As you may be aware, we have been providing financial assistance to 34 war-affected students from Vanni in the College of Education of Jaffna.

The College of Education is a teachers training college with eight campuses in Sri Lanka. Students enroll in this college for three years of study. During the first two years, they live on the campuses and attend lectures and during the last year they are sent to schools to undergo an internship.
Four of the students who received this financial assistance have completed their studies and two of them have already been appointed to positions as teachers in a school. The remainder are performing their internships in public schools.

Our sincere thanks go to Manitha Neyam Trust and their donors for supporting 19 students. We also extend our gratitude to a small group of kindhearted souls from Canada who came forward to help nine students. Their act of kindness is giving hope to these students who –by the end of this year — will be graduating and becoming teachers.

Last month, I met with all of them in Kopay. These students went through a lot of suffering, but they are determined to pursue a higher education so that they can contribute to their communities by taking up one of the noblest professions on earth – TEACHING.

In Peace,
Rishi Thondunathan
PS: I am enclosing some photos I took with the students.