‘Helping hands’ to build children’s centers

Janaka Perera

COLOMBO: Helping Hands Inc. a US-based non-profit organisation is seeking support for the construction and development of community/charity centers around the world for homeless, orphaned and neglected children.

Helping Hands is dedicated to providing food, shelter, clothing, health care and education to the homeless and orphaned children of the world’s most destitute countries.

Presently eight countries have been selected to build the centers. The first Helping Hands centers will be built in Sri Lanka and India. The center at Sri Lanka will be built in Kurunegala while two will be constructed in India - one at Wardha, Maharashtra. (Land donated by Ambedkar Buddhist Society in Maharashtra) and the other at Modoor, Andhra Pradesh. These centers will accommodate over 400 destitute children.

The Sri Lanka Center (Shree Padamashanthi Nivasaya) will accommodate over 100 children by the end of 2008. Helping hands mission also aims to care for homeless children in Brazil, Ethiopia, Mexico, Thailand and South Africa.

The centers will take the destitute and, homeless children off the streets and provide them with necessary care and opportunities for a better life.

Kaushalya Siriwardena - the Sri Lankan-born founder-head of Helping Hands Inc. Foundation in Garland, Texas - is confident that they can reach this goal with proper guidance and the provision of much needed food, clothing, shelter, a basic education, medical assistance, and emotional care for the children.

“Our organisation offers these things so that these children may have an equal opportunity in life. We want to help them heal their lifestyles so they may be content and peace loving people.”

On June 29, this year she made possible for 550 wheel chairs to be distributed among the poor and the needy in Sri Lanka.

Col. (Rtd.) Prasanna Wickremasuriya requested and accepted 250 of them on behalf of Army Commander, Lt. General Sarath Fonseka to be donated to those deserving.

Already many well-wishers are contributing to the realization of Kaushalya’s dream. They include the Ambassador Program of American Airlines, Dallas Mavericks (basket ball team), Dallas Stars (hockey team) Texas Rangers (base ball team) Free Wheel Chair Mission, V.J. Singh (famous golfer), and many more.

Kaushalya left her management position with American Airlines to work to help homeless Children. She is a daughter of Sujatha (nee Hettiarachchi) Nadarajah, poet, Dhamma Duta worker and author of the Light of the Ten Thousand fold World System and of the late Sri R. M. Nadarajah Naidu.

- Asian Tribune -