This is the story of the orphans and elders at Grace Care Center, a residence for the displaced in Sri Lanka's impoverished, war-torn northeast - the story of Sri Lanka itself: Girls made orphans by a war that sometimes recruits children for battle; the destitute seniors whose aging eyes saw a nation tear itself, and their families, apart.
Established by an American attorney during a lull in the decades-long fighting, Grace Care Center offered shelter from war, support against poverty, and hope against an uncertain future.
December 2004 brought yet another challenge - the Indian Ocean tsunami. Brief hope that the resulting devastation would inspire opposing sides to join forces in response to the disaster ended with a return to war.
More determined than ever, the Grace community and their American friends worked for a simple dream: That ethnic groups victimized and divided by war can live together in peace; that destitute seniors deserve to live in dignity; and that children need not grow up in violence.
Grace Care Center is the story of hope in a land of tragedy. It's a special place; all the more precious considering what life is like, but for the Grace, beyond its walls.
"[The book] gives the best account I have read anywhere of the brutality of abduction and life in an LTTE training camp for child soldiers.
The best thing ... is that it is not judgemental. It graphically conveys to us all the horrors of war without feeling the need to point fingers. " - From the Foreword by Paul Harris, War Correspondent.
James A. Mitchell is a veteran of the U.S. Army, survivor of 10 years of living and working in New York City, and communications director for VeAhavta, the nonprofit organization responsible for the Grace Care Center orphanage and elders' home in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka.