Hope Outreach UK

Our Work

October 2008 – Children’s Home Opens

The district of Batticaloa and Trincomalee, in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka,has been badly affected by the tsunami of Boxing Day 2004 and the ongoing civil war in Sri Lanka of 25 years.  Over 10,000 children in this district have lost both or one parent, some have been abandoned, and some have been rendered destitute.  Shortly after the tsunami, Hope Outreach UK visited the region and began several programmes for rapid recovery and rehabilitation of the area.

 One such programme was to build a Children’s Welfare Home for girls who had been left destitute following the ongoing war and the tsunami. With the help of the UK public,  particularly Milton Keynes, Hope Outreach UK raised the much needed funds and worked with Caritas/EHED, the social welfare arm of the Catholic Church, to build a home for 30 girls in the Diocese of Batticaloa and Trincomalee.

After overcoming several challenges, such as securing the title deeds of the land, governmental permissions and military clearance, the building began two years after the tsunami, on Boxing Day 2006.  The land was cleared, a perimeter secure wall was erected and water wells were dug. Throughout the project there were a number of ongoing problems such as price increases, transport obstacles, available skilled workmen and uncertain security issues, but in October 2008 the building was complete.

The ongoing needs at the home are:
 Sporting facilities
 Scholarship programmes
 Information technology training
 Spoken English and vocational training