About Vajira Children's Home

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.

SOURCE: http://www.vajirasri.org/aboutus.html