Pirapaharan opens new Senchcholai campus in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 January 2006, 18:22 GMT]
Leader of Liberation Tigers, V Pirapaharan, opened the new Sencholai campus, a children's home established to care for children who had lost both parents in the war, at a location in Kilinochchi in a ceremony held Sunday, media sources in Kilinochchi said. The facility contains several residential blocks for girls. An adjoining facility for Kantharoopan Arivuchcholai, a home for boys, is expected to be completed soon, according to Senchcholai officials.

The new campus contains eleven residential blocks for different age groups for the 245 girls of age 3 and older cared for by Senchcholai staff. It also contains a special block for infants, dining, study halls and two kitchens.

The campus also has an administration block, a skill development center, a cultural hall, a health center and a library. A large park separates the Senchcholai campus from the future Kantharoopan center.

"The program for building the campus started in June 2003 and we have completed the project in the targetted 18 months. Although plans of adding computer facilities, audio-visual facilities and other features to our campus still remain to be accomplished, we are all pleased to see the major phase of the project come to completion," said Janani.

Senchcholai was founded in 1991 in Sandilipay, in Jaffna district. Prior to and since the exodus of Tamils from Jaffna Peninsula in 1995, children of Senchcholai have been displaced and relocated atleast four times, Director of Senchcholai, Janani (nom de guerre Sudarmahal) said.

Currently Sencholai is located in Vallipunam near Viswamadu and along Iranaimadu Road in Kilinochchi. These buildings are more than eight years old, and have only basic study, kitchen facilities.