“ A child’s experiences shape the rest of his or her life. Unless action is taken early a hurt and damaged child could become a troubled adult. “

On 26th of December 2004 disaster struck Mullaitheevu and surrounding villages. Tsunami waves brought untold misery to many people in South East Asia. Mullaitheevu in Sri Lanka lost almost half its population leaving many families in distress. Many children were left without anyone to care for.

Our home Senthalir was completely destroyed with heavy loss of life. 94 children lost their lives. 38 survived. Only 30 bodies so far have been recovered and identified. Very tragic indeed. Senthalir in English means “Tender Sprout”. Very young children, taken away in a moment of madness by the ocean. Let us take a few moments to remember and pray for their souls.

We now need to look forward and take steps to help the surviving children and the many more likely to join Senthalir as a result of the Tsunami. Within the last 2 weeks 16 new children were found completely helpless. None of their relatives survived the tragedy. These children are now looked after in temporary accommodation. Many of them were in shock. Our people are doing their best to carry out some counselling to help them smile again.

The need to re-establish Senthalir is an urgent one.

In our troubled land many children lost their Fathers in the war, which has claimed many lives in the past two decades. Tsunami killed many of the mothers. We feel the need to look after parentless children is a long term one. No one was able to predict this immediately after the Tsunami. We ourselves told you, we need £9,000 to purchase a land to set up the new home. As there are more children to be accommodated, the Centre for Women’s Development and Rehabilitation Organisation in the NE of Sri Lanka, which runs the home, has now located a larger piece of land for this purpose. It will cost £17,000, i.e. nearly double the original estimate. This is located in a village called Udayar Kaddu, 15 miles from Mullaitheevu. There is a school close by as well.

It is now apparent that as many as 300 children may have to be looked after in Senthalir. For this reason the management had a rethink about the whole concept of the home. They rejected one large institution type building to house these children. Instead a decision is taken to build small units to house 10 to 15 children. Furthermore they are going to employ women who lost their own children in the Tsunami to work there and to look after them. A kind of surrogate mother. This will also bring a meaningful life to the women. Each of these units is expected to cost around £6500.00. We urge commercial establishments and other public institutions in the United Kingdom to consider sponsoring these units. It is a very satisfying thing to do. ACF.UK will ensure that your contribution is recognised in the form of a signboard on these buildings.

We are also asking for donations from individual members of the community. We further like you to know that there are other imaginative ways you can help. You can help our children by offering to sponsor a child through our sponsorship scheme. It only costs £12 / Month. You can consider our TECH project. Under this scheme families with young children are set up by giving farm animals such as cows, goats and hens to help them generate their own income and to provide nourishment to their children at the same time. This costs a one off payment of £50.00. Then we have our new venture, The Foster Care scheme. Under this scheme we help to look after children in their own home environment. Often these children live with their grandparents or other relatives. Please consider getting involved with one or more of these projects. Arobanam Children Fund will give you a feedback on all these projects if you decide to support us.

We are confident that the money will be found. With many offers of help from generous people like you, we will reach our target. For now we are housing the surviving children and some of the new arrivals in rented accommodation. Facilities are very minimal but should be able to manage for a short time.

It is all up to us to help as much as possible to rebuild the affected people’s lives in the north and east. This area is largely neglected and much of the international help do not seem to reach there. Expatriate Tamils can play a vital role in bringing back happiness and prosperity to these poor people. Each one of us has a duty to lend a hand to improve the situation. We must not feel we are doing a favour. Let us do as much as we can to let them know that there are people over here, who care about them. Friends, we must save our children from hunger, decease and any other dangers facing them. The trauma they suffered can be with them for a long time. Long term counselling may be necessary to erase this unspeakable horror from their lives.

Patron: Fr. James Pathinathan

Please Donate
V.Ramakrishnan
Chairman
Arobanam Children Fund
29 Helmsdale Road, London SW16 5UT, UK
Tel No: 44 (0) 208 764 4948
Registered Charity No. 1082803
www.arobanam.org