This article is a follow up on an article which was commented by Ceo and founder U.K. Sivanathan on the 27th April this year. Then it was reported on BBC sources that there were 40.000 people were on flee from their homes with their children on their hands to seek for security. Other facts were that the humanity organizations were calling their staff back home from the critical areas.

Current date of 14th of August 2006 according to the Dutch sources (ad.nl) and International source (bbc.co.uk) a very shocking news came from through the channels of LTTE to the international media. After 4 years in peace now 63 school children died due to a bombing of the government soldiers. Please read the article at bbc.co.uk for more details.

15th of August
UNICEF representative Joanna van Gerten went to visit the place of bombarment in Mullaitheevu district and confirmed that it was 61 school children who were the victims of this air strike and she was devasted by the range of bloody and mental  damage it has caused the district people.

Once again what we can conclude from this situation is that children are dieing in Sri Lanka due to the war, before this war, they got orphaned through the natural disaster Tsunami and even before that the children were the true victims of civil war in Sri Lanka.

We, at Siva for Kids Foundation are awaiting for a peaceful solution for both parties so that we as NGO can go on with our unfinished work in the northern pennsylvania of Sri Lanka as soon possible. We hope that the international committees finally see the facts that we would not be able to fight poverty in any third world countries if we keep awaiting for the war to stop by itself.

The Ceo and founder, U.K. Sivanathan, hope that international peace interested organizations and countries step out and find a peaceful solution before more children dies due to the civil war in Sri Lanka.

Thank you for your attention.

Budgeted Amount:
For the total project it will cost nearly LKR 825,000.00.

As today the situation got very critical on the tsunami affected islands of Sri Lanka. 40.000 people (source:bbc 1.23am) are on flee from their homes with their children on their hands to seek for security. A lot of humanity organizations are calling their staff back home. What can we do more? All the works for days, months and year are now up to the destiny? asking Ceo and founder U.K. Sivanathan, who is also a native Sri Lankan.

SIVA4KIDS.org’s has 2 projects of Pre-School and Library for children up in the northern pennsylvania of Sri Lanka. “Some how we were afraid this situation, a situation which was not possible to avoid due to the latest incidents, a situation which would bring the northern eastern part of Sri Lanka back to the time before Tsunami, only poverty, poverty and poverty” a sad conclusion of U.K. Sivanathan, who still hope that the government body of Sri Lanka and the independent group LTTE would put down the war path and cooperate on developing the Islands together with the help of International NGO’s.

“Even though we as NGO’s have worked hard within our limits to develope a place or an environment of an area, it is heartbreaking to see all falling apart in few days …” concluded U.K. Sivanathan on the day where the Civil War in Sri Lanka slowly showing the nonvoiding face to the world.

Lets pray for the people of Sri Lanka but mostly the children who are still the most vulnerable victims of WAR, TSUNAMI and now …!

Due to the request of the principal of Vishnu Maha Vidyalaya School, SIVA4KIDS.org made the following upgrade of the educational facilities in the Computer training center and furnishing of Library of Vishnu Maha Vidyalya School, Periyaneelavani, Kalmunai (Eastern province of Sri Lanka).

By achieving efficient results we are very happy to strengthen the trust and faith in SIVA4KIDS.org among our volunteers, supporters, companies and organizations, who have been the step stones for SIVA4KIDS and for these positive results. We appreciate your support and patient.

It is one of our first working days at the school, and we are about to turn the schoolyard into construction site. On the road outside the school is a large heap of granite stones, which we slowly move into the schoolyard. We did not have any machines to help us and only a few wheelbarrows, so most of the stones are carried all the way. It is hard work, but we spend the time by learning words in each other‘s languages. It is quite difficult for us Danes, because some wants to teach us Tamil words and some wants to teach us Singhalese words. I am beginning to appreciate, that we only have one language in Denmark.

We are going to make a new building inside the schoolyard. After the tsunami, the school received many new students, because their former school, which was situated very close to the sea, was destroyed by the tsunami. To make room for the new students, there were some temporary classrooms, but an open shed made of palm leaves or sheet metal is not enough when the monsoon sets in.
 
In general, the physical conditions are very different from a Danish school. The small, worn-out chairs and tables stand close together directly on either sand or cement floor. Some places the cement is broken, so there are large holes in the middle of the classroom. Everywhere there are small pieces of garbage like paper or plastic. The school has a place for garbage in a corner behind the buildings, but not everything ends up there. Photo:srilankabrigaden 2005 The garbage place is just next to the toilets, so there is a—nice“smell, when you get near this area. Actually, I would not call it toilets. It is nothing but a hole in the earth. There is not even water for washing like the most other places we have been. Even the Sri Lankans from our brigade agree,that these toilets are very bad.

In spite of the poor settings the children are happy and smiling. They run around playingand make just as much noise as Danish school children. The most brave of them gather in small groups and say —hello“ or —what‘s your name?“ to the strange looking foreigners. When we show an interest in them,they are eager to show us their books and read tous. Every child is wearingaschool uniform. The girls lookvery descent in awhite dress,which ends just below the knees. Often their long hair is arranged in twobraids,soeven girls from the eldest grades look like small schoolgirls. The boys are wearing blue shorts and awhite t-shirt. Both boys and girls are wearingatie. In general the dif-ference in sex is marked very clearly. I don‘t think there is any room for boys playingwith dolls or girls climbingin trees.
 
In the afternoon school is over,but some of the school boys come backin normal clothes tohelpus with the work. The small,slight boys are working very hard œ toohard sometimes,we thinkwith our Danish view of children‘s work. Iguess most Sri Lankan boys are used tohard workfrom an early age. But the boys alsohave time for fun. They thinkit is very amusingto get aride in the wheelbarrows œ the faster the better.

It was nice tosee that our workinspired the children todosomethingon their own. It made them apart of the project,sothe school buildingwas not only somethingthat some strangers came todofor them. Iwonder if Danish children would be willingtoworkfreely toget the opportunity togo toschool?Iguess not. In that light Danish children seem very spoiled.
 
The workwas hard and sometimes frustratingbecause of poor or missing tools and misunderstandings in the communication. Everythingtookmore time than planned,sowe didn‘t have time tofinish the school completely. Even though Ifeel, that we did something useful. Ithinkthe most important was not the result of our physical work,but the result of our presence. The attention we showed tothe school children and tothe community has hopefully given the people there new hope and spirit and made it easier for them torecover from their great losses.

Pictured by Mie Andersen

Vishnu school was destroyed by tsunami:
Siva for Kids Foundation got the opportunity to support the reconstruction of a tsunami effected school at Kalmunai, Amapara district, in Sri Lanka. The project is a joined co-operation with international none-govermental organisations like MS Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke (Denmark), 3F Fagligt fælles forbund (Denmark), NST Next Stop Tamils (Denmark) and Green Movement (Sri Lanka).

Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke, the main administrator of this project, has recruited 15 Danish volunteers who will spend their summer holidays in Sri Lanka together with 18 local volunteers, who have been selected by Green Movement. During these three weeks, the 33 young volunteers will rebuild a school near Kalmunai in Ampara district, which was destroid during the tsunami in December 2004.

The brigade participants will work together with local construction workers and during these three weeks they will build a school (architectural drawings and rough budget is attached in the annex).

The brigade will arrive in Kalmunai the 10 th of July 2005 and leave again the 30 th of July 2005. During the workcamp, the brigade participants will be accommodated in a nearby former children’s home (which has been moved more inland due to the fear of a new tsunami) and the volunteers will live here in dormitory style.

The Danish volunteers are paying for their plane tickets and for all brigade participants’ food and accommodation expenses themselves. The costs have been reduced by donations from the union 3F, but the Danish participants are paying about $ 2000 each in order to cover all the above mentioned expenses.

Who will benefiet from this project?
Siva for Kids Foundation’s financial support for the materials of school reconstruction and through this “United Help” the local community in Kalmunai will benefit from the project ‚Äì especially the school pupils who will get a place to receive their education.

The school is situated on the eastern coast in Sri Lanka ‚Äì an area which was devastated by the tsunami in December 2004 and still haven’t recovered materially and even less mentally. Siva for Kids Foundation’s support at the needed time and through the intercultural collaboration with young volunteers from Denmark and different parts of Sri Lanka will help the local community in feeling less neglected by the global community. The presence of the brigade participants will hopefully bring laughter into their lives again. It is part of the plan that the brigade participants of course have daily interactions and play games with the school children and play a role in the daily lives of people in the local community.