Look inside
at Home of Hope
A children's village with 100 residents and their carers: that's quite an organization. In addition to care and facilities for the children, Home of Hope provides support to children and adults living in the surrounding area. Read more about daily life in the children's village here.
Daily life
Alfy and Sharmini
Home of Hope is led by Alfy and Sharmini Perera. This couple has been managing the children's village day to day since its founding in 2001. Alfy and Sharmini are the father and mother figures for all the children.
Alfy is Sinhalese and Sharmini is Tamil. Their marriage sets a powerful example, as tensions between these communities still exist. Together, Alfy and Sharmini lead around 50 staff members: house mothers, kitchen staff, drivers, teachers, therapists, and agricultural and administrative personnel. Alfy maintains the buildings and land and handles major purchases. Sharmini trains the house mothers and devotes herself wholeheartedly to the spiritual and physical wellbeing of "her" children. She handles everything related to the children's education and coordinates the kitchen and the children's clothing. Alfy and Sharmini's lives are 100 percent dedicated to the children of Home of Hope.
Housing
Home of Hope has ten different residential houses (dorms). The children live in groups of about ten, each under the care of a house mother (matron) in their own dorm. They sleep two to a room, with a maximum of four. Each bedroom has its own beds and closets where the children can store their clothes and belongings. From an early age they learn various household tasks like washing dishes, sweeping, fetching water, making beds, ironing, laundry and tending small gardens. In this way, each group functions as much as possible like a family.
Jump Start Home
When children arrive at Home of Hope, they are often in a state of confusion and deep grief. Many have witnessed traumatic events such as abuse and violence; they have been removed from their homes or found on the streets. The impact of their past is often so overwhelming that they cannot be placed directly in a dorm. The new children are not ready for that yet, and in this state they would also be too confrontational for the children already living with us, whose past could be stirred up again in all its intensity. The Jump Start Home gives newcomers a soft landing and the attention they need. There they can adjust to their new environment and receive extra care and support before going to school and moving to their permanent place in the Home of Hope dorms.
Agriculture
Home of Hope meals require large quantities of rice, coconuts, vegetables and fruit. To become as self-sufficient as possible, Alfy has established a plantation with hundreds of coconut and banana trees. He has planted mango trees and vegetables are increasingly grown on site. This happens in part in 2 small and 1 large greenhouse, which Home of Hope was able to purchase thanks to a generous donation. Irrigation, fertilisation and pest control can thus be managed in a well-controlled manner.
Cooking
All meals are prepared centrally in the main kitchen of Home of Hope. That means 3 meals a day for around 150 people: quite a task! When the food is ready, 2 children from each dorm collect the dishes. The children eat together with their dorm and do their own washing up.
Cooking is done on both wood and gas, and meals are prepared as much as possible from home-grown vegetables and fruit, so everyone eats fresh and varied food every day.
Play
At Home of Hope there is plenty of time for sport and play. Once homework is done, the children can play outside to their heart's content. The children's village has a large sports field and a fine playground. At weekends there are various activities, but there is time to relax, such as during free swimming in the therapy pool. Sports and games days are also organised.
Gathering
The auditorium plays a very important role in the children's village. With a large stage and more than 100 seats, it is the place where gatherings are held, performances take place, music is made and celebrations happen. On Sundays there is Sunday school and in the evening a church service in the auditorium.
Education and development
Education
The children of Home of Hope attend 5 different regular schools in the area. They are transported by the bus that Home of Hope specially purchased for this purpose. School fees, uniforms, books, notebooks and other materials: Sharmini makes sure everything is in perfect order. And she personally attends the parent-teacher meetings for all 100 of her children!
Online study centre
During the COVID pandemic it became clear how much Home of Hope needed a space with computers for online lessons, homework and study. With a generous donation from the Netherlands we built and furnished a space where all of this is possible: the online study centre. There are now a good number of laptops which the children of Home of Hope use intensively. Learning gaps were prevented as much as possible during the pandemic, and the study centre has now become indispensable to daily life at Home of Hope.
Computer centre
In Sri Lanka too it is essential to develop skills that a changing job market demands. Good computer skills are crucial. Home of Hope has a computer centre where our children and people from the surrounding area can obtain their basic computer skills certificate.
Special school
The children of Home of Hope attend regular schools in the area as much as possible, but that is not for every child. Fortunately, Home of Hope has had a special school since 2019, providing special education to children with intellectual and/or physical disabilities who cannot be placed in mainstream education. These are children from the area around Home of Hope, but also children who live at Home of Hope itself.
The special school works closely with the therapy centre, where all pupils receive the therapy they need: physiotherapy, speech therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy. The therapies are part of the daily lesson programme at the special school. The combination of education and therapy provides the holistic care these children so desperately need.
The special school receives a lot of support from the Netherlands, where with the help of one of our donors a special needs teaching programme has been set up. Since mid-2020 the school has had its own building, which was constructed with a generous donation from one of our Dutch sponsors.
Health and Therapy Centre
Alfy and Sharmini wanted to improve the situation of children with intellectual and/or physical disabilities in the area around Home of Hope. These children are often kept completely away from the outside world in Sri Lanka and do not participate in social life. The Health and Therapy Centre employs a physiotherapist and a speech therapist who provide therapy to the children of Home of Hope, the pupils of the special school and children living in the area around Home of Hope. The approach is holistic: the special school and the children's home staff work closely with the Health and Therapy Centre staff. Together they look at the background of a child's trauma and which therapy can offer an appropriate solution.
The therapy pool is used purposefully in treatments; movement and a healthy lifestyle are central. Where possible, parents and the matrons of Home of Hope are actively involved in the therapy and learn to do simple exercises with the child to support the therapy. Together with the special school, the therapy centre provides the holistic care these children so desperately need.
Empowerment and Activity Center
Our special school has now built up a great deal of knowledge and expertise that others can also benefit from. It is our intention to create a snowball effect in Sri Lanka, passing on the experience and knowledge of Home of Hope. To achieve this, Home of Hope provides training and seminars for special education teachers and carers from other children's homes. The Empowerment and Activity Center offers a multifunctional training space, which is also open to parents of children attending the special school. There they can participate in training during their children's school hours that teaches them to better understand and care for their child.
Library
The book collection of the Home of Hope library has grown considerably over the years. Thanks in part to generous donations we have been able to acquire storybooks, study books and picture books. The children can choose from different languages: our books are in English, Sinhala and Tamil. The library is important for the children's development and studies. They go there with their dorm and can retreat there to read quietly: a fun outing!
From five o'clock the children get up, have breakfast and get ready to go to school.
At 6.30 Sharmini waves the children off; she checks that they look neat and has a personal word for each child.
The children are taken to school by bus.
At 9.00 the house mothers and Sharmini meet to go through the day's particulars.
At 9.00 Alfy does his rounds of the grounds. He gives the staff their tasks for the day.
After clearing the breakfast dishes, the cook is busy preparing lunch and dinner.
At 2pm the children come home from school and have lunch.
From 3pm to 4pm the children do homework, there is time for chores and those who need it get extra tuition.
From 4pm—when it gets a bit cooler—the children go outside. They play football, play in the playground or walk around the grounds chatting.
At 6pm it's time for dinner. The children shower and prepare their school uniform for the next day.
Around 8.30pm everyone goes to bed, because the next morning it's an early start again!
At the weekend there is more free time: the children have dance and music lessons.
Home of Hope has a Christian foundation; on Sundays there is a church service and Sunday school.
