Special Children of Kattankudy

The city of Kattankudy is located in eastern Sri Lanka. In a country that is 70% Buddhist, nearly all of the city’s 40 thousand residents believe in Islam. 40 students attend “Zahira Special School”, a school for children with disabilities. In Sri Lanka, Muslims and children with disabilities are considered minorities. Because of various problems, including poverty, few resources, and prejudice, they receive little support from the country. The school owns just two tuk-tuk (a three-wheeled bike) which are used to transport children to school every day. One of them was damaged by the tsunami waters of the 2004 Sumatra earthquake, which also damaged the school and surrounding area. The funds necessary to repair it has still not been received from the government. As such, many are unable to attend school because their families cannot afford to pay for bus fare or a taxi to get them there. And sadly here is the place where there were criminals who attacked some cities by bombs this year.