Shilpa Children’s Trust, Colombo, Sri Lanka
From the Global Women's Network
| Shilpa Children’s Trust, Colombo, Sri Lanka | |
|---|---|
| Street address: | 45/92,Nawala Road |
| City: | Narahenpita |
| State or Province: | Colombo |
| Country: | Sri Lanka |
| Location: |
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| Location coordinates: | 6° 53' 23" N, 79° 52' 50" ELatitude: 6.8896539 Longitude: 79.8804413 |
| Executive Director: | Chandini Tilakaratna |
| Contact number: | 9411-5344613 |
| Website: | http://www.shilpa.org |
| Target: | Girls |
| Organization type: | National NGO (operating countrywide or advocating at the national level) |
| Sectors: | Arts, Education, Empowerment, Health, Homeless, Human Rights, Leadership, Sports |
| Year founded/registered: | 1987 |
About
Shilpa Children’s Trust was founded in 1987 by a group of Sri Lankan social workers and teachers in response to the number of children and families being displaced by the ethnic conflict. Shilpa runs a children’s Home and Vocational Centre in Colombo and tsunami rehabilitation projects in Hambantota (238 Km from Colombo) and Kalutara (43 km from Colombo) Shilpa is governed by a Board of Trustees and the head office is located in Colombo.
Activities
Shilpa Children’s Home, Colombo:
Shilpa runs a transitional home for 50 girls displaced by civil war, neglected or abandoned. The children’s home aims to enhance the educational opportunities for these marginalized girls, build their self-esteem and empower them to achieve financial independence.
On arrival to the Home, Shilpa addresses the immediate, short-term needs of the girls including nursing them back to health, if they arrive sick or malnourished and providing them with counselling if they are traumatised. The girls are then given remedial instruction in preparation for (re) introduction into the educational system. Within weeks (or sometimes days, depending on each individual girl’s situation) the girls are enrolled in the nearby state schools. Girls have access to a wide range of sports and recreational activities such as visual art, music and dance. These activities boost their health, improve academic performance and help them to deal with stress and depression. Shilpa looks after the girls until they leave school at 18.
Thereafter, though an endowment fund for school leavers, Shilpa helps the school leavers who are now part of the Shilpa family by providing further training, university education and job placement. The girls are placed in secure accommodation outside the home and their hostel fees are subsidised by Shilpa until they reach financial independence in about three years. The management meets the girls regularly and involves them in all Shilpa functions, trips and celebration so that the girls are a part of the home even after they leave Shilpa Home.
Along with the Shilpa Home, Shilpa Children’s Trust also has programs aimed towards tsunami relief. You can read more about that program here.
Shilpa also offers vocational training for children. You can read more about it on their website here.
