Swami Vipulananta Children's Home Endowment

January - February - March 2005 Newsletter

In a small, backward village called Akkaraipattu, situated in the eastern coastal area of Sri Lanka, is an orphanage which now takes loving care of eighty Hindu children. The story of the home began in 1990 when the civil war forced people to flee from their homes and hide in the forests and jungles to save their lives. For one year they were forced, as one victim confided, "to live like animals and birds." When circumstances improved a bit they came back to the village. Many were in shock, as almost all families had lost one or more members. Even more heartbreaking was the future of so many parentless children. Seeing this plight, a few local gentlemen came forward, determined to use local resources to help. They had a Hindu Youth Council (Young Men's Hindu Association) from earlier times. Mr. T. Kailayapillai, President of the Council, first selected the most affected five children and arranged foster parents for them. He then suggested forming an orphanage to provide parentless children a hereditary Hindu lifestyle. He began erecting a building for the orphanage on a piece of land belonging to a Ganapati temple. People were very helpful.

The home was given the name Swami Vipulananda Students' Orphanage. Informally it is called Illam, meaning "home." As the number of children grew, they realized the need for a full-time caretaker. Mr. Kailayapillai gave up his job in the state sector and dedicated his life to the betterment of the home. He and others formed a board of directors and an administrative body. Several volunteers came forward to help. The home was registered with the Social Department of the government. The mission of the home is to look after youth in a respectful manner, to treat them no different from other people. The eighty resident children follow a Saivite Hindu lifestyle and enjoy purely vegetarian meals. They receive a general education, and vocational training programs have been started to help prepare students for a productive life.

The board has sought financial assistance but received only a fraction of the need, because of the country's economic depression. Today they continue appealing for assistance to donor agencies, both local and foreign. In recent years they have passed many milestones in the running of the home, but the continual increase in the number of children makes it difficult to make ends meet. Recently, a group of Sri Lankan expatriates pooled resources to buy a farm tractor for the orphanage. The tractor is rented to local farmers and the income is used to support the home. Sivakanthan Sivanathapillai of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, approached HHE to help with this project. He donated $5,000, and $3,500 was given by HHE directly to the home to help buy the tractor. The remaining $1,500 was used to begin the Swami Vipulananta Children's Home Endowment, fund #57. The purpose of the endowment is to provide general support of the activities of the orphanage, including purchase of food and clothing, school supplies, building maintenance, new buildings and especially religious education and ceremony.

Hinduism Today Complimentary Subscription Fund

In the Jul-Aug-Sep 2004 issue we introduced the Karnataka Temple Development Fund, an HHE endowment created by Dr. and Mrs. Hiranya and Saraswathi Gowda of Nashville, Tennessee. The Gowdas are keen to help provide religious and financial assistance to the people and charitable institutions in India and, as avid readers and supporters of Hinduism Today, they recognized the need to provide complimentary copies to individuals, ashrams, orphanages, schools and libraries. They opened a new HHE fund (#59) for this purpose.

July to September Endowment Contributions

MISSION STATEMENT

Hindu Heritage Endowment is a publicly supported, charitable organization recognized as tax exempt by the IRS on April 22, 1994. Employer ID 99-0308924. Founded by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, its philanthropic mission is to provide secure, professionally managed financial support for institutions and religious leaders of all lineages of Sanatana Dharma.

PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS

Halbert/Hargrove, Investment Counsel; Sonoda & Isara, LLP, CPA. HHE is a member of the Council on Foundations, an association of more than 2,000 foundations which interprets relevant law and management and investment principles, and of the National Committee on Planned Giving, the voice and professional resource for the gift planning community.

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