Making children happy
Kiara and Siyara are two peas in a pod. At ages of 11 and 9 respectively the resemblance between them is uncanny-but even more striking is what they have achieved in their lives so far. The sisters are barely out of elementary school and they have already brought a smile to the lives of students far away. With their back to school backpack initiative, children from the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka have something other than a shopping bag to carry their books in.
It all began in May 2009, when Kiara (who resides with her family in California, USA) happened to overhear a conversation between her father and uncle. “I was celebrating my birthday with a few friends and I heard them talking about the end of the war and the kids living in the North and East,” says the 11-year-old. It was a conversation that changed her perspective of life as a seven-year-old, she smiles. “My sister and I have everything we could want, but we learnt that there were kids in Sri Lanka who didn’t even have shoes or backpacks to go to school.”
So the two sisters made a decision that would shape their next three years- at the end of every school year, they would do a backpack drive. The idea was to get their school friends in Orange County, California, to donate their old backpacks so they could be shipped off to children in Sri Lanka. “Most kids buy a new school bag for a new school year,” says Kiyara. “But the old ones are still in great condition, so it’s a big waste. We thought they needed to be sent to kids just like us who would appreciate them more.”
With the first drive itself, the two sisters managed to collect 150 backpacks. Not stopping there, both Kiyara and Siyara donated their birthday money to pay for shipping. It’s now a tradition amongst their friends and family every year.
Little Siyara is more than happy to follow in her sister’s footsteps-her favourite part is seeing the smiles of the children the backpacks go to, she says. The sisters count themselves lucky to have met a few of their beneficiaries on their summer vacation trip to the north and the east. During their last visit they also gave a DVD player to a school in Uliyankulama, together with other school supplies. Now Kiara wants to write to some backpack manufacturing companies in the States so they could get more contributions to their cause.
Their parents couldn’t be prouder. Both Dr. Nalaka and Ayoma Gunawardhana have instilled a strong social conscience in their children; in addition to the backpack drive, the two sisters also volunteer at their local homeless shelter. Kiara wants to be a surgeon when she grows up and while Siyara’s undecided she’s content putting chips in the lunch bags they make for the homeless. She might be nine but her words, like her sister’s, are wise beyond their years. “I want to do another project next year,” she says and Kiara nods in agreement. “We love doing stuff like this. It’s nice to know you’re making people happy.”
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