Spreading some love and cheer the AMITSU way
AMITSU which stands for AMI Tsunami Children’s House Foundation was founded in 2006 by the late PremelaWijemanne.
Alison with the children
Back then, Premela owned her own Montessori in Kansas City, USA. But, once the Tsunami hit Sri Lanka in 2004, she decided to start a home in Sri Lanka to provide a safe place for the children affected by the tsunami.
When she passed away the home was left to her brother Dil Wijemanne, who decided to run it as a family from that point onwards with his wife Alison Joachim spearheading the foundation. Sixteen years later, they continued maintaining the home, which at present cares for 24 amazing children.
We conversed with Alison Wijemanne, the daughter of Dil and Alison, who gave us an insight into the day to day operations of the foundation.
She explains that aside from providing these children with a safe home and all the necessities they may have, the foundation also looks into their education.
The goal is to ensure that each child receives a holistic education, which they can use one day to build a good future for themselves so they will never have to go back to the life they left behind.
The hope is that when the children are old enough, they would be able to find their own path and AMITSU aims at helping them achieve whatever they set their minds to.
The foundation also includes an in-house Montessori for the younger children, which was a request made by Premela, a montessori teacher herself.
And as the children grow older, they are sent to a nearby school, and are also given English tuition, computer classes and dance classes.
The foundation ensures that these children finish their education for as long as they are with them . Their higher education is also looked into thereafter.
“Our aim is to hopefully see that these children are sent out into the world with a good education and trained in a vocation suited to their talents, once they have completed their secondary school education,” Alison says.
The foundation also sets up bank accounts for each child, which will be used to help their future, after they finish their Advanced Level examinations.
It has been AMITSU’s priority to have a small home because they always wanted to look after the children in the best possible way. Therefore, they have not had more than 30 children at a time because that’s their capacity at the moment.
“Each child has their own bed and we know we can provide well for the children that we have,” Alison explains.
Of course running the foundation is no easy task and AMITSU faces several challenges as well. At present AMITSU comprises a small team, which is funded and run by one family. Therefore, they need all the help they can get.
So, whether you’d want to fundraise for them, volunteer or just choose one of the many ways to donate or sponsor, the offer to help will be received with open arms.
“The only people more grateful to you than the family that runs the foundation, will be the children whose lives you’re about to improve – significantly,” Alison adds.
The children during a class
Currently the foundation is funded in many ways. For instance, a portion of the profits from the Wijemanne family business is directed to AMITSU.
Aside from this, they also have benefactors who donate and help in different ways. Some people also sponsor the education of a child of their choosing. “Most of them are friends of ours. My mum also does a great job in fundraising for the foundation in a variety of ways,” Alison says.
Being able to watch the foundation grow throughout the years has taught Alison how lucky she is to have had the chance to grow up in a loving home with two amazing parents and that unfortunately many people aren’t so lucky.
Alison looks forward to continue playing a role in helping AMITSU grow and to provide these children with a good education and a safe home with love and care to grow up in, for as long as they need it.
The foundation’s hope and prayer is that no child will ever have to go back to the life that they left behind and that they will grow to be productive citizens of their country.
“After staying with us we hope to encourage them to create a brighter future for themselves and we will give them all the tools to do exactly that.”
Any form of donations and help is welcome and greatly appreciated. This can be through the foundation website www.amitsu.org or by calling them on +94775810256.