Rainbow House Children's Home

Hisory

Rainbow House was founded by Dr Lalith and Hiranthi Mendis in 2005 for orphaned and abandoned children. They established the home after the Asian Tsunami  as they felt they needed to contribute to the healing of their land. It was their vision to provide a permanent home for the children, bring them up in a loving, and nurturing environment, to make them whole again from any hurts caused from their past and provide them with the opportunity to succeed in life and reach their full potential.

There are two homes both situated near Colombo in Sri Lanka, a girls home and a boys home. The girls home is situated in Gonawela, Kelaniya and the boys home is in a small village called Pamunagama near Ja-Ela.

The Boys Home

There are 21 boys at Rainbow House with 10 full time care givers and a Nurse. The care givers are there effectively as parents to the boys each being given responsibility for certain age groups. All the care givers live at Rainbow House and are there almost twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, but you can see that this is not just a 'job' to them, they have a real love for the boys.

The boys play well together with the odd rough and tumble as boys do, they love playing with their toys. and outside on the swings, climbing frame and slide! Most afternoons they love to ride around on their bicycles or to play cricket, which they are all exceptionally talented at as they have a true love for the sport. Asela is aged 14 and is the captain of his school cricket team. The boys attend very good schools in the neighbouring village and have a private tutor come to the home twice a week as education is highly regarded. They also enjoy extracurricular activities including music class where they are learning to play the organ, the violin, the guitar, the drums and the melodica. Plus art class, from which their drawings and paintings hang proudly around the home.

The home not only gives hope and provides opportunity to the boys, but also to the carers. Many of the wonderful women who care for the boys have also had very difficult lives, with little or no opportunity to develop themselves. The home too provides them with a second chance, funding and providing further education and qualifications in areas such as; nursing, teaching, cooking and more.

A month at the boys home

Our time at Rainbow House has been an amazing experience. We have been looked after so well by the care givers, fed wonderful meals and given lots of sweet tea! We have been with the boys in their praise and worship time which has been inspirational. We have helped to take them to school in the mornings, sat with them at meal times, watched movies with them while the little ones sit on our laps and generally just been their play mates for the last four weeks! We have been able to get to know their unique characters and find out what sweet, affectionate, fun boys they are who give out so much love to each other, their care givers and to us from the very first day. We have loved our experience with them all at Rainbow House and we will cherish our time spent there. We are looking forward to returning in the future to see how the boys have grown up into fine young men who are finding their potential and purpose in life.

Jules & Kirsty D'Oca

News: Winter 2011

The Boys Home has 21 boys and 12 care-givers. The oldest boy is Asela and he is captain of the under 13s cricket team at his school and is fairing well in his studies too. All of the boys are very interested in artwork and drawing. We have engaged an Art teacher weekly to come and teach the children and all of them enjoy this class very much.

Supuni, a young girl aged 18, along with her brothers, Nethmina and Samuel, aged 8 and 5 years respectively have been in our home for the past four years. Their mother sadly died in an accident while working abroad so all three children have no living relatives. Now Supuni is going to study science at a well recognized institution in Sri Lanka and she is also taking more responsibility for her two younger brothers.

In the Girls Home we have 25 girls and 10 care-givers. We have now been able to admit all our girls into the local Catholic school instead of the village mixed school they attended previously. This will give them a higher standard of education.

A government sponsored orphanage in another area was shut down by Court Order, due to the children being abused by the matron and her son, The Probation office inquired from us if we would take over the care of 3 of the girls aged 3, 8 and 10. We have agreed to take on these three girls who need our care and support after the traumas they have suffered.

Rainbow Children’s Homes: Reg.No. WP/PCCS/S4/08RCH

Head office:
Girls Home: 598/1A, Wilahena, Gonawela, Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.
Boys Home: 315 Sedawatha Road, Mahawattha, Pamunugama, Sri Lanka.

BACK TO LIFE SCHOOL (SAHAJAVAALVUKKANA KALASALAI)

BACK TO LIFE SCHOOL

– Siddhamparapuram, Vavuniya

New batch of women train in the Back to Life SchoolWe commenced VLS in August 2009 as a response to the need of school drop outs. In two week courses we have trained 140 – equal halves boys & girls between 14 – 21 yrs. We teach them 2 hrs school subjects, two hrs life issues & afternoon is given for vocational training – mainly iron fabrication & plumbing for boys and dressmaking for girls. Some return for training for more weeks. The longer they train better it is for them. However, if they are able get some day work labouring they'll go for that as they are in dire need of the income it brings. If we get work regularly for iron fabrication from Vavunia town, we can pay them some allowance as they train. As it is we have to bear all costs – travel, food & board, iron, electricity, trainers etc.

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