Aruni Ganewatte
Aruni Ganewatte was born in Sri Lanka in 1979 and immigrated to the United States with her family when she was 10 years old in hopes of achieving the American dream. She is the eldest child of Sunil and Chandreka De Silva, and has two beautiful children Sahan, 6, and Savanah, 4, with her husband Suranga.
She is currently working as a Behavior Therapist for children with autism. She has always enjoyed working with special needs children and it is her passion to serve and care for them. She also takes great pride her hobby of participating in beauty pageants during her down time.
As a child, Aruni was introduced to the world of beauty pageants by her mother. In 2000 Aruni won 2nd runner up for Miss Asia U.S.A. and went on to win the “Prettiest Five” Virgoa wards in 2001 and in 2003. One of her proudest moments came when she was crowned Miss Sri Lanka/Canada/ U.S.A. in (2001). This year Aruni will be representing Sri Lanka in the Mrs. Asia Beauty pageant as a tribute for her mother, Chandika De Silva, who was killed in a car accident on July 17th 2010. Aruni recalls that her mother wanted her to participate in the pageant last year, but unfortunately she was not able to do so. Aruni believes that regardless of what happened to her mother, she is always with her guiding and protecting her. She will participate in this year’s pageant with more pride and dedication than ever before. She also has great support from her family, friends and the community.
Aruni with son Sahan, daughter Savana and mom Chandrika
Aside from her job, family and pageant work, Aruni has also found time to serve as the president of the Sri Lankan Youth Organization, which she founded to provide networking and leadership opportunities for the Sri Lankan youth in her communities. Aruni has taken on these many tasks and responsibilities in hopes that her ambition, courage and strength displayed to her community will teach them that life will present difficulties everyday but it is up to them if they accept the challenges and learn the lessons.
Aruni obtained her M.S. in Family and Consumer Sciences from California State University, Northridge and currently resides in Lake Balboa with her husband, two children and their dog Frisket.
India Post News Service
