Renuka Damayanti
Family: Four
Profession: Pre-School Teacher
A while back when Renuka was a little kid, she went to one
of the Sarvodaya pre-schools in her village. Now, she is a teacher
at the pre-school in Sarvodaya’s model eco-village in Lagoswatta, Sri
Lanka. Her family recently moved to the village.
The tsunami had destroyed their house and all the property. When the
tsunami struck their house, they ran to safety and took shelter at a
church. Later they lived in a temporary shelter for more than a
year.
This model village brings fishermen, carpenters, masons, and
teachers; Buddhist, Hindus and Christians; Tamils and Sinhalese into
one community.
“There is no difference between people of different religions,” says
Renuka Damayanti, a pre-school teacher and a Christian.
"Without Sarvodaya, I would be like a beggar,”
adds Renuka
The families to occupy newly built houses at this eco-village were
selected a long time before the houses were completed. They were
trained in working with groups and on living peacefully with people
of different social and religious backgrounds. The Sarvodaya Village
Society organizes programs to encourage people to live in harmony.
"Without Sarvodaya, I would be like a beggar,” adds Renuka. But she
loves the village and the house they live in. And people of
different ethnic and religious backgrounds live as one community. |
Renuka is a pre-school teacher in
eco-village |
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