YASODARA ORPHANAGE IN DEHIWELA, SRI LANKA, is home to around 60 girls who have lost their parents to the civil war, landslides and poverty. Run by a Buddhist nun named Loku Maniyo (chief nun), the orphanage is home to Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Christian girls. The home sets an example of peaceful coexistence where girls commit to helping others and their own education.
Loku Maniyo is a brave and determined leader who runs the home without government funding. They are dependent upon dana, donations of food made by the community. In hard times, occasionally they go without dinner. "I teach the girls to live simply, so that others may simply live."
The girls are survivors, determined to rise above their difficult situations. Krishanti shared part of her story:
"One day it was raining and a bomb fell. I saw it. It was very loud. We saw a big fire from that, houses and trees were burning. I had a good place hiding in a rock, so I was covered. In the morning when we got home there was a lot of damage. The paddy fields were red from all of the bodies and dead animals. When the bombs blast far away they sound as though they are nearby. The army tells us that, 'Tonight the terrorists are coming to the village. So you must leave your homes. You should take a stick and put it in your mouth and lie on the floor.' The bomb blast is so loud it shakes your whole body. I did that when I was in the paddies...If I had been there three days more surely I would have been taken by the terrorists. If I was taken I would have done what I was told. They remove the kindness from our hearts. I am lucky that I came here (to the orphanage)."