Sri Lanka is an island southeast of India. It has beautiful beaches and rainforests and is famous for its elephants and tea.
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Colombo
Compassion's work in Sri Lanka began in 2010.
Sinhala is the official language of Sri Lanka. Here are some basics:
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The Asian elephant is smaller than the African elephant, with relatively smaller ears.
In rural areas people live in small stick and mud thatched houses, whereas in towns they tend to live in concrete buildings.
21.5 million
There are over 7,570 Compassion sponsored children living in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka has two main people groups — the Sinhalese and the Tamils.
A huge war erupted between them in 1983 and by early 2000 nearly 64,000 people had been killed. The war forced thousands of people to leave their homes. Because of this many children don’t have schools to go to, doctors or hospitals to visit if they’re sick and many of them are vulnerable to dangers around them.
During the war, many children were forced to become child soldiers, and this is still happening today.
Sri Lanka was hit badly by the huge tsunami in 2004. It killed many thousands of people. Homes, crops, communities and families were destroyed, making poverty even worse for lots of Sri Lankans.
Children lined the road at the entrance to the church with handmade garlands, waiting to greet the staff from Compassion International Lanka.
Parents of the children in the projects were invited to receive coconut plants on behalf of their families.
The government decided to do this to help with nutrition within families living in poverty, but also as a way of making money through selling coconuts.
The coconut plants grow many coconuts in their lifetime and families can also grow more plants from the original one.
Please pray for children in Sri Lanka being used as child soldiers. Ask God to protect them, keep them safe from harm and free them so that they can grow up in a healthy environment.
Pray for children in Compassion projects in Sri Lanka. May they know how much they are loved by God.
The Sri Lankan rupee is divided into 100 cents.
There are currently 60 Compassion child development centres running in Sri Lanka.
How can you encourage your sponsored child?
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Why not write to them and mention some of the facts you’ve found here.Ask them questions about what it’s like to live in Sri Lanka.
Flavourful curries and rice are a favourite food in Sri Lanka. Try making your own Sri Lankan curry:
Sri Lanka has an elephant orphanage. It was set up by the government to protect abandoned or orphaned elephants. It’s become one of Sri Lanka’s biggest tourist attractions.
Why don't elephants ride bikes?
Information sources: The CIA World Fact Book 2011, Compassion International, Human Development Report, BBC, Wikipedia
