Pioneers of Premier Project

Pushpa collects firewood and some greens for lunch.

This is a remarkable change in their life-style as they hardly cooked when they lived in the slums of Colombo. They would buy something to eat not considering the food value or hygiene. If they cook they would use gas for cooking which is also very expensive and that is one of the reasons for not cooking at home. This is a big change in their lives.





SURANGA HETTIARCHCHI

Suranga is a very special person. He was given for an adoption as a baby. He does not know his biological parents. The family that took him for adoption ill treated him. He was not sent to school and was kept as a servant. They have not arranged to have a birth certificate for him. He doesn’t even know his own date of birth.

After the Tsunami the family was in a camp for a short while and left it as they found a place to go. Suranga was not accepted there. They found the situation as a good opportunity to get rid of him. He remained in the camp helping every body and singing to please others

We decided to include him in our program as he is one of the neediest.

Now he is learning to read and write. He had no religion. One day he asked sister Placida ‘Why are you so kind to me?’ She replied “ I follow Jesus, who is kind and compassionate.” Two days later, he came to sister Placida and said that he would like to learn about Jesus.He is very happy now, and says that he was a dead body and now he is alive. It is very consoling to see the way he is becoming more and more positive in life. He has decided to marry a poor girl by the name of Sagarica who is also an orphan. The marriage will take place before the end of the year.He is now training to be a carpenter and needs tooling to begin his carpentry work shop. Please help him.





Gaminie takes the children to school.

This is a good example of how peacefully and cooperatively they live in this small community. They are caring for all children as their own. As for an example, when a baby is sleepy any mother would put her/him to sleep.

A house at last!

A house at last! This is how most of them expressed their joy.
One person said “We never dreamt that we could have a house of our own in our life time. “We never expected such a thing even when the children grow up”

“I can not believe it at times. But it is true!” said another person
“Now there is a place where our relatives can visit us. They would not be ashamed to call us their relatives.” was another opinion.





DILINI , PREDEEP , PASINDU & PROMODYA

Dilini works very hard in the garden. It is totally new for her. Now she proudly collects the fruits of her labour and what ever excess she sends to her parents who continue to live in slums in Colombo. She is very talented. Even when she was in the refugee camp she use to produce beautiful hand crafts. She is a good oriental dancer and wants to begin dancing classes. She needs to buy drums for the class. She also likes to run a canteen. That also would require some equipments. Her husband Predeep is a casual labourer who is very supportive.

Dilini needs Rs. 20,000/= to buy what she needs for the classes.







Dulfica is a very caring mother. Even when she lived in a hut, she kept it clean. Now she is very happy to have a proper kitchen.









Dayananda and Shasi

Dayananda and Shasi have three daughters. Vidushini is the youngest. Because of their utter poverty and not having a proper place to live, the elder two daughters are kept in a convent. Shasi suffered a lot of humiliations from her in-laws, as she did not bring a dowry with her. The Tsunami pushed their situation from bad to worse. Now settled in Bingiriya Shasi says “At last I now can live with dignity.”

Dayananda is planning to bring fruits from the village and sell them in the town. Shasi is a talented person. She has agreed to teach sewing to the other women . She would love to have a cow for milking.

Both of them are Tamil and they live very happily with other families.

If Shasi can get a sewing machine and a cow, she will be able to earn her living.

She needs about Rs. 50,000/=




Lakshman, Indrani, Sudesh & Lakshika
This family was poor beyond imagination. They were living in a abandoned kitchen of some one else’s house. It was a miserable living. Lakshman is a hard working man. At the moment he finds work in the poultry farms. He plans to bring coconuts to the city to sell.
Indrani does sewing and earns a little. The sewing machine she uses is very old yet she tries her best. What they value most is the newly found freedom and dignity. They do not mind the hard beginnings. If Lakshman gets Rs. 35,000/= he can begin his business.

R. P. G. Pushpalatha Weerasekara Hansaka & Chathuri

Pushpa is from a village in North Western province. She came to live in Colombo slums when she got married to Kumara Silva. She has two children and expecting the third. Kumara does not take care of them. Pushpa some how looks after the children. She even has to face the consequences of the misconducts of her husband.

Now the other nine families have agreed to support her and she is happy that she is not alone.
She likes to do mat weaving and have about two cows for milking which would bring her some income.
Pushpa needs Rs. 35,000/= to buy the cows. Please help her.

V.A. Asanka Dissanayake, Nilmini Rupika Perera &Channa

Only few months in to their marrige, Asanka & Nilmini were displaced by Tsunami. They lived in a small hut by the river delta and they lost everything. As they were expecting baby Channa they wanted to move from the refugee camp which was very much an unhygienic place. We helped them to rent a room. Now they are happily settled in Bingiriya. Both of them work very hard to earn their living. Asanka repairs cycles. He needs an air compressor and some other tools. Those would cost about Rs. 29,400/=

M.Gamini Senevirathna, Dulfica Makkine, Ayesha & Apna

Gamini and Dulfica with their two daughters had a narrow escape when Tsunami took away all that they had. They went from place to place until they settled in Bingiriya. Gamini is a very gifted person and hard working too. Dulfica is also very supportive. Having committed themselves for a mix marriage (Sinhala Buddhist & Muslim) they face the challenges that come from both the parties. Gamini is a good welder and that would be his way of income. There is a good demand for welding work. Dulfica wants to make her contribution by sewing. For his welding plant and other basic equipments Gamini needs Rs.19,740/= Dulfica needs to buy a sewing machine and that would cost Rs.28,000/= If they can get this help they do not need to depend on any body for support for their living. Please see if you could help them to start their own living

Chamila, Marian & Kaushalya

Marian Vaas, Chamila Munasinghe and little Kaushalya were Tsunami victims in Mattakkuliya, Colombo 15 They went through a lot of hardship and after they joined our program for building an alternative life style with a view of a culture of peace, they began to believe that to live Self sufficient life with dignity is possible. Now they are living in Bingiriya. They are so happy to say they have a house of their own now and space to move and clean air to breath. They work very hard to earn their living. In our plan cottage industry is an important part. What Chamila and Marian have decided to take up is produce clay pots for cooking. We want to produce what we need. In our culture Pottery is done by a certain clang and they are considered to be low in society. In taking up such cottage industries we deliberately do away with such divisions and inequalities in society. Chamila and Marian are ready to take that challenge. They need financial support to begin the industry. They need a wheel and to get the clay they need initially and that would cost Rs.35,000/=. We would be very grateful if you help them begin their new life.




Kanthi, Nihal, Chamara & Kumara

Kanthi, Nihal, Chamara and Kumar has gone through a tough time from the time they got married. They were living in the slums of Mutwal – Colombo 15. Nihal got in to many problems and bad company, so the family suffered the consequences. When they were displaced by Tsunami we came in contact with them. A new life was just what Nihal wanted. Kanthi gave all the support he needed. It was a challenge for them to leave Colombo and go to a village, but for the sake of living a peaceful and meaningful life they took that daring step. Kanthi started sewing to earn a little. Nihal wants to purchase coconuts from the surrounding villages and sell in Colombo. To hire a vehicle for the first month and to purchase the first lot of coconuts he needs about Rs.40,000/= .When he makes profit from that Kanthi can get a better training in dress making and buy a new machine to improve her income too. They are a special family because Nihal being rehabilitated means a lot to the family as well as the society. A person like him with his experiences coming in to building a peace community is a real transformation. So please see if you can do something to help Nihal, Kanthi and two children.



Mrs. Dilini Priyangi, Mr. Predeep Kumara, Pasindu & Promodaya

Dilini is very talented. Even when she was in the camp she used to produce beautiful handy crafts. She is a good oriental dancer and wants to begin dancing classes. She needs to buy drums for the classes. She also likes to run a canteen. That also would require some equipments. Predeep her husband is quite supportive. At the moment he works as a casual labourer. As he goes out to find jobs, Dilini manages the home with children while busy with the home garden.
Dilini needs Rs. 20,000/= to buy what she needs for the dancing classes.



MR. Dayanand, Mrs. Shashi & Vidushini

Dayanada and Shasi have three daughters, Vidushini is the youngest. Because of their utter poverty and not having a proper place to live, the elder two daughters are kept in a convent. Shasi suffered a lot of humiliations from her in-laws, as she did not bring a dowry with her. The Tsunami pushed their situation from bad to worse. Now settled in Bingiriya Shasi says “At last I now can live with dignity”.

Dayananda is planning to bring fruits, which are available in the village and sell in the town. Shasi is a talented woman. She agreed to teach sewing to the other women and has already started her home garden. She wants to have cows for milking.
Both of them are Tamil and they live very happily with other families,.
In Bingiriya.
If Shasi can get a sewing machine and a cow she will be able to earn her living. For both she needs Rs. 50,000/=.




Mr.R.M.Piyathissa, Mrs. S.A. Surathalie SandamaliPathum Suranjan, Piumi Sugeewani, Pawana Sathsara
Piyathissa and Sandamali with their children were in the Tsunami camp. They were eager to move in to a village as they have gone through enough with life in slums. The place where their unauthorized house is no more available for them and as it was a unauthorized house, there was no compensation for them.

At the moment Piyathissa find some temporary jobs in the village. He also would like to collect saleable things from the village and supply them to the bulk stores in the town.

Children are the happiest with freedom and space. They never had a garden. They step out from the house to the road. Parents would always try to keep them confided to the ‘house’ as the surrounding is not suitable in every aspect. Now they have ample space with freedom and healthy fresh air. Now they can grow like real children.