Children from a school in Wattala, Sri Lanka organized and supported an arts camp for 27 children at the Meethotamulla Children empowerment centre on 12 August 2023.

The camp involved children painting and illustrating on boards and papers using different colours. Through the illustrations and drawings, the children were able to portray various messages and images in their communities – such as the environment, their families, and schools. Often times, art provides children an opportunity to share their thoughts and aspirations, better than words would do.

The children at the centre in Meethotamulla were awarded with stationery gifts from fellow children, who urged them to keep up with their studies.

We established the Meethotamulla Children empowerement Centre in December 2018, in collaboration with the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement. Since inception, this center has been providing coaching classes for all children. There has been growth in the number of children that join these classes and some parents have noticed an improvement in their children’s grades. Today, 50 Children attend coaching classes, and 4 voluntary teachers attend two days a week to teach these children. Subjects such as Mathematics, Sinhala, Tamil, English language and general knowledge classes are taught.

At Arigatou International, we meaningfully involve children as agents of change towards securing g the wellbeing of children. Events like the art camp organized and supported by children confirm that indeed, children have solutions towards creating a better world for children.