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OSI - Sri Lanka |
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Thilini's
Home Update: Project Complete! (see photos below) The Need - The Plan - Progress! - Finished! - Acknowledgements
Below are photos of Thilini's family and their present conditions.
In addition, there is a municipal water line, and electricity, on the main road near the home, and both can be run to the home via nominal labor/materials costs. Again, the home will be wired and plumbed in construction, ready for hookup, which we hope to accomplish immediately after construction. Thus, for a total cost of approximately US $2000, we can provide Thilini's family with a clean, healthy, hygienic home, with electricity and running water, providing simple comfort and convenience, of which they have absolutely none at the moment. Below are photos of the progress of construction of Thilini's house.
Below are photos of Thilini's completed house.
Many thanks to the following individuals for making Thilini's new house a reality. Your compassion has truly made a difference for the present and future of Thilini and her deserving family! THANK YOU!
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Meet
Thilini. At 12-years-old, she is one of the most promising children
in our Wattegama, Sri Lanka program. A brilliant, intelligent, and
ever smiling personality hides a family background of dire need.
Thilini resides in our Wattegama children's home because her family is too
poor to meet her needs, and their jungle home too remote for Thilini to be
able to attend school. However, with much excitement Thilini visits
her family home during school breaks. I recently decided to
accompany Thilini to her home, to explore the roots of this very special
child. What I discovered was a small family, all with hearts as
equally giving as Thilini's, though living in dire need themselves.
Father suffers from a chronic, degenerative illness that keeps him in bed
much of the time. Mother and older sister travel far on a daily
basis to work menial factory jobs, six days/week, earning barely enough to
provide staple sustenance for themselves and father (their combined earnings are
about US $90/month). The family lives in two tiny one-room shacks,
-one built of mud and the other of scraps of wood, with dirt floors that
seep water and turn to mud during the long rainy seasons. Scraps of
plastic line the inside walls to keep out wind-blown rain. A small
bed in each shack occupies most of the space. There is no
electricity and water must be carried by jugs from the nearest stream,
even in the worst of weather. All of this I discover only by
observation and careful questions, for there is never a lament from this
remarkable family, who very proudly manage somehow to provide tea and
biscuits for their visitor. The extent of their need is sadly
equaled by so many families in Sri Lanka. But the remarkable
optimism and generosity of this family is unique, and it is this that we
are inspired to serve, and in doing so to serve their need as well.
Our plan is to build the simplest of homes for
Thilini's family, with a goal to address their human needs for health,
hygiene, and basic
comfort. The prospective new home will measure about 3m+ x 6m+ (10' x
20'), more than double the size of their present home. It will
consist of two rooms, -a "common" room and a separate "bedroom". In
addition, attached to the house and just out a back door will be a covered
"kitchen" area for cooking, as well as toilet facilities. The new home will have a raised,
concrete floor, masonry walls, and composite roofing. The little
home will have a window in each room, and front and back doors off the
main room. The home will be wired for electricity, with light
fixtures and plug-points/outlets installed in each room. Plumbing will
also be installed to the covered kitchen. We have a magnanimous
builder (a wonderful man who has done excellent work for us at Wattegama
home) who has provided a generous estimate of approximately US $2000 to
build the home, all labor and materials included.
