The Foundation of Goodness supports The  Anula Wijerama Girl's Home in Balapitiya. It has been providing care for orphaned and impoverished girls since the 1970s and came to the attention of the Foundation of Goodness when the Rebuilding Lives psycho-social support team started to provide psychosocial support programmes for the children. In 2007 the Foundation  started to work with the Board of Trustees to help remodel the home that provides care for around 30 girls aged 8 to 18.

Today the home is  a bustling haven for these girls, kindly supported by wonderful people such as the Richie family, who over the last year few years have provided maintenance, salaries, food and essential provisions, clothing and days out for the girls who otherwise survive off the often insufficient offerings  made by those giving alms.

Over the last six months the girls have especially enjoyed days out at the zoo, a picnic and kite flying on the beach and a visit to a turtle sanctuary.  On the 12th July the Richie family once again treated the girls to an extended-family day out which included games and competitions and home garden cleaning. The home garden at the orphanage was prepared in February by volunteer Malcolm, from Scotland, and boys from Seenigama Diving & Training Centre, to provide a sustainable source of fruit and vegetables for the girls, in their home grounds.

On the 19th of July, the girls once again enjoyed new surroundings, fun and games  at a sports meet. This sports day was kindly organised by the All Island Buddhist Congress and supported by Tony Baverstock and friends, who were volunteering in the village and able to lend a helping hand to make the day truly memorable for all involved, including a kind donation of t-shirts to kit the girls out nicely for the day.

Also this month, we were delighted to be able to welcome the girls from the Shilpa Girls Home to a day of fun at the village. On the 4th July it was a great privilege for the Seenigama Children's Goodness Club children to be able to share the wonderful facilities available in the village, which have arrived under such difficult circumstances but which can now bring hope and light to the lives of many thousands of people, even reaching out to people from far afield, and continuing to try to narrow the gap between rural and urban communities for the betterment of all.

Kushil is extremely pleased that the work in Seenigama is bringing so much joy to the most vulnerable in Sri Lankan society. The community development model is now bringing such amazing facilities to so many in the Seenigama region and beyond. “We have faced so many setbacks to make this happen” he says, “but it was worth the effort to see the smiling faces of the children, and the new skills and opportunities opening up for the youth of the rural communities who only a few years ago could speak little English and had no concept of how to use a computer, but are now able to make friends all over the world while also helping their community to tackle poverty through productive activities. It is especially wonderful to be able to bring a smile to the faces of these girls, who are benefiting from the generosity and compassion of donors and supporters from this country and abroad, to be able to live a life that is full of love and laughter and hope for the future.”

2009.08.03