A major project Havonos realizes nowadays, with Wild Geese, is the establishment and building of a technical (craft) school under the name ‘Youth Empowerment Centre’ (YEC) in Ariyalai. Target group are young people who couldn’t follow education because of their stay in refugee camps. As a consequence they have nothing to do and run the risk, because of their traumas, to derail and fall into addiction to alcohol and drugs.
The aim is to give these youngsters a fully fledged vocational training. The program is designed not only to provide technical expertise, but also after all the misery, fear and distrust they lived in, to teach them to trust each other again, and to learn new values.
The center is owned by the OMI priests and is located on the main road between Kandy and Jaffna. Together with Wild Geese we realize the construction and the decoration of the place.
The school provides a huge need. Registrations came already from miles around. We hope that for many young people it will be a step towards a better future.