Newsletter No 8 — July 2010

Newsletter No 7 — June 2010

As I embark on my sixth journey to Sri Lanka, I am awaiting the arrival of the shipment into Colombo. The arrival date was to be 15 June, but on the 19 June, still no news regarding the impending arrival.  I’m on a bit of a deadline so it’s important that the boxes arrive around the same time as me so that I can get all the items sorted before I embark on the delivery to the kids.  Anyway, I’ll just have to sit on my hands and wait until I hear something.

There have been a number of fantastic people who have helped me get to where I am.   Many have sewed, another lady has knitted, and there is a couple who sell good quality items on EBay to raise money and all those who drop items they’ve collected to me at work. 

Other people have supported in more practical ways by helping to sort and pack the cartons in preparation for shipping, others have  attended the fundraising functions we held and providing the support needed for me to do all the work.

Business’ are annual supporters by providing the transport for the cartons to the Port of Melbourne, Bourne Bathrooms and Kitchens did this.  Darryl and his staff at Platinum Cargo Tullamarine work with me to ensure that all the documentation is correct to enable them to prepare for the shipment to Sri Lanka.  They also liase with Palitha and Thariq at SDV Logistics in Colombo until the shipment has arrived in Sri Lanka.  Once this happens, Thariq takes over and works with the Port of Colombo to have the cargo inspected and released, paying all costs on my behalf until I arrive there.

As you can imagine, without this invaluable support, my task would be so much more difficult and may not even be possible.  I am thrilled to know that all of the above individuals have faith in what I do in Sri Lanka and show that by supporting with in kind donations.

Over the last few months, I have had a number of people come to me and want to make a cash donation.  Whilst I am thrilled to receive their money, I am also humbled by their generosity and support.  Whether the amount is large or small, I have been entrusted by these wonderful people to provide help to the Sri Lankan children on their behalf.  This is an honour and one that I am thrilled to carry out.

I will be arriving in Sri Lanka on 24 June 2010, and from then when time and access to the internet permit, I will be emailing items for the website. 

Next time I email, I will be in Sri Lanka and let’s hope that the shipment is in my possession and unpacking and delivery is underway.

Newsletter No 6 — March 2010

On Saturday, 20 March 2010, we held our second Trivia Night, raising awareness and money for the children and adults we support in Sri Lanka. A lot of hard work went into getting it all organised and again we had the support of a fantastic group of family and friends who all believe in continuing to support the people in Sri Lanka.

After counting the money and deducting the expenses I am now very pleased to announce a profit of $1083.

The hard work is well worth it and I will certainly do it again in 2011. Everyone did a fantastic job and I particularly wish to acknowledge and thank Jeremy and Denise for the professional manner in which they ran the night. Padmini, Madhu, Vigi, Leanne, Paula, Suzanne, Abbie, Steven and Steffanie also worked hard to make it a success and indeed it was.

Thank you everyone for your loving support. Without you I couldn't do it.

Following is a catalogue of events of the day — one of them quite scary!

At 11am at St Judes I met David and Patrice, and Chopper their dog, and Padmini, Abbie, Leanne and Paula to set up the hall and kitchen for the evening. After a little hitch in getting the door opened, tables and chairs were brought in from the shed and set up in the hall. Tables were set with raffle prizes, items for sale and silent auction items.

We had been working for about an hour when David said Chopper had gone missing. While continuing with out work we kept an eye out for him. Every barking dog sounded like him. At times we searched and searched, and, just when we'd given him up, Patrice got a call from the vet clinic to ask if they had lost a "Chopper." To everyone's relief he had been found. Some lady had picked him up on the main road and taken him to the vet, and he was thankfully in one piece.

All was well, and by this stage everything was set up and it was time to go home, have some lunch, rest and return for 5.30pm. I was a little nervous about the food being delivered on time, but after a number of phone calls the tuck arrived and it all smelled pretty good. Vel Spices and Kitchen at Carrum Downs provided the catering.

Once the patrons had arrived and the games began, after two rounds of questions it was time for the food. Within 10 minutes everyone was happily munching through what we call Sri Lankan short eats or finger food.

Between the rounds of questions, as the scorers checked the answers and recorded the scores we drew some of the raffle prizes. In all there were more than 45 prizes so most people went home with some sort of trophy. Raffle draws continued all through the night after each round of questions. Games were played, some free and some by gold coin entry. If one didn't know an answer to a question, there was the option of buying an answer. All these activities went towards raising more and more money. The patrons on the night were very happy to join in whatever was going on. This made for a happy and fun night for everyone.

At the last moment there was a flurry of activity around the silent auction items. We had seven items which had been donated and all but two had bids. The most popular item was a framed photograph of two elephants from the elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka, which was taken by Kylie Reid on her visit there approximately three years ago.

Finally the last round of questions was over and the calculations of points was in full swing. The winning table was announced, their prize was awarded and the evening was over. Many people came to tell me that they had had such a good time and would be willing to come along again next year. I love to hear that, as it spurs me on to do it all again.

Eventually the table and chairs were packed away, the floors and kitchen had been cleaned and it was time for us all to go home.... As if we weren't already exhausted enough....

It was about 11.30pm as I left the hall. I had put the alarm on, locked the door and got into my car to drive to the gate at the top of the car park so I could lock the gate. So far, so good.

I stopped to let Abbie out when I noticed a non-functioning headlight on the car of another young girl who was driving out. I got out of my car to walk over and tell her.

Jeremy, the sound technician and one half of the host team, jumped out of his car and started running down into the car park.

I wondered what in the world he was doing. Then I saw it. My car was rolling back down the hill with headlights fading as it picked up speed!

Jeremy was running for his life. He opened the door, jumped in and used all his strength to pull the handbrake up as far as he could.

I had put the handbrake on but clearly it doesn't hold the car very well.

You cannot imagine what was going on in my mind. He could have fallen under the moving car; it's my fault; insurance issues; new car; how much damage? All in about 20 seconds. Then I heard the crash.

When I got down there the car was in the garden bed and Jeremy was outside the car wondering how to get it off the garden. With much effort he drove it off then continued up the hill.

I couldn't bear to look at the damage. My car is just one year old. Abbie had heard the crash from the road and came back.

To the amazement of all of us there was no damage to my car; not a scratch! I couldn't believe it and still cannot. Clearly I was being looking after that night.

After all of that excitement, I was really ready for bed but couldn't sleep. I was too tired, too cold, my feet were aching and I kept thinking of just how serious it could have been for Jeremy.

Newsletter No.5— February 2010

As I write this newsletter for the New Year, I am humbled by the generosity of the people who support me in my continued dream of helping as I do in Sri Lanka. What I am finding now is that these people are talking to friends and acquaintances and the offer of help is growing.

Just yesterday I visited a group of ladies at a church opportunity shop (second hand shop) who had made contact with me through someone I know. They asked what I needed and immediately collected 12 school bags, soft toys and many trucks for me to take home and add to my collection. They invited me to visit them once a month to collect what they have kept aside for me.

A little earlier this evening as I read my emails, I received one from Betty in Warnambool. She met a lady in the supermarket and due to this lady's mother's death she was clearing the home. She had towels and pure wool blankets to give to someone and immediately Betty thought of me. She knew she could use the towels to make the sanitary pads she makes for me and asked me if I could use the blankets.

Often I hear and read of someone making a comment, that the good deeds of someone have restored their faith in human nature. I always had faith in the goodwill and generosity of others, and all of these people supporting me in one way or another are just a demonstration of how wonderful many many people are. I am truly so proud to have started something that inspires others.

On a daily basis, people drop exercise books, pencils, rubbers, sharpeners and other educational items to me at work. Others arrange for me to collect bags and bags of unwanted goods that I sort and either store to take to Sri Lanka, sell on EBay to raise funds, remodel or keep for a future garage sale. I have a room in my house that I call “The Foundation Room” which is home to all of these items. It has shelves around two walls which are stacked with boxes for pens, pencils, rubbers, toys, and anything else you can imagine. It sounds chaotic, but it’s really quite well organised. I even have six cartons flattened waiting to be assembled and filled in readiness for shipping.

I have booked my ticket to return to Sri Lanka for 24 June and plan to stay there six weeks. During this time I will visit the usual schools and orphanages as well as try to visit one of the two facilities housing people who are not rehoused from the tsunami which struck Sri Lanka in 2004. Both of these facilities are located within walking distance from where one of my friends lives, so when I visit her I’ll make my way there and investigate their need for some form of help.

Before I start the packing, there will be a Trivia Night. This is the second one we will have held and we are hoping to beat the amount raised last time. If we can raise $2500 I will be very happy. That will buy shoes, socks and thongs for the 80-plus children at the Panama School at Pottuvil and also the 15–20 children at Goonapityawa near Mihintale.

Goonapityawa is the little school of 15 children that I visited last year for the first time. Raja and I spoke with the principal and promised to deliver school bags to him for the commencement of the 2010 school year if he could get up to ten additional children to be enrolled. There was a threat of closure if enrolments didn’t improve. After a number of phone calls from Raja to the principal over a period of a few weeks, the principal informed us that he had the enrolments. Raja then arranged to visit and bring the bags as promised. Raja went to the school which is about a four hour drive from Colombo on 5 February 2010. The children were there as promised and the parents also came along. He said it was a wonderful day. The children I met last year on my visit asked where I was. He explained that I was home in Australia working hard to come back to Sri Lanka to visit them and bring more gifts. The parents of the new children came along to the school as well and were very happy that their children had been given such useful and worthwhile gifts for their education.

I have made contact with Darryl from Platinum Cargo Tullamarine who arranges the despatch of the shipment from Melbourne, and I keep in contact with Palitha who is the CEO of SDV Logistics Colombo who arranges for the safe and timely release of the shipment from the port, inspection by customs and delivery to Raja in Sri Lanka in time for my arrival. So, not only am I supported magnificently here in Australia by very generous people, I am also supported in the same way in Sri Lanka by equally generous and like-minded people.

Listed below are the names of family and friends who support me. If I have forgotten anyone, please forgive me.

Leanne, Abbie, Denise, Jeremy, Padmini, Suzanne, Kirupa, Dereen, Malcolm, , Deisha, Dammika, Paula, Susana, Edward, Yolande and Val, all in Australia. In Sri Lanka, Raja, Palitha and Reverend Henepola Sumanajothi.

After the trivia might, there will be a bigger list of supporters; those businesses that have made donations, additional people helping on the night and of course those who attended.

Please drop me a line and let me know what you think. serendibfoundation@hotmail.com

With thanks and warm wishes.

February 2010

Newsletter No.4
Sri Lankan Trip, June–August 2009

After another very successful trip to Sri Lanka, I am now collecting items and thinking of my next trip which should be mid way through 2010.

On this trip, I revisited the schools, orphanage and Welfare Centre as always and I added two new schools and another orphanage to the list of children we help. One of the new schools is in the Eastern Province and all of the 78 children come from very impoverished households and all are from Tamil families.

As always it was wonderful to catch up with my many friends there. I was thrilled to see them and they also me. I met so many new people as well. One gentleman who I was excited to meet is Palitha Kulasinghe. He is the General Manager of SDV Logistics. This is the shipping company in Sri Lanka which assists me with customs clearance & delivery of the boxes of goods I send there. This time it was 19 large cartons with the weight being 780 Kg.

On my second day in Colombo, I visited Palitha at his office to settle the account. I met Thariq whose job it is to liaise with me and make sure all goes well. They are both very genuine men and it was at this meeting that Palitha invited me to spend an evening with him and his family. His older son is studying here in Melbourne so I guess we do have a little bit of a connection.

My friend Raja, as always, collected me at the airport, drove me where I needed to go and assisted with accommodation, interpreting and whatever else I needed. I’m sure he gets a bit sick of spending all day every day with me, but being the type of person he is, he would never let me know it.

This last trip, we needed to break it into three parts because of the large number of items that we are now delivering to each school and orphanage. The first trip took us to Batticoloa in the Eastern Province. This journey took us two long days of travel there and again the same to return. There were many roadblocks to navigate, permits to travel into the district to be arraged and the roads in some places were very poor which slowed tavel time. We spent seven days on this our first journey.

The second trip was the longest time-wise and this is where we accumulated the majority of the 4000 kilometers I travelled. We went to Ratnapura to Buddhist Monk Rev Henepola Sumanajothi and dropped the items we were to give to the children there. We made arrangements to return at a later date to attend a celebration at the welfare centre. We then continued on to Hambantota to the Galwewa school and this is where I located the small orphanage just up the road from this school. We stayed in Hambantota for 3 days and then proceeded to Thanamawilla to the Seth Sevana Orphanage for handicapped children. I wanted to spend more time with these children, unfortunately that didn’t happen. see report on Seth Sevana page

After leaving Thanamawilla, we drove to Ampara where I delivered around 200 bandages to the general store there which is owned by a friend of mine from here in Australia. They agreed to distribute these bandages to the poorest people in the community for me. Here we also met with Raja’s son and had lunch with him before he left to travel to Colombo. This is also the place where I had SR25,000 – (Aus$300) – stolen from my hotel room. The Ampara Police were very good but it did sully my opinion of Ampara.

We didn’t stay in Ampara longer than necessary.

After this, we travelled to Arugum Bay which is a very popular surfing spot in Sri Lanka. This coastline was destroyed by the 2004 Tsunami and suffered greatly during the fighting. This area is still undergoing major reconstruction. Very little infrastructure has been replaced as yet. The roads are still under reconstruction and hotels are very basic. It is in this area that I wanted to find a small school of Tamil children. It was after much research and visiting four schools, speaking with the staff and popping into the classrooms to visit with the children, that Raja and I decided to choose the school at Panama (pron: “par namma”).

Our work was complete in Panama, so we left there to keep the appointment at Ratnapura with Rev Sumanajothi. We arrived and he and his secretary had organised the local children to put on a performance for me and to celebrate the completion of the first stage of the Welfare and Education Centre. There were seven Buddhist monks and a Buddhist nun, and around 100 local adults and children. Children dance and sang; one young boy read a poem about me and the appreciation the children have for the support we give to the building of their Education & Welfare Centre. Of course I had to speak and Raja did the interpreting for me. Overall, it was a wonderful experience for me.

The following day, we left to return to Colombo to load up for the last of our trips which would take us to Anuradhapura and the Mihintale School. Again we overloaded Raja’s car with the items for the children. On the way to Mihintale, I always visit my friend Padmini’s mother and sisters who live at Kurunegala. Towering above the city is an extremely large Buddha statue built at the top of Elephant Rock. You can climb to the top or take a tuk tuk. Raja has a penchant for taking me to places and doing things that I would never have imagined myself doing. We walked the two kilometres to the base of the rock and then we proceeded to climb the rock steps to the top and then on to the Buddha statue. I counted 480 steps and then stopped counting as I had to concentrate on my footsteps as I navigated the rockface with no steps at all. I took off my shoes as I felt more in control barefoot. Along the steps, there was a rail to hang onto, but on the rockface – NOTHING. It was just me and the rock. Raja as always is many meters in front. I cannot believe that I made it, and, believe it or not, that climb took just over 30 mins. Apparently not so bad. The view was fantastic and definitely worth the anxiety I felt during the ascent.

Now all I had to worry about was the decent. It was much quicker of course but much more difficult. I was terrified that I would fall down the rockface, definitely a possibility as I often fall on uneven surfaces. I reached the bottom intact, much to my relief and Raja’s, as by now it was getting dark and he was a little worried for my safety. Instead of being miles in front of me as usual, he made the descent with me, an indication of his concern and of course care.

We made it to Anuradhapura the next day and visited the principal of Wellaragama School and his family. We stayed for dinner which is usual and made arrangements to go to the school the following day.

This visit was very emotional for me. The children came running with big smiles on their faces. The principal had told them I was coming and when I got out of the car I could hear the children saying, “Sudu Aunty’s here,” which means 'white aunty' in Sinhalese. The older children remembered my name. I was thrilled and very happy to see them all again. It was a wonderful visit with them and they showed me the painting of the school building walls that they were doing. It is bright and showing bright flowers and happy faces. They are so proud of their work. See Wellaragama School page for pictures

It was on this trip that I was given information about a very small school of 15 children in a very isolated area, and when it rains the roads are impassable. We met with the principal, visited the school the following day and made arrangements with the principal to deliver school bags, books, pencils etc., to him in January 2010 for the newly enrolled children. He is concerned that without at least six newly enrolled children for the 2010 school year the school would close. It’s a little bit of an incentive for the parents to send the child to school which in turn will support the whole community. If the school closes, this will cause school attendance problems for these isolated families.

Now our journey is coming to an end and it’s time for me to return to Colombo and arrange to say goodbye to my friends. This is always a difficult thing for me to do. I enjoy my time in Sri Lanka and the weather is always warm which I love. I spent the last two nights at Raja’s home. We arrange to visit my friends and do some last minute shopping. The traffic in Colombo is something that we here cannot imagine. It’s slow, noisy, smelly, and at times infuriating. A small 10K journey takes more than one hour. I’m glad I’m not driving. Raja is very controlled and patient. Very rarely does he get hot under the collar. Once he did. When a government minister was travelling along a major city road, the police just block the road and traffic very quickly comes to a grinding halt. No-one knows how long the traffic jam will last and it causes complete chaos. We were caught once when I was taking my Australian Sri Lankan friend to the airport for his journey to Europe.

It was during my last two days in Colombo that I was bitten by mosquitos, causing me to contract Chikungunya and be ill for one month and spend 10 days in hospital. I have recovered well but still suffer from the associated arthritic pain in my joints. This apparently can last for up to one year.

Overall, my trip was wonderful and I am looking forward to the next one and catching up with everyone in Sri Lanka again.