Sri Jayawardenapura Vajira Sri
Children’s Development Center was established in 1983 with 30 destitute
children who were the victims of the civil war in Northern Sri Lanka.
The objective was to provide shelter and hope for these young children
who had witnessed the loss of their mothers and fathers due to the
ruthless war. Helping children with complete impartiality and with no
discrimination of race or religious beliefs, our ultimate effort is to
create them a better future.
VISION & MISSION
"To ensure a better future for the low income, no income , poor and
and needy community of sri lanka , by providing service and
and facilitating their rehabilitation in the community".
In 1983, when the ethnic violence broke out in Sri Lanka, 101 under
cared orphaned children from Morawewa camp were taken in by Late Mr. U B
Vijayasundara (AGA). Sadly he was assassinated leaving his brother,
Rev. Dr. Hunupalagama Vajira Sri Nayaka Thero, who is still in charge
today to take over. Vajira Sri Children’s Development Center has subsequently the largest
orphanage in Sri Lanka with 216 children currently residing here. In
addition to the Pitakotte section, we also run orphanages in Gampaha (10
children) and Kandy (16 children), and a home for the elderly in
Maharagama (20 elders).
The orphans are here as the result of many types of tragic
situations, such as war, shattered families, unwanted pregnancies and
the Tsunami. They come here from all over the country. They are
initially brought here via the Government body of social welfare. The center do not discriminate against the ethnicity. Thus we are home to
Buddhist, Christian, Muslim and Hindu children whose roots are not
forgotten and whose names are kept with them.
Without any family support life can be very hard. Our aim is not
providing the children with comfort while at the same time giving them
the needs to equip them for life. We focus on giving them proper
education and developing their skills, so that they can mature as
independent individuals after the age of 18. There is a school (Indrasiri College) located yards away from the
Vajira Sri Children's Development Center, which is totally dedicated for
education of the ophans residing at the children's home. All of the
children sit for the GCE O’ Levels. Some go on to complete A’ Levels and
manage to get admission to a local university, and complete BA and MA
degrees. To date 1,800 children have been rehabilitated and found
suitable employment in the mercantile sector and some have joined the
armed forces.
The orphanage consists of two areas. The main area is comprised of
five donated building which provides shelter to children between the
ages 5 and 18, further there is an area for classrooms. The other area
is the infants section for children between the ages 0 and 5. This is a
much smaller area consisting of two small donated buildings for the
kitchen/ play area and the dormitory. We currently employ 18 full time academic staff and five administrative staff.
