Sri Lanka: Kelebocca

This village is located about 20 km from the city of Kandy and is home to approximately 2,000 people, all of whom are involved in tea cultivation for a few landowners. The work is grueling, and the wages are very low. Both parents are usually occupied all day on the plantations, leaving them with no access to a kindergarten in the area. As a result, they are forced to either take their young children to the fields or leave them with grandparents or other relatives.

Currently, there are up to 60-70 children between the ages of 3 and 6 who have no place in a kindergarten. While families do their best to help each other, it is difficult to care for more than three or four children at a time without proper facilities.

A kindergarten would provide a safe place for parents to bring their children early in the morning before heading to work on the tea plantations. Our goal is to build two classrooms to accommodate up to 60 children.

All building materials can be purchased locally, and the bricks are manufactured and fired in local kilns.

The name of the Süßherz Preschool. If all the parents had helped, the work would have progressed quickly. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

Although much time was lost in finding parents who were willing to participate in the work, the preschool was completed and inaugurated on December 21 in the presence of Monk Sadhara Thero, Coordinator Dilini, and her father, to whom we extend our thanks for their dedication. We wish the children a good start.

From the beginning, there were problems, as we required that the land, which belonged to the state and on which the kindergarten was to be built, be registered in the name of the future kindergarten. This was to ensure that the state would not claim ownership of the building after its construction.

Initially, the parents were very willing to participate in small tasks, such as carrying the cement, mixing it, and laying the bricks. However, after the first 10 days, the villagers no longer showed up on the days they were supposed to help, such as unloading the bricks from the truck.

However, we are very fortunate to have a coordinator who has worked tirelessly from day one to find solutions to these challenging situations. Despite the significant difficulties, the kindergarten is now completed. The parents need to recognize how fortunate they were to receive external help in building the long-awaited preschool.

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