Colombo (AsiaNews) –They were orphaned by the tsunami, by the civil war or by their parents. They are Buddhist, Catholic Muslim but they all express the same emotion:” This Christmas we feel loved, we no longer feel alone”. It is the merit of the Sisters of Perpetual Succour who run an orphanage in Lunuwila, Chilaw diocese – north of Colombo. December 9th last the religious organised an evening of Christmas hymns and a Nativity play. Among those invited the director of Caritas Sri Lanka, Fr. Demian Fernando, the local parish priest and benefactors many of them foreigners. The 30 small girls who live in the orphanage tell of their joy in having participated in an event, showing the public their acting abilities, and receiving applause. Even if of different religions the small children have all learned thanks to Christmas, what “friendship, solidarity, and shared love” means. “While we were organising the play – tells 10 year-old Said Nimesha, a Buddhist – we had to practise together, and learn to be patient with those who were not so quick to learn …. We have only been living here for a year, but we really do feel united”.
The Sadasarana Orphanage was born of the initiative of the Sisters of Perpetual Succour in Sri Lanka and it was built thanks to the aid of Caritas Poland. On January 28 2007, the bishop of Chilaw, Valance Mendis, blessed and inaugurated it. At the outset there was only 12 children, soon 30 others arrived. The director Sr. Victorine Rodrigo explains that next year a further 10 orphans will be given a home. All of the small children attend the local Catholic school and say they have a great dream: to become women who can help bring peace to their nation.