A tranquil refuge

Even three years after, the memories are as poignant as ever. Saman Priyantha Athureliya, 39, a teacher of physical education, his wife also a teacher and two small children from Goviyapana narrowly escaped death by clinging on to a kandu getta near their home, the day the tsunami struck.

Saman	Akila

As houses including their newly-built home, collapsed around them with 29 dead in their village, they were thankful for their lives. It was much later that they began haunting government offices in a bid to find a home for themselves.“We saw a few housing projects but realized that we could not live in those surroundings and had come to a decision to live in a rented house when we heard of Hampton,” says Saman.

They applied, they came for the interviews and now are the proud recipients of ‘Pewley Down’, one of the first 10 homes to be built at Hampton in the name of the plush house of the donor who lives in England. For pretty Akila Harshani Mapalana, 18, a Grade 13 student, life changed the day the waters came. A studious girl, she couldn’t concentrate on her lessons since that fateful day of December 2004.

Manasika thathwaya bessa, she says explaining that her mental state declined. She could hear the goshawa (roar) of the waters all the time and nightmares were her lot. But Hampton Village has wrought wonders. The tranquil refuge has made her put her life on course once again to work towards her ambition of becoming a doctor.