BE0011 Nethmi

Nethmi is now 11 years old and lives in Kerawalapitya, Wattala. She lives with her mother Soniya. Her father had left the family and doesn’t care for Nethmi. She goes to Vidyaloka Maha Vidyalaya and is in grade 5 now. Her studies are average.

Her mother has schizophrenia and takes regular medication for it. She attends clinics at the Ragama Hospital. Her medication alone costs them Rs1000 a month. She does everything for the child and looks after her well despite her illness. Her grandmother also helps out looking after Nethmi when the mother is in hospital.

They had difficulty buying food, books, clothes and shoes.

They have been using the money given by the charity to buy food. It has been very helpful for them.

March 2013

BE0012 Shashini

Shashini is 11 years old and goes to Vidyaloka Maha Vidyalaya. She lives in Hendala with her two brothers and sister. She is in grade 5 now and her studies are weak.

Her mother Devika works as a housemaid cleaning and cooking. She earns about Rs250 a day. Her father Ratnasekara works as a tea factory worker earning Rs800 a day when he has work. He used to be a bus driver but he hasn’t got a license now.

They have trouble buying food and school supplies, clothes and shoes. With the money they are getting from the charity, it has been a little bit easier for them. The mother even tried to save a bit of money for the future but they are unable to do that.

March 2013

BE00013 Nisansala

Nisansala (left) is 11 years old and lives in Hendala. She goes to Vidyaoka Maha Vidyalaya and is in grade 5. Her studies are weak.

has a sister and two brothers. Her mother Suramya doesn’t work. Her father Sarath works as a labourer and earns between Rs600-800 a day when he finds work.

Their house gets flooded from both sides. They don’t have beds. They sleep on the rough floor. They’ve put plastic sheets on the ground to make it smoother. They have difficulty buying foo, books, clothes and shoes.

In March 2012, Nisansala was hospitalised for dengue fever. She was quite unwell but recovered. Again in March 2013 she was hospitalised for a lung problem. She now has diabetes too. She takes medication and it costs about Rs500-600. Because of her illnesses, she sometimes misses school.

The charity has been helping her for a year and the money is used for her medication and schooling needs.

March 2013

BE00014 Prabod

Prabod is 11 years old and lives in Kerawalapitiya, Hendala. He goes to Vidyaoka Maha Vidyalaya and is now in grade 5. His studies are weak.

He has 4 older sisters. His mother Podi nona works at a plastic good company and she earns about Rs500 per day when she is called in. His father is a labourer but doesn’t have a permanent job. He was only called in for work two days last week. Because of this, they have difficulty buying food, clothes, shoes and books.

When we tried to visit his house, we couldn’t go there as it was flooded up to the knee level. The flooding that happened last year is still there. Their house is said to be in a very poor state.

The charity has been helping them for a year now and they have been using the money for their daily needs.

March 2013

BE00015 Piyaseeli

Piyaseeli is 66 years old and she lives in Alakanda, Hendala.

She used to work in the convent in Hendala. She has no husband, no permanent job.

Her children don’t look after her. She has asthma and need regular medication. Her legs are weak now and has difficulty walking.

She has been getting help from the charity for a year and she uses it to buy food.

The charity didn’t go to visit her this time but she came to the Wattala representative’s house.

March 2013

BE00016 Sanduni

Sanduni is 21 years old and lives in Kalutara.

When the charity started helping her she had just finished her schooling at Panadura Balika Maha Vidyalaya. She is an outstanding student. She got very good A/L results for Economics/Accounts/Business Statistics. She was the Sports captain and a senior prefect. She was selected to the University of Jayawardanapura to do Management. This is a four year course. She has two younger brothers (9 and 18 years old). Her mother Niroshini doesn’t work. Her father Sarath runs a cycle repair shop in front of their house. The income from that is low but he can earn between Rs150-300 per day. Her grandmother is also living at home.

They struggle quite a lot and when Sanduni was at school, the school teachers would bring her lunch. She doesn’t even have good clothes to wear. He started the university in March 2013. She is boarded near the campus as it costs her just as much to travel back home.

She has enrolled to do Chartered Accountancy and goes to classes at weekends. To qualify she also needs to do auditing for 3 years. She is very determined to do this to improve her chances of getting a good job. For the university degree, she uses books from the library.

The charity has been helping her for nearly a year. She has used the money to pay for her accountancy classes and exams. She also used the money to pay for her boarding place and its deposit. Without it she wouldn’t have been able to do any of this.

She is doing very well and is using the money to get educated so she can find a job. The charity intends to help her until she finds a job.

March 2013

BE00017 Dilki

Dilki is 11 years old and she lives in Wadduwa. She goes to Thalpitiya Kanishta Vidyalaya and is in grade 6. Her studies are average and she is good at dancing.

Her mother Mallika has no good but her father Chandrasiri works at a petrol filing station. If he works for 24 hours for 10 days, he can earn Rs12,000. When the charity took her on, the father was only able to earn Rs5000 a month.

Dilki has twin brothers who are 4 years old.

They were struggling before but now the father is working long hours to make more money.

She goes to extra tuition classes for Sinhala, Maths and English.

The charity decided the cancel her from April 2013 as their circumstances are better now than before with her father’s increased income.

March 2013

BE0018 Asela

Asela is 11 years old and goes to Mihundu Madya Maha Vidyalaya in Agalawatta. He lives with two other siblings who are older. His mother Subadra has no job. Asela’s father Vijitha works as a temporary labourer and when he gets work, earns about Rs700 per day. The problem is that they don’t get regular jobs. Vijitha has got diabetes and his medications costs about Rs350 for 10 days. Asela’s grandparents (72 yrs and 80yrs old) also live with them and are unwell.

They get Samurdi grant of Rs350 per month but they are unable to make ends meet. With the donations they are getting from the charity every month, Asela is now attending extra tuition classes for his weak subjects. He attends classes for Science, Maths and English. This year he was able to get the best results in Science because he attended the extra classes. He has also done well overall at school but he suffers from phlegm problems and gets fevers often. The money has been used well for Asela’s education and household needs. During March 2013, we met Asela and his mother at our Agalawatta representative’s house but we were unable to visit their house due to the difficulty in getting there.

Asela has a specific donor who helps him every month.

March 2013

Dushan was 15 years old when the charity helped him. He goes to Mihindu Maha Vidyalaya in Agalawatta. His studies are outstanding and he achieved good marks in all subjects.

His mother is paralysed and his father is a retired security officer. He has no siblings.

Dushan was working in pirith houses (religious ceremony) to earn money for mother. There was no proper income for the family.

The charity helped him in March 2012 with a one off grant of Rs2550.

March 2013

BE00019 Dushan

BE00020 Shalini

Shalini is 17 years old and lives in Panadura. She goes to Panadura Balika Maha Vidyalaya.

She is an outstanding student and does well in her studies and she is also good at singing and compering. She will be starting Advance level classes in May 2013.

Her mother Swarnalatha looks after a baby of a doctor and earns about Rs5000 per month. Her father is missing after going abroad 10 years ago. They live in a rented house and pays Rs1500.

The charity has been helping her for about a year now. She has used the money for tuition classes and books. She has started going to tuition classes for Accounts, Economics and Statistics and has to pay about Rs900-1000 per subject.

She has also started doing an AAT course to improve her chances of a job. This was organised via the local minister.

She continues to do well at her studies and the charity intends to help her until she finihes her studies.

The charity was unable to visit her house but she came to the representatives house to discuss her progress

March 2013