ABDF

Vantharumoolai (Van-TAH-roo-moo-lie) is a village about 18 miles north of Batticaloa, site of last year’s computer lab.

The school is run out of these half-finished block-style buildings.

The town is mostly made up of rice farmers, a handful of small shopkeepers and craftsmen (mechanics and such), and a few employees of Eastern University, which is some 5 miles south. The school at Vatharumoolai serves the entire community, starting with kindergarten.

Thirruper (tee-roo-pair), short for Thirruperruntharai, is a suburb of Batticaloa, about 5 km (3 miles) north of town center. Strictly a residential community, it’s home to mostly lower middle class working families; small shopkeepers, trishaw drivers, teachers, construction workers and the like. Many commute into Batticaloa for their work.

Our water tank partner, Prabha, peers down Thirruper’s well.

As with much of the District, the 8 month long dry season means severe water shortage. The local District Secretary does provide potable water to Thirrupers’ residents; the 6,000 liter truck visits Thirruper three times a day. The problem is one of storage and distribution.

Getting ready to play Cricket.

Peace Village, a tsunami resettlement in the village of Ollikulam, consists of 100 families displaced by the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004. It is a mixed settlement of Muslims and Tamils mostly from the Kattankudy area, about 5 km away on the coast. It is also the site of our road building project.