Sri Lanka

Child Sponsorship Scheme

The home based child sponsorship scheme in Sri Lanka began after Pat and Suzy's amazing meeting with a Catholic priest called Father Terence, following a trip to India and Sri Lanka after the Tsunami in 2004.

Father Terence has a large parish situated in a coastal area just outside Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. 2000 parishioners attend the local church with 900 children going to his Sunday school! Many of the families lost relatives, homes, possessions and livelihoods during the Tsunami.

Their hardship has been exacerbated by the ongoing civil war in Sri Lanka and this has had a devastating effect on tourism. Without tourism many of the men have lost the ability to support their families and to provide their children with an education.

During their initial meeting Pat was able to give Father Terence a small donation of money raised by local people in Norwich, to help him to buy land to build some houses for fishing labourers who had lost everything in the Tsunami. These homes are now built and occupied, but day-to-day living is a real struggle for many of the people.

On Pat's return to England and after several e-mails to Father Terence the home sponsorship scheme was developed.

Their sponsorship is sufficient to provide food, uniforms, books and school equipment as well as pay for their schooling. It also provides £2 each month to be placed in a bank account to be given to each child when they finish their education. Father Terence and one of his parishioner's Patrick over see the scheme. They ensure that each sponsored child attends school regularly, and corresponds with their individual sponsor by letter.

The scheme has been successfully running since June 2006 and we currently have 34 children (this figure will increase) who are gaining an education through The Vidiyal Trusts' home sponsor scheme.