SOS Children’s Village-Sri Lanka

-By Development Network- SOS Children's Village is situated in Kesbewa near Piliyandala town. The capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo is 20 kilometres north of the Village and Piliyandala town is four kilometres away. The foundation stone for the Village was laid on April 1, 1981 and in November that year when the construction of the Village was completed partially, the first children brought home. The Village was formally dedicated to children of Sri Lanka on January 20, 1982 by founder father of SOS Children's Villages Hermann Gmeiner in presence of Ministers of Government of Sri Lanka, Ashoka Karunarathne and Dharmasena Attygalle. Ambassadors of Germany and Austria also graced the function. It was the first Children's Village in Sri Lanka. The Village was built on the land donated by the government. SOS Children's Villages of Sri Lanka is a non-governmental social development organisation that has been active in the field of children's rights and committed to children's needs and concerns since 1981. The childcare concept of SOS Children's Villages is alive in 132 countries and territories including Sri Lanka where our focus is on children without parental care and children of families in difficult circumstances. SOS Children's Villages of Sri Lanka is part of the umbrella organisation SOS Children's Villages International. SOS Children's Villages focuses on family-based, long-term care of children who can no longer grow up with their biological families. At our SOS Children's Villages and SOS Youth Facilities they experience reliable relationships and love once again, meaning that they can recover from what they have experienced, which has often been traumatic. They grow up in a stable family environment, and are supported individually until they become independent young adults. We are extending our work with families through family strengthening programmes by working with and for disadvantaged families to prevent crises that can in the worst case scenario lead to children being placed in out-of-home care. SOS Children's Villages offers various forms of support to strengthen and stabilise families as much as possible so that they can once again manage their lives independently and care for their children. Our family strengthening programmes are an important way of building on the families' and communities' resources, their ability to self-organise themselves and their responsibility for the well-being of the children. Equal rights to education and training for children are another important area of our work. Pre-school care for children, schooling and vocational training are the key to the future. To ensure that children enjoy these basic rights, SOS Children's Villages has kindergartens, day-care centres, schools and vocational training centres. SOS Children's Villages is concerned about all children, particularly those who have no parental care and those whose families have to live in difficult conditions. The basis and aim of our work is to respect, promote and stand up for children's rights. We want to use our socio-political work to make decision makers and the public aware of the problems that children face and to call for measures that will promote the well-being of children across the world. In parallel to our lobbying activities, we encourage children to actively take part in the decision-making processes that affect their lives and, if possible, to actually represent themselves. Contact: Mr. Laksiri Hettige Village Director SOS Children's Village – Pilyandala Kesbewa, Pilyandala, Sri Lanka Tel : +94-011-2-703891, +94-011-2-702712 email: pilyandala@soscvsrilanka.or Your sponsorship enables a child to grow up in an SOS family, receive the best possible education and become a responsible adult. Your support provides physical, material and more importantly emotional well-being of a child. Sponsor a child to provide children with a happy childhood! Through a child sponsorship, you will receive a season's greeting along with a photo of the child you sponsor and also the information of day to day life of the child every year. Donate online with your credit card via our payment gateway or to the account below Bank: Hatton National Bank, Piliyandala Branch Account No: 038-01-000302-1 Contact person: Ms. Earline Barthelot National Office P.O. Box 5, Piliyandala, Sri Lanka Tel: + 94-777 223 246, +94-11-270 2712 email: fund@soscvsrilanka.org For the Leaflet with Application Form for sponsoring a child:  http://soscvsrilanka.org/images/donor-leaflet.jpg -For More Articles and Information:  http://www.developmentnetwork.co.nr/