, Karuna Trust, with support of the principals and teachers of the schools, will help to restore the normal life style of these affected students, and to minimize the psychological impact and social burden.

Project Description:

Children under 16 years of age, whose source of income has been lost, will be given all the help needed to attend the school by Karuna Trust, with the support of their teachers. They will be monitored without hindering their dignity or self confidence.

There will be three types of grants to these students:

(i) Students who live either with their parents or guardians will receive financial aid, clothing and books worth up to $15.00 per month. This aid will be given initially for up to a three years of period. During this period parents or the guardians of these children will also be helped out to find sustainable income. This includes helping them with finding employment or training them and supporting them with investments for self employment opportunities.

(ii) Students without parents or guardians would receive residential facilities in the school dormitory up to their high school graduation. It is estimated to cost $50 per month to look after a student.

(iii) Children from very poor Tsunami affected families will receive support worth $7.50/month all the way till they graduate from high school.

Above indicated amount will go directly to a selected individual child’s welfare. Once we have identified the children you will receive photographs and the family details of them. You have the ability to contact the families or the children directly if you wish.

Request:

We would like to make an appeal from organizations and individuals to become a foster parent to one or more of these children by sponsoring them. Please be advised that Karuna Trust does not use any of these funds for administrative purposes, since our low administrative costs are covered by Sri Lankan companies and we all work on a volunteer basis.

Success Measures:

We will monitor each child for his/her school attendance and well being with the help of school administration. We will also organize confidence building sessions as well as collect data from children during these to understand the children’s perspective.