Kiwanis Visions of Hope Children's Center
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The village of Pandiruppu, situated on the east coast of Sri Lanka north of Kalmunai, was among the hardest hit of all the Sri Lankan coastal communities, with 1,711 lives lost within minutes of the tsunami’s impact.
Even before the Tsunami, 170 mothers had organized themselves into a self-help group and called themselves Nava Shakti. The name was well chosen, for in Sanskrit nava shakti means not only 'Nine Goddesses' (who join together) but also 'New Power', for by working together these mothers discovered new-found power to influence the course of their own lives and that of their children.
In the wake of the Tsunami, Nava Shakti volunteers organized an after-school program for traumatized children, most of whom had lost family members, friends, home and belongings.
Today with support from Kiwanis Clubs and the Sri Lanka Children's Trust, Nava Shakti provides 85 children age 4-15 with free tutoring programs, daily fruit & milk, computer education, educational tours and, especially, hope for their future.
