Sunil

Sunil was three years old when his father was abducted by the government during the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) uprising. His father was never seen again, leaving the family in a state of shock, grief and uncertainty.

"My mother couldn't even find the body." - Sunil 

In the midst of her grief and without help or any stable income, Sunil's mother struggled to take care of Sunil and his older sister. Poor and unstable, she had no other choice than to sell their property in Kandy to move to Colombo in order to meet the needs of her family

The greater tragedy of the loss of his father, though, was the bareness it left in Sunil. Sunil missed out on the simple joys between father and son; joys that others take for granted.  Although nothing could replace his father, he needed something to fill the hollowness he felt.

"This emptiness in my life led me to a search for fulfillment. During this search I traveled down many roads which almost led me to total ruin." - Sunil

The road that led him closest to ruin began at age 13 when he began smoking and drinking heavily. It was only a matter of time before his road led him to illegal drugs and eventually to an addiction of the maestro drug of them all, heroin.

“It made me easy to forget who I was and I would gain a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.” – Sunil

His life was engulfed by heroin. As with heroin addiction, he needed more and more to live in the addiction’s creation of reality and to feel this fictitious sense of wholeness. He was taking up to four doses a day – and living in a culture where the drug is everywhere and priced to sell to the lowest of classes, it was never hard to find his next fix. But with every manifested fulfillment came an equal and existent emotional and physical plummet. The effects of heroin were taking a violent toll on Sunil’s body, causing physical pain whenever the drug left his system.

“I couldn’t eat or drink or sleep without heroin. As a result my entire life was torn apart – I was a complete wreck.” – Sunil

At his lowest, Sunil attempted suicide.

"Life was just not worth it.” – Sunil

Sunil was desperate. He knew his life needed to change but didn’t know the road to take. One day Sunil visited his mother to ask for money. Her reply to his request was a plead for him to stop using drugs.

“She stared at me as though I was a dead man.” – Sunil

Sunil admitted his desire to get out of his situation but was lost as to how. His mother became his reason, his support and his compass –she led him to Power House.

He was in Power House for six months where the emptiness that had consumed him was filled with love and support.

After his rehabilitation period was done and Sunil was released, he stayed with Power House to help other men like him. It has been 19 years since he was admitted to Power House, and he’s been clean every day of it.

Ingrid

The effects that homelessness, domestic violence and human trafficking have on women are not restricted to the physical evidence that protrudes from malnourished bodies, bruised skin and broken bones – the damage runs through their veins and is engrained on their souls. The women who befall these ill fates are in need of more than physical assistance. They need a hand to hold while they learn to respect, love and cherish themselves again as well as someone they can trust to help carry the undeserved burden that has been so cruelly placed upon them. Heavena is the helping hand and trusted friend to aid these women in their journey to personal healing, strength and independence, and Ingrid is one of the many women who put her faith in Heavena.

Ingrid’s misfortune began with an addiction she could not control – her father’s addiction to liquor. She soon found this addiction would not only control her father, but would also seal her own fate. Treading in a pool of debt to an illicit liquor agent, Ingrid’s father shamelessly offered her as the final payment to settle his balance. The liquor agent accepted, and the two of them were married. 

In one foul swoop Ingrid became a possession, a currency, a wife, a mistress and a mother. The agent was already married and was living with his two children while their mother was in the Middle East. Ingrid was to look after these children while their mother was gone. About a month after they married, the agent began to unremorsefully beat Ingrid. At one time his beating was so severe he broke Ingrid’s arm. His beatings didn’t even subside after she became the mother of two more of his children. When the agent received news that his first wife was returning he showed Ingrid he wanted her gone through even more severe beatings. Ingrid gathered up what little money she had, took her two children and left.

She hoped on the first bus she could and rode it to the end of its route, in Pettah. A man found her lost and crying and after she told him her tragic story, he offered her help. He brought her to the top of a lane and told her to walk down to a shelter at the end of it. The people in the shelter found a room for her with a pastor’s wife, where she stayed for two weeks until the shelter could accommodate her.

Because of Ingrid, the shelter opened a unique unit for battered and homeless women and children. Because of Ingrid Heavena was created. During her stay she was counseled through her violent past. With help from the women at Heavena, Ingrid was able to regain her confidence and sense of self worth. She received an education through a Montessori course and is now a teacher in the Tiny Stars Montessori while her two children attend a government school. For the first time in her life she was able to take her future into her own hands and become the strong, independent woman she was born to be. 

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