Swami Vipulananda Children's Home

The orphanage "Swami Vipulananda Children's Home" was founded by Mr. T. Kailayapillai and Mr. N. Manivasagan using a small building owned by the Rural Development Society of the village.

The orphanage is in Palugamam, a poor village located an hour outside of Batticaloa in Sri Lanka. It has 46 children between the ages of 8 and 17, many of whom do not have any living relatives. Currently the orphanage is managed by an elected committee made up of local people and international members. Its funding is very limited and the organisation survives thanks to government contributions (of only € 3 per month per child), donations and charity.

Our objective is to ensure that these children are given the fundamental necessities and a positive and nurturing environment in which to develop as strong happy individuals.

Three years ago, the children were deprived of full meals, clean bathrooms and even a bed to sleep on. Thanks to the donations of IWCA and other donors these issues are slowly being addressed. Last summer, with your support the orphanage was able to fund the construction of 4 bathrooms and showers, using safe and fully functioning sewage systems, making an immense improvement of the lives of these children.

This summer, thanks to your generosity, we have now been able to begin construction on a dormitory to house up to 70 orphans - each child receiving a bed, mattresses and mosquito net. This has had a fundamental impact on all of them - in a way that words cannot express.

We are also running several other projects to support the children. For the last two years, we have invited 20 volunteers from Spain to organise and run a summer camp at the orphanage, including science experiments, art lessons, first aid training, cooking classes and much more. This is an environment in which they can simply forget about their current situation and focus on just being kids. We also provide support for the local primary and secondary school which all the children attend, providing them with resources to ensure they have the opportunity to learn.

Despite only working with the orphanage for only a few years, so much has changed and a large part of that is because of IWCA. We and the children would like to thank you all for your kindness and generosity and really emphasise how much of a difference you really have made.