T.L. Rinoza's Story

When the waves of the tsunami crashed on T.L. Rinoza's world, she knew her life would change forever. T.L. lives in Pottuvil, Sri Lanka, a rural region of the South Asian country that was devastated by the 2004 tsunami. Her family, like so many others, lost everything in that one moment-home, jobs, property, the very means for their survival.

Since then, she has worked day and night alongside her family to rebuild their shattered lives. Like many other young women, T.L. struggled to contribute to community rehabilitation because she lacked skills training to find employment.

Hope arrived in April 2006 when Free The Children completed construction of a Vocational Training Center for young women and men. T.L. is now a computer trainee, which will provide her with the chance to establish a career that will benefit her and her family.

Free The Children's alternative income projects specifically target marginalized women like T.L., providing them with skills training and productive resources such as milking animals and sewing machines. These resources give women a sustainable source of income that they often re-invest in their children's futures, pulling them out of situations of child labor and putting them in classrooms instead.