Feed families & rebuild 3000 futures in Sri Lanka

Dear friends and supporters,

There are some visits that stay with you long after you leave.

This week, we spent time checking in with families and children supported through Their Future Today’s work in Sri Lanka, and it was one of those weeks that reminded us, very powerfully, why this matters so much.

Again and again, we saw the difference that practical, timely support can make when it reaches families before crisis turns into separation.

Keeping families together: Kusum and her children

It was so lovely to catch up with Kusum and hear how her family is doing now. But if I am honest, I had not expected the visit to feel quite so emotional.

A few years ago, life felt incredibly fragile for her family. Kusum needed major heart surgery, and during that time her three children were at real risk of being separated simply because there was no one else able to care for them. Then, as if things could not get any harder, their already unsafe home was destroyed in an electrical fire.

With support from Their Future Today, and with expert help to rebuild their house from the ground up, the family was finally able to move into a safe new home in September 2024. It was something Kusum never imagined would be possible.

Now, the picture is completely different.

She proudly shared how well the children are doing. Sajith (17) is completing work experience in a local shop. Nethmi (15) is studying with hopes of becoming a nurse. Dilmi (16) is preparing to begin training to become a police officer.

Kusum, now fit and well, became tearful as she spoke. More than anything, she was overwhelmed with gratitude that her children were able to stay together, continue their education, and keep hold of their futures.

Standing there with her, it was impossible not to think how different this story could so easily have been.

This is the impact of supporting families, not separating them.

When families are held together through hardship, children do not just get by. They grow. They make plans. They begin to believe in what is possible for their lives. And that changes everything.

Education that strengthens families

At Nethsara Primary School, one of the local schools connected to the Mercury Holidays – TFT International Preschool, your support is helping children learn, thrive and stay with their families.

With support from Their Future Today, the school has grown from just 3 children to 100. Alongside school books and basic learning materials, an English language activity room has also been created, with laptops that are opening up new confidence, curiosity and opportunity for children who otherwise would have very limited access to this kind of learning.

Last month, we distributed 100 school book packs, and the visit took on even deeper meaning after meeting one of the families we reunited eight years ago.

A boy we first knew as a very young child, now 11 years old, proudly showed us his school books. Page after page was filled with neat handwriting, numbers, and encouraging comments from his teachers. His mother, who never had the chance to go to school herself, told us with enormous pride that without those books, he simply would not be able to read, write, or keep up at school.

It was such a clear reminder that something as simple as a school book pack can have a huge effect on a child’s life.

Over the past 20 years, thousands of children in the Southern Province have received school books through this programme. What may seem small can in fact be the very thing that keeps a child in education and reduces the pressure that pushes vulnerable families towards crisis.

Although the government now provides books to some children living below the poverty line, the cost, around £10 per child, per year, is still far beyond the reach of many families, especially those living without basics many of us take for granted, including reliable electricity or clean water.

To everyone who has helped support book-giving over the years, whether in Sri Lanka or from afar, thank you. You are quietly helping children remain in families, where they belong.

Importantly, this work is now increasingly recognised in Sri Lanka as part of family strengthening under the country’s developing Alternative Family Care approach. It is encouraging to see this recognised more formally, because it reflects what we have believed and practised for more than 20 years: supporting families early helps prevent child separation and institutionalisation before it happens.

A young man’s future protected

We also had the chance to revisit the story of Ravindu, who we first met at a book-giving ceremony when he was just 10 years old.

At that time, his education was under threat after his family was suddenly pushed into poverty.

His father had made an impossible choice. He gave up his work as a chef in order to care full-time for his wife, who was living with a severe neurological illness that left her bedridden. There was no clear diagnosis, very little support, and growing medical costs. In the middle of all of that, even buying the school books Ravindu needed had become impossible.

Now, years later, he stood in front of us as a confident young man. He proudly showed us his NVQ Level 3 certificate, qualifying him as an Air Conditioning Mechanic, and in excellent English he told us he is now anxiously waiting for his A Level results while hoping to begin work and continue studying.

He said plainly that the school books he received each year made the difference between being able to stay in school or not.

Then his father said something none of us will forget:

“Without TFT, our whole family would look very different today.”

He spoke about how easily his children might have dropped out of school. How his wife may not have recovered without support towards medical care and medicine. How poverty could very easily have pulled the family apart.

But it did not.

Because support came before crisis became separation.

That is what family strengthening looks like in practice. It is not always dramatic. It is not loud. Often, it is steady, practical support given at the right time. But its impact can be life-changing.

Thank you

Every donation helps make stories like these possible.

Your support is helping children stay in school, helping families stay together, and helping prevent the unnecessary separation of children from the people who love them.

Thank you for standing with families in Sri Lanka, and for helping make sure children grow up where they belong, with love in families, not orphanages.

With gratitude

Lynn & Joel