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.