A project to give a happy home for orphan and destitute children - www.gokulam.org

Located minutes from Colombo, Sri Lanka, GOKULAM Children's Home is the perfect haven for orphaned and destitute children. The Home serves as a benchmark for service organizations around the country. It's quality driven comprehensive care is a demonstration of the high standards other institutions strive to attain. There are 115 children sheltered in the Home and out of them 35 have been affected by the Tsunami.

Founded in 1999, Bhaktivedanta Children's Home - Gokulam began with twenty three children from the Trincomalee district in East Sri Lanka. The Home is maintained by our ISKCON center in Colombo.

Eight caretakers, twelve teachers and two cooks care for one hundred and fifteen children of which thirty two are tsunami victims ranging from ages two to seventeen.

Through loving care and encouragement, the home teaches the children that they are all brothers and sisters, regardless of their background, ethnicity or history. Our approach is non-sectarian, teaching the children to respect all religions.

Health and Nutrition

When children arrive at the Bhaktivedanta Children's Home, they are from poor background and many suffer from malnutrition. It takes a great deal of care to nurse these children back to good health which the children's home is eager to provide.

Education

The children are given complete education with special attention given to each child's needs. Twelve teachers work with the children to give them the knowledge and skills needed to be successful in life.

The school currently has five computers with qualified teachers holding classes for students aged six and older.

Each child is placed in a class according to his/her skill level and the curriculum is based on current standards of education as established by the international school services.

Education would be not complete without field trips. So the children go on picnics to temples and to notable places of interest such as Kandy on a regular basis.