Sri Lanka - Village of girls

Our daily commitment against violence against women

In the hinterland of Matara, about 12 kilometres from the coast, Specchio dei tempi built a village immediately after the devastating 2004 tsunami. Initially designed to provide healthcare for those who had suffered injuries and fractures, the village comprised five family houses, a medical centre and an office building. However, as the years went by, the needs of the community changed, and Specchio dei tempi, in agreement with the Sri Lankan government and the Matara Court, transformed the village into a home for abused and neglected girls.

For over eight years, the village has offered a safe haven to some 20 girls, providing them with a protected environment where they can play, study and grow up peacefully. The girls lived in foster homes, supported daily by Buddhist monks from the Oba Mama Association, led by Reverend Ratanasare, the spiritual leader of southern Sri Lanka. The project, entirely financed by Specchio dei tempi, represented a concrete commitment against violence against women, carried out with daily dedication, not only on symbolic days such as the ‘red shoe day’.

The Orphanage supported by Specchio dei tempi in recent years reopens in Kekkadura, near Matara in Sri Lanka.

The facility, which houses about twenty street children, had suffered heavy damage in the spring due to violent typhoons. The first six children have returned, the others will join them in the coming weeks.

From January 2025, the Orphanage project, which will continue to have Specchio dei tempi funding for the next three years, will be run by the Turin-based NGO Medacross, again in cooperation with the Buddhist monks of the Southern Province.

Thanks to the Turin-based entrepreneur Massimo Munafò, who also supervised - as a volunteer - many of the works in Sri Lanka.

Our daily commitment against violence towards women In Sri Lanka, in the hinterland of Matara, about 12 kilometers from the coast, Specchio dei tempi built a village immediately after the tsunami of 2004.

Five family houses, a medical center, the office building: initially, it served to provide assistance to those who had suffered serious injuries and fractures in the tsunami.

But after a few years, these needs were no longer there, and in agreement with the Sri Lankan government and the Matara Court, we decided to convert the facilities into a shelter for disadvantaged girls.

So, for over eight years, we have been hosting these girls who have experienced abuse and abandonment firsthand.

It is our commitment against violence towards women: a concrete project that we deal with daily, not only on the day of "red shoes."

Today, there are about twenty girls, divided into family houses that we are modernizing. In the village, they have spaces to play and study, and every morning we take them to school with our school bus. We fully support the economic burden of the initiative, which, in practice, is carried out by Buddhist monks of the Oba Mama Association, led by Reverend Ratanasare, the spiritual leader of southern Sri Lanka.

For three years, we have also been supporting the Matara Orphanage. That is, an orphanage managed by Buddhist monks on behalf of the court. Currently, it houses 13 boys, more than half of whom are under 6 years old: from the child who lost both parents to cancer, to the one who never had parents, to the one who was abandoned in the hospital by his family just because he was sick.

Then there are the "street children" who have been given a roof over their heads. When the Japanese foundation that supported this orphanage concluded its activities, we were there. And we couldn't bring ourselves to leave these 13 children and teenagers alone.

So we help them. You can do it too, with us.

Links:

• https://www.specchiodeitempi.org/progetto/sri-lanka-villaggio-delle-bambine/