Tree family: Press report bears fruit

Philanthropic British couple gifts house

By Gamini Mahadura

A British couple has come forward to help a homeless family which has been living in a makeshift hut atop a tree close to the Gintota railway station. The family had lived in rented houses before and had to leave them after not being able to pay the rent. The family had then roughed it out in cemeteries, bus stands and other places before deciding to live in a hut on a tree.

Left: The new house with the family. Right: The treetop house

The father D K Chandra Bandu (36) ekes out a living by plucking coconuts. His wife S A Asoka (36) and their three little children live with him. The family spent many a sleepless night due to the menace of mosquitoes and when it rains. The seven-year-old son attends Dharmapala Vidyalaya in Gintota. His sister, a year younger, does not attend school. The youngest is a four-year-old boy.

The plight of the family was highlighted in our sister paper Lankadeepa of 24.7.2007 after which the Southern Province probation officer A.G.C. Piyasiri decided to gift the family a block of land.

Accordingly a 10 perch block of land at Walahanduwa in Akmeemana was given to them. A philanthropic British couple who do not want publicity financed the building of the house which cost around Rs. 500,000.The couple are also presently assisting the family financially.