Light of Lanka is currently expanding and upgrading the Balapitiya Boy’s Home at Balapitiya in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka.
Light of Lanka Foundation has joined forces with Sarvodaya Suwasetha to act as a fundraising arm in Australia and also to oversee the project to ensure donors support, commitment and financial contributions are all met.
The boy’s home at Balapitiya needs an urgent upgrade and extension, as present facilities and space are inadequate for the 11 children presently there. The new space will accommodate up 36 children in total, of which a minimum of 50% of places will be provided for Tsunami orphans.
Sarvodaya in partnership with Light of Lanka Foundation is also taking steps to upgrade the technology, processes and systems in child care management in all its children’s homes to international best practices and for this purpose proposes to seek consultancy support, training and development opportunities.
The operations of the homes will be linked to an effective governance structure that will assure accountability to a Board of Governors representing the Regulatory Authorities to provide advice, a trustee and a Board of Management to provide accountability.
The Tsunami Waves that struck the coastal belt of Sri Lanka have caused unprecedented damage to life and property. The Tsunami that hit the Asian continent on December 26th, 2004 was the worst natural calamity in Sri Lankan history. It left twelve districts in the Southern, Eastern and Northern provinces in shambles and the lives of those who reside along its coastlines in tattered ruins. The disaster took the lives of 31,229 people and injured 23,189. A total of 4,100 are still reported missing. The number of displaced people was 516,150.
Altogether, more than one million people were affected by the disaster. The value of damage to the infrastructure is estimated to exceed 1.3 billion US dollars.
Nearly a thousand children have lost both parents as a consequence of the tsunami, whilst another 3200 have only the comfort of a single parent. The total number so affected may turn out to be around 5000 orphaned or homeless children.
It is estimated that approximately 2000 in the end, after adoption or foster home facilitation by credible and capable relations, parents and well-wishers, will require the facilitation within an accredited care giving home for their future needs.
