BWAid director visits Baptist village in Sri Lanka

AMPEGAMA, Sri Lanka — Residents of the Baptist village in Sri Lanka welcomed Baptist World Aid (BWAid) director Paul Montacute, who toured the new development in late October.

The community in Ampegama, built with funds from BWAid, the relief and development arm of the Baptist World Alliance, provides homes to people who were displaced by the devastating tsunamis that struck almost a dozen countries in Asia in December 2004.

The 72 houses were constructed in partnership with Baptist Missionary Society World Mission in Britain, Baptists in the United States and the Baptist union in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Baptist Sangamaya (SLBS). A community center was also built. In total, BWAid spent approximately $300,000 on the new housing development.

Montacute also visited HELP homes in Kahawa, a coastal village in Sri Lanka. The five houses were built to accommodate children orphaned or affected by the tsunamis. BWAid contributed approximately $400,000 to the HELP homes, and Hungarian Baptist Aid and other partners also participated in the project. The homes are managed as a charity with a board, on which Montacute sits as a member. There are approximately 25 children living in the homes.