Sithursana lives with her father and her mother. At home, duties include cleaning. Her father is sometimes employed as a laborer and her mother is sometimes employed as a laborer. There are 5 children in the family.
Telling stories, playing with dolls and playing ball games are Sithursana's favorite activities. In primary school her performance is average and she also regularly attends Christian instruction.
Your love and support will help Sithursana to receive the assistance she needs to develop her potential. Please pray for her.
Sithursana lives in the mountainous community of Rozella, home to approximately 4,000 residents. Typical houses are constructed of cement or dirt floors, mud or brick walls and tin or cement roofs. The primary ethnic group and most commonly spoken language is Tamil.
The regional diet consists of bread, rice and roti (unleavened bread). Common health problems in this area include fevers, colds, coughs, diarrhea, malnutrition and vomiting. Most adults in Rozella work as day laborers, in factories or on plantations and earn the equivalent of $90 per month. This community needs scholastic materials, vocational training centers and libraries.
Your sponsorship allows the staff of Templestowe Child Development Center to provide Sithursana with Bible teaching, health camps, hygiene and nutrition education, sports, computer skills training, talent development and music and cultural dance classes. The center staff will also provide counseling and parenting programs for the parents or guardians of Sithursana.
Sri Lanka is an island located just south of India in the Indian Ocean. The terrain is made up of low-lying plains, although there is a mountainous region in the southern part of the island. Because of the tropical location, Sri Lanka experiences an extremely rainy climate, with monsoons in the northeast from December to March and monsoons in the southwest from June to October.
The majority of Sri Lankans are Sinhalese, although a small percentage of the population is also made up of Moors and Tamil. Sinhala is the official language, the other national language being Tamil. Although English is used in the government, only 10% of the population speaks English. Buddhism is the dominant religion practiced by 69% of Sri Lankans, while a small minority practice Islam, Hinduism and Christianity. As Sri Lanka is located in close proximity to major shipping routes in the Indian Ocean, much of the economy consists of exporting goods. More than half of Sri Lanka's exports are textiles and garments. Many Sri Lankans work abroad, mainly in the Middle East.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the island was controlled first by the Portuguese and then the Dutch. Sri Lanka celebrated its independence in 1948 although at that time it was known as Ceylon; it was not known as Sri Lanka until 1972. Beginning in 1983, the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority fought an ethnic war that lasted for more than two decades. Efforts by Norway in 2002 to broker a peace agreement between the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in early 2008 were unsuccessful, and the conflict continued until May of 2009, when the government defeated the LTTE, finally bringing resolution to the longstanding unrest.
Map of Sri Lanka
Child's Location: Northeast of Watawala
