In Sri Lanka, in the hinterland of Matara, about 12 kilometres from the coast, we built a village immediately after the 2004 tsunami. Five family homes, a medical centre, the small office building: initially it was used to give assistance to those who had suffered severe trauma and fractures in the tsunami. However, after a few years, these needs ceased and in agreement with the Sinhalese government and the Court of Matara, we decided to convert the facilities into a shelter for unfortunate girls. Thus, for over eight years, we have been hosting these little girls who have experienced abuse and abandonment first-hand.
It is our commitment against violence towards women: a practical project that we deal with every day, not just on the day of the “red shoes”. A project initiated by Specchio dei Templi and supported by Specchio d’Italia, unique in our country: it was also covered on TV by Rai3’s Kilimanjaro and our foundation wants to make it known throughout Italy.
Today there are about twenty girls, divided in the family homes that we are modernizing. In the village they have spaces to play and to study and every morning we take them to class with our school bus. We fully support the cost of the initiative that, in practice, is carried out by the Buddhist monks of the Oba Mama Association, led by Reverend Ratanasare, the spiritual leader of southern Sri Lanka.
Since 2017, we have also supported the Matara Orphanage. That is, an orphanage run by Buddhist monks on a court order. It currently hosts 13 children, more than half of them under 6 years old: from the child who lost both parents to cancer, to the one who never had his parents, to the one who was abandoned in hospital by his family only because he was sick. Then there are the “street children” who have been given a roof. We could not, and cannot, leave them alone.