PERSONAL // Eliya Children’s Home, Sri Lanka

Eliya Children’s Home sits in a little corner of the world; under the shade of banana trees, and within a sea breeze’s reach of a beautiful Sri Lankan coastline.  In a stretch of land that’s still recovering from a 30 year civil war, and the aftermath of the Boxing Day Tsunami, Eliya is a haven for 29 young boys who for one reason or another haven’t got a home to go to.

But it’s not a sad place.   There’s a pony, a gaggle of loving dogs and three cows. The boys go to school, eat well, and play on the swings and the slide.  The rooms are bright and clean and spacious. It’s a happy place, made possible by the donations of kind hearted people and the efforts of the owner Angelika and her team.

 I’d found out about Eliya via a Huffington Post article and as I was going to be in Sri Lanka anyway I pinged off an email to see if I could offer my services as a volunteer photographer for a day.  As it turns out, they needed some simple photos of the boys and the staff for their website and sponsorship program and within a week I was on a bus to Tangalle.

  If you have any loose change rattling round your pockets, this is a great place for it to go.  Angelika and her team have built something incredible and it’s so important that it continues.