List of charitable work carried out by SLAGW.

Tsunami Relief

Important Updates

Tsunami Report
SLAGW Sponsored Tsunami Relief/Rehab Projects Summary w/ Funding Info (PDF)

Tsunami Project Pages

St. Mary's Convent - Matara
Trincomalee Housing Project
Help Age Sri Lanka (HASL)
Lanka Humanitarian Development Foundation
Janavijaya Foundation
Read-Write Sri Lanka
Bikes for Tsunami Victims
Duke University Book Project
Center for Women and Development
AgroMart Project
Hindu Board of Education
Synergy Network of Centre for Child Development
Tsunami Survey Report by SLAGW - Oct 2005 - Dr Rudy and Ranji Rudran (PDF)
Tsunami Survey Report by SLAGW - Feb 2005 - Dr Rudy and Ranji Rudran (PDF)
Pictures Taken By Board of Directors in Sri Lanka
Other Projects
Partner Organizations working with SLAGW on Tsunami Relief Effort

SLAGW Sponsored Tsunami Relief/Rehabilitation Projects Summary - Updated Jan 2006

SLAGW Sponsored Tsunami Relief/Rehabilitation Projects
Completed and In Progress

St. Mary's Convent - Matara

Location: Matara

Project Summary: Providing 553 sets of classroom desks and chairs ; Rectory repairs due to tsunami damage ; Rehab Trust for Relocation to New Site

Project Funding: Initial Response - Jan 2005

Provided replacement school furniture and structural repairs for St. Mary's Convent in Matara (Southern Coast). Within the week after the tragedy, president-elect Lasantha Dahanaike visited the premises to assess severe damage to this 2,100 student, K-12 government-assisted school run by nuns.

Interestingly, this Catholic Church-run school has a student body of 100 Christians, 300 Muslims and 1,700 Buddhists. Due to its location on the shoreline, the school lost 553 sets of desks and chairs and 15 computers in addition to its entire library and school supplies. SLAGW agreed to pay for some structural repairs and provide all replacement furniture, placing an order with a reliable supplier for delivery within two weeks, at a total incurred cost of approx. $ 11,400.

St. Mary’s Convent, Matara

Salvaging whatever they can, including chalk, at SMC

Post Tsunami Update on Beach-front Schools in Matara: St. Mary's Convent, St. Servatius College and Mahamaya - April 2005

Dear Friends,

It has now been 3 months since the December 26 tsunami. This past weekend, many people around the coast of Sri Lanka participated in traditional almsgiving ceremonies in honor of their loved ones who passed away that fateful day. It is difficult for all who are living in the tsunami affected areas to let go of that day and move on with life considering that the coast is still littered with debris, so many people are still living in tents and damaged buildings, and now the frequent tsunami scares. Last night was the most seriously taken threat: the government issued a warning over television, radio, and sirens asking everyone to move inland. The sisters and staff living at the convent spent all night moving books, computer equipment, food and kitchen supplies, etc. from the first floor to the upstairs, while praying that all this weightlifting would be in vain, and that we would not be struck by another tsunami. Although we feel deeply for our neighbors in Indonesia, we were all incredibly relieved when the earthquake that occurred last night did not touch us here in Sri Lanka. Nonetheless, there is a sense of insecurity in the air here. The streets of Matara are mostly deserted today, and only five out of 2,500 students came to school today at St. Mary's Convent. The children were sent home.

Today, we are working anyway, doing what we can to make progress toward rebuilding the schools and the surrounding community. Besides myself and the sisters here at the convent, I have two volunteers from America, and 2 local volunteers. We have also had a volunteer from Malta, and a volunteer from the UK stay here to help, in addition to an extended visit by the director of SOS Malta, a Sister from Mumbai, India, and an educational advisor also from India. We have made slow but steady progress on the rebuilding of the school, and also set up the St. Mary's Children's Fund. Today, we visited some orphaned children living at a camp to inform them that we have found sponsors for them to provide for their basic needs until they are finished with school. We talked with them, and gave them a few kilos of vitamin enriched biscuits to share. We gave one of the older boys a bicycle donated by one of our kind friends in Malta. He will now be able to ride his younger brothers to school, and also to look for a job, perhaps selling fish. (He is 20 years old, the oldest of a family of four which lost both of the parents.)

The St. Mary's Children's Fund will enable 140 tsunami affected (and otherwise poor) children to be "sponsored" by donors in Sri Lanka, France, Malta, England, America, Germany, etc. We have already given out toiletries and food supplements, and paid boarding fees for over 20 children. On April 6, before the Sinhalese/Tamil New Year, we will give out our first full package to every child in our program, including those who haven't yet been linked to individual donors. The packages will include necessary items such as soap, rubber slippers, mosquito nets, milk powder, and a small allowance sufficient for school fees and transportation. (The government provides rice, lentils and sugar, and for the moment everyone has enough clothes due to the overwhelming volume of clothing donations after the tsunami.) The receipt of these packages will at least take a part of the burden of poverty off the children's and their family's shoulders. Our ability to give these packages is made possible by donors who have committed to sponsor individual children, and also by a number of lump sum donations to the St. Mary's Children's Fund given by individuals and schools.

We deeply thank those of you who have helped us begin this fund. It is our intention to maintain this project at least until all of the children have finished school. The sisters here at St. Mary's will continue the project with my help. Volunteers are always welcome to come to Matara and help out here at the convent. Positions are available in the office doing general work, and there is also a need for English teachers who can spend at least a few months teaching here.

As for the rebuilding and rehabilitation of the school, most of the walls have now been cleaned and repainted. The windows and doors have been replaced. The kitchen is being fixed. The classes are still held upstairs, which is quite crowded, but we at least have new desks and chairs for the students. We are still waiting to receive funds to buy equipment for our home science classes, art classes, computer labs, library, etc.

We are now concentrating on the boarders section and the community section. The walls that gave way to the tsunami are being built: we lost all the toilets that were downstairs, and they are also being rebuilt, and walkway to the boarding, but much, much more work needs to be done. But we are very grateful to all our donors and their continuing support to rebuild this school. We still have to build the Junior boarder's section, staff quarters, Toilets, etc. Our boarders and staff are extremely dedicated and patient with us during this time, as it is a hard time for all.

We have received generous donations from Caritas Belgium to purchase a bus for the school, and also a sound system that we have been waiting for since the tsunami. We are very grateful for these gifts.

We have spent a huge amount of time attempting to acquire land to build a new campus for St. Mary's Convent, St. Servatius, and Mahamaya. These three schools are all located within 100 meters of the sea, and so we must move them inland. We found a plot of land in an area suitable to all three schools, and located funds to buy it. Now the purchase is at a standstill, because a government agent has informed us that this particular land will be allocated for building houses. We have sent a letter to the minister of education requesting that we are allowed to purchase the land for these three schools. It is a difficult situation for us, as well as for so many people on the coast, to be told we have to move, but not given a place to move to. We seldom forget that we are on an island.

In any case, the sisters are always brimming with cheer and goodwill, and we are always heartened to receive greetings, support and donations from you all. We would not be able to serve the school, convent, and larger community without your help.

Thank you,

Kumari Kulatunga
Director of Relief and Reconstruction
St. Mary's Convent
Matara

Update from St. Mary's in Matara on progress to date - May 2nd 2005

Dear Friends,

It is with great pleasure that I write to tell you of the steady progress happening at St. Mary’s. We have almost finished painting the school, we have 14 donated computers in place and being used by the students, we have installed a sound system, and we have rebuilt the bathroom and kitchen sections of the Convent. We are especially happy to have just bought a bus with the generous funding of Caritas Belgium. This is the first vehicle that St. Mary’s has ever owned in the 97 years of its existence, and it will be a great use to the sisters, sports teams and bands, etc., when they need transportation. There are also other reconstruction projects going on, and going well: we are almost finished painting the whole school, and we have started building the main boundary wall in front of the school. We hope to begin building a new block for the primary section soon. We have also now received most of the furniture required for our library, though we are still seeking many books.

Our new Toyota Coaster

The new school wall in progress

The library, practically complete

The school band (with new, donated instruments) has started rehearsing, and are also working on replacing their music, much of which was lost.

The next order of business is to buy the land to build a new campus. We will still use the current buildings for other charity work, for the residence of the sisters, for adult education facilities, etc. Buying the new land is a major project, both physically and financially, and we shall keep you updated on this – our main objective in this regard being to keep raising funds for this. We are also starting to develop our own internal education system, a teacher training centre, which will be sponsored by SOS Malta.

The St. Mary’s Children’s Fund is now underway, with long term sponsors set up for 90 children in our community who were badly affected by the tsunami. May will be the second month that children receive packages of basic food, toiletries, and an allowance for transportation and school fees. We have received very positive feedback on the program from all the beneficiaries.

One of our head volunteers, Grace Egbert has now left after three months of dedicated work through some very trying times. Grace was co-instigator of the Children’s Fund, and has also done a lot of work at the school teaching English, and activities with the students. However, we have also been joined by a new volunteer, Tash, who has come across from Australia.

That is our news up to date, please keep in touch with us, and please feel free to visit St. Mary’s if you ever get the chance.

Thank you for all your support,

Ms. Kumari Kulatunga
Director of Relief and Reconstruction
St. Mary’s Convent, Matara

Trincomalee Housing Project

Location: Trincomalee

Project Summary: Construction of 8 houses in China Bay

Project Funding: Handover of Rs 1.2 Million for Trincomalee Housing - March 2005

Senkadagala Lions President Iqbal Jaleel in Trincomalee handed over a donation of Rs 1.2 million donated by Sri Lanka Association of Greater Washington USA for housing for tsunami victims. (Photo by The Kandy News).

For more information visit : http://www.kandynews.net/mar_apr_2005/tsunami_project.shtml

Help Age Sri Lanka (HASL)

Location: Island-wide

Project Summary: Elder care and eye-care support to Helpage Centers in several coastal towns.

Project Funding:

Memo sent out by Ohio Department of Aging to individuals and organizations associated with field of aging throughout Ohio to help in the relief of older Tsunami victims in Sri Lanka - January 2005 (PDF)

SLAGW Donates $20,000 to Help Age Sri Lanka (HASL) - September 2005

SLAWGW donated $20,000 to HelpAge Sri Lanka (HASL), collected from the Elders in Ohio through the co-ordination of Ms Arlene de Silva, Executive Director Council of Ageing in Ohio for the development of Help Age Center Program & Eye Care Program.

Source : Daily Mirror, Sept 10th.

Janavijaya Foundation

Location: Kahawa & Trincomalee

Project Summary: Constructing a pre-school and day-care centre in China Bay & Kahawa. Providing 2 meals a day for 90 children for 2 years at both day-care centers.

Project Funding:

This Foundation was involved in constructing a pre-school center for a tsunami affected village in the Trincomalee area. It had begun constructing the center before sending a proposal to SLAGW, and funds were requested only to complete the project. The Foundation was run by Venerable Rajawelle Subhuti, a young and dynamic Buddhist priest who we met at the Bhikku Training Center in Maharagama. Ven. Subhuthi, explained the progress made so far to establish and fully equip a pre-school for 150 children. The pre-school was being built on land donated by Ven. Subhuthi’s temple and he gave details of the size, management and administration of the school after it is completed.

While the practical aspects of the project were very informative, Ven. Subhuthi’s hopes for its future were even more enlightening. He explained that the people in the area belonged to different races and religions, and regardless of ethnic backgrounds, the tsunami had taken a toll on all of them. And with adversity came a spirit of camaraderie among the people. This was quite common here Ven. Subhuthi said, and whenever there was ethnic tension his temple became a refuge to anyone threatened with persecution, be it a Buddhist, Hindu or a Muslim. Similarly, Ven Subhuthi wanted to make the pre-school available to children of all ethnic backgrounds. He felt that teaching people the value of tolerance, peace and harmony at a very early age is critical for Sri Lanka’s future prosperity. His boyish looks belied the depth of his character, maturity and wisdom. SLAGW clearly had a very noble partner in Ven. Subhuthi and the Janavijaya Foundation.

Ven Subhuthi also mentioned another pre-school at Kahawa in the South, and expressed the hope that SLAGW would help him with that project as well. After our visit SLAGW approved funds to feed 40 children for twenty months at the Kahawa pre-school and also at the Trincomalee center.

Meeting With Ven. Subhuthi

Bikes for Tsunami Victims

Location: Jaffna, Batticaloa, Ampara, Akurala, Trinco etc.

Project Summary: Distributing nearly 1400 bicycles shipped in three containers to Sri Lanka

Project Funding:

First Shipment of Bikes for Sri Lanka - April/May

SLAGW is working with Bikes for the World to consolidate a shipment of 500 bikes in early May for communities in the North, South and East coasts. Bicycles are the common form of transportation for many men and women of all ages, and school children in the North and East, and in remote communities in the South.

Bikes for the World is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization in Northern Virginia, helping the people affected by the tsunami in Sri Lanka to regain mobility in their daily lives. This inexpensive means of transport will enable the victims to commute to jobs, day labor, school and market from welfare camps and temporary shelters with relative freedom.

SLAGW has arranged distribution of the donated bikes to designated community organizations in the affected coastal areas through the Ministry of Social Services in Sri Lanka. Your donations of used bikes will be yet another way to alleviate the pain and suffering experienced by thousands of tsunami survivors.

The first shipment of bikes (about 460 - 480) for Sri Lanka will be loaded on Saturday, April 30 into a high ceiling 40-foot container by volunteers from Bikes for the World. About 3-4 volunteers can be used from 3.30 - 5.30 pm at the loading site. The street address is:

1820 Dolly Madison (Rte 123)
McLean, VA 22102

This is at the corner of Scott's Crossing and Rt. 123 next to the exit ramp for the Dulles Toll Road. You have to enter from Scott's Crossing.
The site will have 5 trailers in a parking lot by a 3-story brown office building. The Director of Bikes for the World, Keith Oberg will be there from 3.30 after picking up some bikes for our shipment. The loading will be done from 2.30 pm by John Zuray and others. Any help you can give from 3.30 will be most appreciated. You can call Keith Oberg on his mobile for directions: 571-212-4139. We'll also need volunteers on Sunday from 3 pm to finish the job. Please call Keith to volunteer your services.

Bikes for Tsunami Victims: McLean & Chicago to Akurala/Ampara/Jaffna/ Matara - Dec 2005 Update

The McLean, Virginia based Bikes for the World assisted in recovery efforts through a unique partnership with SLAGW, shipping nearly 1,325 bicycles to benefit the transportation needs of hundreds of tsunami affected families in the North, East and Southern Sri Lanka. Volunteers from Bikes for the World solicited bike donations from the public in some 50 collections organized through churches, Boy Scouts, state agencies, and civic organizations in Baltimore and the national capital region to make this vital contribution to tsunami rehabilitation. SLAGW was responsible for arranging the shipments and distribution in Sri Lanka through local community organizations active in relief and rehabilitation.

Mr. Neel Wijesinghe, representing Trico Maritime, handled all three shipments from loading dock to large shipping containers, to ships and to Colombo Port. His close coordination with Mr. Keith Oberg, Director of Bikes for the World, facilitated the transfers of this valuable commodity to enable many who were restricted to refugee camps to attend school, seek casual employment, run errands, and get about in areas without adequate or affordable public transportation. All age groups benefited from the transfer of bikes regardless of gender. Mr. Oberg took great care to mix each shipment with ladies' and children's bikes with mostly adult bikes to address this aspect.

Bikes for the World provided 935 bikes on their own account and loaded the first and third giant containers at their warehouse in McLean with volunteer assistance. Mr. Oberg also arranged for SLAGW to receive 195 brand new mountain bikes from Brunswick Corp in Northbrook, Illinois, and prevailed on a fraternal biking organization, The Working Bikes Cooperative in Chicago, to fill out the remaining space in the second container leaving Chicago in late May. The Working Bikes Cooperative donated some 185 used bikes to fill out the container space after new bikes from Brunswick Corp were loaded.

The first container yielded 488 working bikes after Sri Lankan bike mechanics reassembled the shipment and effected repairs at our holding site at Associated Motor Ways Ltd. The bikes were consigned to Director of Social Services, and the Ministry of Social Welfare cleared port and customs formalities before delivering the bikes to AMW warehouse in Grandpass. Muslim Women's Research and Action Forum (MWRAF) took responsibility for distributing 150 in Ampara District with written approval from the Government Agent to recipients certified by Grama Sevakas in the communities. Center for Women and Development in Jaffna received 150 bikes from SLAGW under similar procedure. Friends of Lanka Tsunami Relief (FOLTR) received 38 bikes for distribution in Akurala, and Janavijaya Foundation and St. Mary's Convent took joint responsibility for distributing 150 bikes for SLAGW in Matara.

The 2nd container was cleared and delivered by the Dept of Social Services to AMW after a 2-month delay when Customs imposed a $9,000 duty on the last two containers. SLAGW president obtained a blanket waiver from the Director General of Fiscal Policy at the Treasury before delivery was affected. Only 115 new bikes and 185 used bikes were in that 2nd container when delivered. The passage of time had obviously tempted others to help themselves. In the event, the new mountain bikes were presented in November as prizes to more than 100 finalists in the Tsunami Art Competition held throughout the island's tsunami damaged schools under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and the non-profit Tsunami Educational Rehabilitation Monitoring Trust. Another 150 bikes from the 2nd shipment have been distributed by Janavijaya Foundation in Trincomalee and Hambantota districts. The third container is now being cleared for distribution.

Keith Oberg, right, and BFW volunteers seal bike container #3 in McLean, VA.

Washington area resident and director of FOLTR Kumudhini Herath,
left, presents bike in Akurala

SLAGW bike recipients at MWRAF distribution in Ampara

Lanka Humanitarian Development Foundation

Location : Manalkadu, Point Pedro

Construction of 20 houses, including 5 with Adopt SL financial support

website: http://www.humanitariandevelopment.org/

Update of Manatkadu Project - Feb 2006

Pictures of the various stages of construction of all 20 homes donated to Manatkadu Community

READ-WRITE Sri Lanka

Location: Galle / Schools in South

Project Summary: Purchasing school supplies; Musical instruments for school bands

Project Funding:

SLAWDC/SLAGW Director Imalka Senadhira, also founder of Read, Write – Sri Lanka, (RWSL) spent five weeks in Sri Lanka this summer committed to relief work. The work carried out was in line with the goals of SLAGW and RWSL; to help students, schools, teachers and libraries. Her work was carried out in the South and in the East, helping schools, libraries and individuals of all ethnic and religious backgrounds. SLAGW is custodian for public funds donated to RWSL, and disbursements for many of the activities listed below were effected through SLAGW grant procedures.

Students of G.V.S de Silva Vidyalaya in Galle district received new garments. Their school was completely destroyed and they are now sharing space with Kathaluwa Central Vidyalaya. The garments had to be distributed from the van as there is no space in the very crowded temporary tents where they study.

The new school for these students is being built by Hayleys Ltd. The library will be completely equipped by RWSL, from a gift of $3,000/- by the Class of 2005 (Fifth graders) of Ronald McNair Elementary School, Germantown, MD. At the presentation ceremony, of which Imalka was the Guest Speaker, she was given a plaque to hang on the wall of the library and over 800 labels to be pasted on every book.

Over 3,000 books were purchased in Sri Lanka and are in storage. The students received 200 books last summer, as a temporary library, since they hadn't read any books since the tsunami. (Their library was completely washed away). In addition, they will receive a TV and VCR/DVD player and RWSL will be shipping educational videos in time for the opening of the new school in March 2006.

New garments were distributed to over 800 students in the South

Students of G.V.S de Silva Vidyalaya, pasting labels on their new books

Sudhamma Vidyalaya of Magalle, Galle is another school located right by the ocean. This is a co-educational k-13 school attended by 1,172 students of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim ethnicity. Rooms at ground level were completely washed away, including laboratories, Principal’s office where all of the students' records and other important documents were stored, instruments and costumes of the 'Hevisi' and the western marching bands, and most of the furniture from the classrooms.

RWSL had the wonderful opportunity of supplying the chemicals, LP gas cylinders and accessories for the science laboratories, electric oven and accessories for the Home Economics laboratory, garments for high school students, stationery for the teachers, and garments for school wear to the four teachers who lost everything. With the kind donation of Asian Society of Central Virginia, introduced by President Elect Lasantha Dahanaike, RWSL was able to re-create the dreams of these students by supplying the instruments and costumes for their western marching band. Thanks to Sarasi Music Center in Colombo and their generous discount, Sudhamma Vidyalaya was enabled by RWSL to buy instruments for a junior band as well. Mr. Roshan of the Sri Lanka Army Band has already begun training the students.

Presentation of the gas cylinders to the laboratory. Present are the Principal,
the two members of faculty of Science and some students in the
Ordinary level & Advanced level Science classes.

These four teachers of Sudhamma Vidyalaya lost all their belongings in the tsunami.
RWSL gifted them with a complete set of clothing and accessories for school wear.

Delighted students of Sudhamma Vidyalaya with their new instruments

Maitipe Tailors, a reputed household name in tailoring in the South, is located
right by the ocean. Their building was one of the first to be hit by the waves, and
the rear part of it collapsed. They are one of the recipients of the sewing machines
gifted by SLAGW through the help of RWSL.

Maitipe Tailors of the Galle Bazaar, taking measurements for the new band costumes.

These four teachers of Sudhamma Vidyalaya lost all their belongings in the tsunami
RWSL gifted them with a complete set of clothing and accessories for school wear

This young boy, pictured on left, is the son of one of the teachers, completed his Advanced Level examination having lost all his notes and home. He is preparing to re-sit the examination in April 2006. His father, a fisherman, lost his boat and underwent open heart surgery following a heart attack. RWSL offered him a savings account of Rs: 10,000/-to be used for his education. He writes letters of progress every three months. Volunteers to continue to support this student are sought by RWSL. Assistant Manager Seylan Bank, Galle, handing him the savings account. Also present, Imalka and mother of student.

Duke University Book Project

Location : All Sri Lankan Universities, especially Ruhuna, Galle Medical Faculty, Batticoloa, Amparai & Jaffna

Project Summary: Shipping over 15,000 books on science, world studies, literature and medicine donated by Duke University library for Tsunami damaged universities & public libraries .

Project Funding:

Duke University Donates Invaluable Book Collection for Tsunami Affected Universities and Libraries - December 2005 Update

Through a serendipitous introduction by SLAGW donors and former IMF resident director in Sri Lanka, Tom and Mary Morrison, President Nihal Goonewardene was able to establish contact with the Provost of Duke University to facilitate an invaluable transfer of 15,000 textbooks, journals and literary works to Sri Lanka. The Duke Book Project was launched on the initiative of Prof. Sucheta Mazumdar of Duke, who was introduced to Sri Lanka by Lal and Kumari Jayawardena and Neelan Thiruchelvam during a one-year stint at Harvard as Fellows some twenty years ago. She and husband Prof. Vasant Kaiwar were revisiting Kumari Jayawardena and other friends in Sri Lanka when the tsunami struck. Both of them have been long standing patrons of the Social Scientists' Association and institutions of higher learning in Sri Lanka. Upon their return from Sri Lanka, Sucheta began a book project to replenish the university library collections that were devastated by the Tsunami in coastal areas. An initial grant of $10,000 from the Duke President's fund was already exhausted in shipping 5,000 texts through US parcel post by the time SLAGW began the partnership with Duke to ship and deliver 15,000 books valued at $300,000 - $375,000 to Sri Lanka. Faculty, students and library resources at Duke contributed books, as well as faculty from other schools such as MIT, to bring together this large a collection. SLAGW arranged for Neel Wijesinghe of Trico Maritime to pick up the shipment from Duke in North Carolina on a Saturday in late August, with no workers on hand to help except packing and hauling muscle from Sucheta and Vasant. The small container load was consigned to Director of Social Services for port and customs clearance before delivery to Social Scientists' Association (SSA), the designated distribution point for Duke and SLAGW. The high value of the shipment ran into a duty assessment of Rs. 1.7 million, which was waived by the Government upon representations by Mr. Goonewardene and duty waiver obtained through Dr. Tara De Mel, Secretary of Education.

The books are now being catalogued by SSA from grant assistance provided by SLAGW. Ruhuna, Batticaloa and the Galle Medical Faculty have already received over 5,000 textbooks sent by parcel post from the Duke Univ. Book Project through SSA. Some individual medical texts are valued at $250+ per copy and hardly available or affordable in Sri Lanka. The bulk of the collection is now being readied for distribution to faculties in Jaffna and other affected universities throughout the country. Dr. Kumari Jayawardena, Secretary of SSA, and the very able Mr. Ranjith Perera of SSA have been coordinating this project in Sri Lanka. The Duke collection will also add mightily to the social science research library at SSA and give it additional capacity to service scholarly research. Prof. Mazumdar is hopeful that the library resources in Sri Lankan universities can be upgraded throughout the country as the Duke Book Project becomes more sustainable over the next several years. Duke has extended an invitation to President Goonewardene to address the administration and faculty of Duke on this subject in early 2006.

Tsunami book drive organizer Prof. Sucheta Mazumdar of Duke University.
Photo by: Jim Wallace

Center for Women Development - Jaffna

Location : Jaffna

Project Summary: Providing emergency supplies for five tsunami affected villages

Project Funding:

SLAGW distributes emergency supplies to Tsunami victims through Jaffna NGO - April 2005

Ms. Saroja Sivachandran, Director, Center for Women and Development, a Jaffna
NGO that received funds from SLAWDC/SLAGW, distributes emergency supplies to
Tsunami victims. Nearly 1000 families in four refugee camps benefited from this
project, which will also supply books and bicycles to children to keep them in school

Center for Women Development - Oct 2005 Update - Dr. Rudy and Ranji Rudran

Center for Women and Development received a grant from SLAGW in April 2005 to provide emergency supplies to tsunami victims in the Jaffna area, and we attended a meeting organized to distribute these supplies. The meeting was held near Point Pedro and the audience consisted of women who still lived with their families in temporary shelters. The keynote speaker was Mr. Sripathy, Director of Education, Jaffna District, who spoke of the important role that women can play in strengthening the fabric of society, particularly after disasters like the tsunami. However, the main attraction was a skit illustrating the changing role of Jaffna women and the difficulties they faced within a very traditional society. The skit was cleverly executed by a group of young girls who parodied through song and dance the traditional ways of their elders, much to the amusement of the all-female audience. Many were older women, but the message from the young girls was clear – change is in the air, and you better get used to it.

Following the skit Ms. Saroja Sivachandran, Executive Director, CWD invited Ms. Ranji Rudran to help distribute the emergency supplies. There was also a presentation of bicycles sent from the US by SLAGW. CWD had received a donation of about 150 bicycles, but since there weren’t enough to give one to each family the distribution had to be done on a lottery basis.

Ms. Sivachandran informed us that SLAGW’s funds had been used to purchase supplies like kerosene cookers, plastic chairs, slippers, soap and underwear for the tsunami affected families. Children were also given school supplies such as notebooks, pens and pencils, and the Advanced Level students who had lost their notes to the tsunami received a complete set of notes photocopied with SLAGW funds. A total of five tsunami affected villages in the Jaffna district had benefited from SLAGW’s assistance. SLAGW funds had also helped CWD to leverage additional funds for emergency supplies from the American Solidarity Center. Although ten months had passed since the tsunami, emergency supplies were still in great demand because many families continued to live in temporary shelters. However, Ms. Sivachandran was thinking ahead and looking for funds to train women in batik making, dry fish processing, computer technology, and coir rope making. Her leadership has clearly been a great asset to this project, which was nearing completion during our visit.

Skit illustrating the changing role of Jaffna women

Bicycle donation by SLAGW Director Ranji Rudran, in Jaffna

AgroMart Project

Location : Galle

Project Summary: Purchasing 4 Industrial and 17 zig-zag sewing machines

Project Funding:

AgroMart Project - Oct 2005 Update

AgroMart is a leading community development NGO with an impressive track record of promoting micro-enterprises in the rural areas of Sri Lanka. It applied for SLAGW assistance to revive the shattered economy of the Galle area which is renowned for its dress and lace-making industries. Funds were released in March 2005 for the purchase of sewing machines that were required by 21 women entrepreneurs, who had lost almost everything to the tsunami. Since these women employed several other women, their losses had far reaching consequences within their communities.

Getting quotations for the machines from local vendors and negotiating prices were done from the US, and took a fair amount of the SLAGW Board’s time. However, in May 2005 several zig-zag, over-lock and industrial sewing machines were purchased to satisfy the needs of all twenty-one women entrepreneurs. We visited five of them and were very impressed with their resourcefulness and diligence. The entrepreneur who still lived in a tent had rented a shop in the town nearby and set up a joint business with her father who was also a tailor. The other women worked out of homes in crowded conditions where bedrooms had been converted into work areas. The high water mark of the tsunami was still visible on the bedroom walls, and repairs were underway, but despite the discomfort the women and their employees were hard at work sewing clothes and making lace. Watching them work made one feel that these women were looking to the future with hope instead of dwelling on the trauma of the recent past. However, to realize their future hopes, they needed to get their livelihoods back, and this was where SLAGW was able to help. Several of the women have written thanking SLAGW for its donations, which have made them useful members of an increasingly vibrant rural community.

Working under the High Water Mark Left by the Tsunami

Discussing Lace-making

Hindu Board of Education

Location : Jaffna

Project Summary: Constructing dormitory for 110 tsunami affected children.

Project Funding:

Hindu Board of Education - Oct 2005 Update by Dr. Rudran

This institution was established more than eighty years ago in Tirunelvely, Jaffna to run a Home that cared for orphans and children from poor or broken families. With the onset of the ethnic war, the Home opened its doors to children displaced by this calamity, and after the tsunami it decided to take in children affected by this disaster as well. The Home normally catered to the needs of about 250 children of both sexes and between five to about seventeen years of age. When the tsunami produced about 110 more children who had lost one or both parents and had no place to live, the Home was hard pressed to find suitable accommodation for them. Hence it applied to SLAGW for assistance to construct a dormitory, and funds for this project were released in March 2005.

When we visited the Home several members of the Hindu Board welcomed us and took us on a tour of the premises. The Home is a self contained unit with a large school next door, and with facilities within the premises for children to study, eat, sleep, play and worship. We also visited the site where the dormitory was being constructed, and found that progress had been made, but it wasn’t as much as we had hoped. The pillars along the side walls had been erected and the metal frames for the roof had been secured, but the walls, floor and the roof of the dormitory had yet to be completed. The Board members explained that they have had problems with recruiting labor and purchasing building materials, which sounded plausible given the proximity of the area to the conflict zone .They assured us that they would have the dormitory ready by the time the process of getting government approval for the intake of the tsunami affected children was completed.

The Home was also a recipient of some of the bicycles sent from the US by SLAGW, and we saw several of them securely parked in a storage area within the premises.

Meeting the Hindu Board Members

Dorm Construction Underway

Synergy Network of Centre for Child Development

Location: Jaffna

Project Summary: Training women in appropriate livelihood enterprises, and crisis counseling

Project Funding:

Synergy Network - Oct 2005 Update - Dr. Rudran

This NGO was offered half of its request and challenged to raise the other half from elsewhere to conduct a project on community empowerment. It met its challenge by raising funds from the Mercy Corps and SLAGW began releasing its commitment in July 2005. The project commenced the next month and we met with Mr. R. Swaminathan, President of Synergy Network to discuss the progress made so far.

Synergy Network launched its project by conducting a series of five-day workshops to train would-be entrepreneurs from different villages in book keeping and business management. These sessions were followed by three three-day workshops, each of which provided training in a different livelihood enterprise to about 20 young girls. The workshop that was underway during our visit provided training in candlestick making. On the last day of the workshop groups of trainees belonging to different villages received all the equipment, materials and a modest amount of funds to start a candlestick making project when they returned home. The girls trained in candlestick making lived in predominantly Christian villages, which made sense of the training they received. For girls who lived in predominantly Hindu villages Synergy Network had conducted training in the manufacture of camphor squares, which are frequently used in temple ceremonies. Similarly, Synergy Network had plans to hold a training session in the cultivation of herbal plants that were important in the preparation of several ayurvedic treatments.

A Workshop in Session

Packing the Candles

Besides providing training Synergy Network had also negotiated with local vendors to market the products manufactured by its trainees. For instance, it had arranged for two large commercial firms (MilkWhite Soap and Anna Coffee) to market the candles along with their own better-known products. Furthermore, it had arranged with local priests to collect and recycle the melted candle wax, and thereby reduce the cost of candlestick production. Similar arrangements had also been made to market the camphor squares and the herbal plants produced by the trainees. Synergy Network encourages its trainees to manufacture and market other products as well, and provides assistance with these initiatives if requested. This NGO is an on-going concern, and its involvement with the local communities will continue even after the SLAGW project, which is scheduled to end in the next few month

Boossa Homes Project

Some of the homes made with Sri Lanka Association's fundings at Boossa Near Galle were declared open by Ve.Dhammasiri Nayaka Thera, Ve.D.Vimalananda Thera and Ven.R.Subhuti Thera. These beautiful new homes were donated to the families of desabled soldiers in Sri Lanka. July 2007.

Other Projects..

Pharmaceuticals for mobile clinics in Batticaloa were delivered by SLAWDC Treasurer Gayanga Opatha, who hand carried almost $4000 worth of supplies to Colombo on Jan. 1st. Colombo Stock Brokers Association delivered the package to Dr. Thevarajan, Director of Batticaloa Teaching Hospital. SLAGW donated part of the drugs while The World Surgical Foundation in Camp Hill, PA contributed funds to SLAGW for most of the package, and Harrisburg Hospital's Dr. Muttiah Ganeshanathan obtained additional supplies from that Pennsylvania hospital.

SLAGW provided 171 bed sheets and an equal number of mosquito nets for infants to the Home for Human Rights in Batticaloa, at a cost of $1,350 in January.

Micro finance project to rehabilitate the village of Maruthmunai, adjacent to Kalmunai in Amparai District. A village of 30,000 artisans primarily engaged in handloom weaving. SLAGW will be providing enterprise empowerment to a weaver cooperative to resume handloom production for export in the form of repair and construction of 15 looms, accessories, yarn, and working capital to cover one month's wages for 23 weavers, at a total project cost of $5,500 in February.

In partnership with Sarvodaya, SLAGW will be implementing a program to improve psycho-social development of parents and children in Vellur village in Trincomalee district. Sarvodaya will provide coordination, monitoring and program management while SLAGW will fund construction and equipping of a pre-school for 30 children, meals, uniforms, and teacher salaries for one year, and a workshop for 80 Sinhala/Tamil pre-school teachers. The grant will commence in February when school construction will begin. In addition, the $13,000 grant will also support a sports camp for 6-18 yr olds.

Dr. Rudy Rudran, Lasantha Dahanaike, Ranji Rudran and twin
Indranie with Dr. A.T. Ariyaratna at Sarvodaya

Partner Organizations working with SLAGW on
Tsunami Relief Effort

Original Appeal to the Sarvodaya:
Letter to Dr. Ariyaratne of Sarvodaya from president Nihal Goonewardene (pdf)

Janavijaya Foundation Sri Lanka

Read-Write Sri Lanka Initiative

Adopt Sri Lanka

HelpAge Sri Lanka