In 1984, Dr. Pramilla Senanayake was vacationing in the beach town of Kalutara, Sri Lanka. There, she and her son befriended two young boys who could not afford to attend school. Although public education is free in Sri Lanka, children are required to provide their own uniforms, books, pencils, and shoes. Many families are too poor to buy these items, so their children do not attend school.

Dr. Senanayake personally outfitted the two boys for school, and for m ore than 20 years has added children each year to those she helps. Today, she enables 872 children from 570 families to attend the "free" public schools in Kalutara. She purchases their supplies using mostly her own money.

In the 2004 tsunami, Sri Lanka suffered 41,008 dead, 4,916 missing, 12,482 injured and 889,175 displaced. More than 40,000 houses were lost. Kalutara took the full force of the tsunami, and 98 of Dr. Senanayake's EACT families suffered the loss or partial destruction of their homes and livelihoods.

Even today, the pace of rebuilding lives and homes is infuriatingly slow, and thousands of families are still stuck in temporary huts and tents, including 48 families from EACT. To assist them, in 2005 Dr. Senanayake purchased property with her own funds, with faith that she could raise the funds to build 48 houses on the property. In October 2006, the Clinton Foundation provided funding for the Tsunami House reconstruction programme. With these funds, we were able to complete 24 houses. The additional 24 houses were constructed with funds provided by other donors, including Clive and Michele Warshaw, Manilal Fernando, Frank Roijmans and Pramilla Senanayake. These houses were completed in August 2007.

As of February 2008, the Sri Lankan government still has not connected the houses to a water supply, though the funds were reportedly authorized in December 2007.The government has promised to start work on the water supply by1st February 2008.

In 2006 a group of friends in San Diego, California, made a commitment to help Dr. Senanayake raise funds to build a Community Center in the midst of the 48 houses. The Community Center will offer after-school programs and family services to hundreds of EACT children and families, including those who live elsewhere in the Kalutara area. The Community Center is now nearing completion, with a target opening date of May 1.