Children of Grace

Meet: M. Kavitha
Date of Birth: July 12, 1991
Place of Birth: Mullaitivu
Joined Grace Home: April 2003
School: Kavitha is in 11th grade, and will take university entrance exams this year. 

Kavitha lost her father to the war while still an infant, and her mother to illness in 2001. An aunt brought her to Grace Home in 2003, and her few remaining family members were last known to be in Mullaitivu, the district north of Trincomalee that has been the recent battleground in the civil war.

Kavitha remembers being “very sad” when she first came to Grace Home, but the warm welcome from the other children and staff soon made her feel safe and comfortable, “like I had my parents back with me.”

In recent months, Kavitha’s thoughts turn to worry about her native village, where tens of thousands of civilians are caught between what may be the final days of conflict between the government and the Tamil Tigers.

“I hope they are safe, I pray for them,” she said of the people in Mullaitivu. “My hope is that the people in my country live in peace. When it’s safe to visit my hometown, I’d like to visit and see what’s left for children like us.”