The Rainbow Centre

Posted on Jan 25, 2012 by Rachna Pandey Donthi

Location

Sri Lanka

 

The Rainbow Centre provides education, welfare and loving support to children living in extreme poverty in south western Sri Lanka. It opened on December 1st 2005 after six months researching the hidden problems of street and working children in the Aluthgama area. Until the Rainbow Centre opened there was nowhere for these children to turn. The Rainbow Centre has been highly praised by Provincial Regulatory Authorities which have asked other organisations to follow the Rainbow Centre’s approach and use its work as their model.

The Centre operates a free pre-school, nursery, day school, vocational training and scholarship programmes.  It runs medical programmes for children and their families.  It works to ensure, when possible, that children can enter into the mainstream school system.  The Rainbow Centre is the only facility in this area for these children to turn to.  It has been praised highly at national and local levels for its standard of care.

The children who come to the Rainbow Centre live on the street, in shacks or in shelters in slum areas without water, sanitation or electricity.  Their parents are unable to provide them with adequate care. Without the Rainbow Centre’s intervention, these children would not be able to go to school because they would be expected to work to support their families.

The Rainbow Centre operates out of newly constructed rented premises with a large secure garden in Bentota. It provides daily care, education and medical treatment for more than 50 children coming from an area stretching 30km from Deddowa to Beruwala.  The children are brought to and from the Rainbow Centre by its own bus.  It supports a further 50 underprivileged children, who are in the mainstream system with school transport, educational supplies, scholarships and welfare and medical support.

 

Reason:
The Rainbow Centre is a haven for children who live in appalling conditions. Its aim is to equip the children with the skills they need to break free from the poverty in which they live. Its primary focus is to enable children to access the educational system. To date, the Rainbow Centre has enabled 140 children to go to mainstream school.
Organization: The Rainbow Centre
First name: Aruni
Last name: Cooray
City:
Country: Sri Lanka
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