Karuna Nilayam was founded in 1955 by Muriel Violet Hutchins, a missionary of the Church Missionary Society, known to everyone as Hutchins Amma. It was built for orphaned and destitute girls, for abused women, for single mothers rejected by their families, for the homeless, and for women with intellectual disabilities. Seventy years later it is still doing all of that.
The question the community still asks itself when a decision is difficult is what Hutchins Amma would have done. A network of former residents and students has now been formed, and one of them is working overseas caring for vulnerable people, which is as good an account of the place as anything written here.
A home for women with intellectual disabilities
Eighteen women live in this part of the home. Alongside accommodation and care there are therapeutic and recreational activities, social gatherings each month, Pongal celebrations, dance and games. Some residents continue to struggle with their conditions. Most have responded to the care and live with more stability and more dignity than they arrived with.
A home for elderly women
Four elderly women live at Karuna Nilayam, all of whom came to it through neglect, loneliness or the absence of any family. They are helped daily with bathing, dressing and mobility, have regular health checks and medication management, and are brought into the monthly gatherings so that nobody sits alone. They remember the people they have lost. They are also, by their own account, well looked after.
Sewing and livelihood
Six months of training, two batches a year, covering basic and advanced tailoring, embroidery and the beginnings of running a small business. Batch 16 received certificates in August 2025, Batch 17 in March 2026, and Batch 18 began in April 2026. The programme is sponsored by Mr Mahen Gunaratnam and Mr Lakshman Gunaratnam of Australia, and runs in partnership with the National Apprentice and Industrial Training Authority so that participants leave with a National Vocational Qualification. Several have bought machines and started earning.
The Muriel Pre-School and Day Care
Teaching is mainly in Tamil with exposure to English and Sinhala. The day includes prayer, exercise, individual and group learning, and the festivals of the different faith traditions represented among the children. Forty eight children were enrolled in 2025 and thirty one in 2026, with a small day care group alongside. Programmes for parents and for pre-school teachers are run with the Kilinochchi South Zonal Education Department.
Safe accommodation
Thirty one women and students live in the hostels, many of them from other districts, in a supportive and disciplined environment while they work or study. A former dormitory was converted into individual rooms in August 2025.
The garden and the farm
Chickens, goats and cattle, and vegetables and fruit grown without chemical fertiliser where possible. Residents of both homes take part according to what they can manage. The medical staff regard the gardening as therapeutic as much as productive. What is grown goes into the kitchen and the surplus is shared.
Santhapuram
An evening tuition programme for children from economically disadvantaged families at Santhapuram. Fifty students benefited in 2025, with nutritional support and teacher allowances met by donors. From 2026 Karuna Nilayam has taken on the teacher allowances itself and is looking for funding to recruit qualified teachers. There is very little else for children between six and eighteen in that area.