PROGRESS REPORT FOR 2004
Dear Supporters
As a charity which works closely with Sri Lanka, it has been a very sad year for all of us. Due to the tsunami tidal wave which struck on 26th of December 2004, many children and parents were killed, and many business and educational establishments were destroyed. Fortunately, none of the children sponsored by the Rahula Trust lost their lives, but many were affected in different ways. We have reports of casualties in the children's families. One child lost her father who was the only breadwinner in the family, another child lost his home, and another child's father who is a fisherman had his boat destroyed. Some children has lost their books and other belongings in the rising water.
Visits
A sponsored child in Anamaduwa
On his visit to Sri Lanka in November and December 2004, Ven. Bandula visited many children in different districts in the country. He managed to visit children in Puttalam, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Matale, Monaragala, Hambantota, Galle, Kalutara and Colombo districts. He also attended some of the extra classes which the Rahula Trust is funding for the children in Anuradhapura district. In addition he visited the Viharamahadevi Orphanage in Biyagama, where the Rahula Trust is funding some extra classes.
Mr. Martin Evans, Hon. Treasurer of the Rahula Trust, made a visit to India and Sri Lanka, where he visited some children in Kandy district and looked at the extra classes held in Anuradhapura.
Tantirimale Project
As last year, we have continued to sponsor teachers for extra classes
for the children in the Anuradhapura area in Sri Lanka. It has been a
great help for these children. Some children could move to different schools,
but due to variations in class levels, and poor attendance by some children,
the trustees have decided to find some other way to support the children.
Last year we spent Rs. 117,000.00 (£640) for this project.
Viharamahadevi Children's Home
The Rahula Trust has started helping a orphanage in Biyagama with provision
of continuing education facilities. We are sponsoring teachers to teach
mathematics, science and English for girls in the Viharamahadevi Children's
Home. In the last year we have spent Rs.96,000.00 (£550) on these
classes.
Nepal Project
For the third year running we are continuing our sponsorship programme
in Nepal. We are happy to say that there are some sponsors who contribute
individually to the Nepal Project. We planned to increase the number of
children in this project but political disturbances are having a disruptive
effect on school arrangements.
Kenya Project
The Rahula Trust is maintaing its support of Nyumbani by providing equipment
which is required for their own, in-house education programmes. We have
sent them a computer printer and a radio to enable them to receive educational
programmes broadcast by the national radio station.
Sponsorship in Sri Lanka
We increased the number of sponsored children to 225, and we have already
planned to sponsor more children in tsunami-affected areas and other parts
of the country next year.
One sponsor visited one family and, having seen the poor condition of
the child’s
living accommodation, built this house for them.
We regularly receive letters and school reports from the children we are sponsoring in Sri Lanka. Their letters express deep gratitude for the kindness of their sponsor, and sponsors can feel justifiably proud of the effects of their generosity. A few children who are being supported by the Rahula Trust sat for the GCSE ordinary level examination and achieved high grades, so they are able to proceed to study for their ‘A’ levels. This year also one student has passed her ‘A’ level examinations and is waiting to study at the University of Kelaniya.
If sponsors happen to be visiting Sri Lanka, they are always welcome
to visit the children whom they are supporting, although it is a good
idea to make the necessary arrangements well in advance of any planned
visit. In turn, we are always happy to receive feedback from sponsors;
so far, this has generally been very positive.
In the year ended September 2004 the Trust's income increased to £33,000.00
which is a magnificent figure and one for which we extend our deepest
gratitude to all our donors. The work of the trust could not continue
without your generosity and I can assure you that your contributions are
making a real difference to the lives of hundreds of children, enabling
them to benefit from education which would otherwise be denied them. With
your continuing support, I am sure that the work of the Trust will continue
to prosper in the year ahead.
I wish you all good health and happiness.
Ven. Dr. M. Vajiragnana
Chairman
REPORT ON TANTIRIMALE PROJECT 2004-2005
from Mr. W.B.A. Jayasekera
The project for the year 2004 commenced on September 25, 2004 and classes were conducted on every Saturday except on Christmas Day.
The present programme will end on May 7, 2005. We have included an extra English teacher in the current programme to ensure additional facilities for the promotion of English.
In the last session the attendance averaged 22 students and because some of the children qualified to sit the General Certificate of Education (Adv. Level), they have joined other schools in Anuradhapura, with our blessings, for further studies. In this way we lost about 4 students and the number of students expected to attend these classes fell by this number. Although we expected around 18 to attend our classes, there has been a considerable drop in numbers.
First I wrote to the absentees and later to their parents indicating that unless a significant improvement is shown, the Rahula Trust will be compelled to discontinue these classes. There are children who are keen on the classes and who make good use of them, unfortunately they may be affected if we discontinue them.
The average attendance since our warning about the attendance has improved to 14, and we are watching the progress carefully.
In rural areas such as Tantirimale, school children help their parents with preparation of the paddy fields and also at harvest time, and this is a major reason for poor attendance.
In order have some control of the financial assistance and to make the course more effective, it is necessary to monitor the children’s progress rigorously, and they must be warned if their progress is unsatisfactory. Unless this is done the children will have a tendency to take this charitable measure for granted. The objective of giving relief to these children is to help them meet and overcome any financial constraints they are up against and help them to concentrate on their studies.
I would therefore recommend that checks are made on the beneficiaries at regular intervals. It would be much better to be pro-active and not reactive, and to allow the children to be briefed before any drastic action is taken.
On the positive side, two of the children supported by the Rahula Trust have entered the university, and one is continuing with studies in Chartered Accountancy.
VIHARAMAHADEVI CHILDREN'S HOME -
EXTRA CLASSES PROJECT
Some of the children in Viharamahadevi Home
This children's home in Biyagama was started 54 years ago and is managed by the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress. The home now accommodates 90 orphan girls. Some of the children have lost both parents, and some have only one. Most of the children study in local schools, Biyagama Primary School and Biyagama Maha Vidyalaya. They are generally very keen on their studies, but due to lack of facilities they cannot continue. In order to give them more support and enable them to continue, the Rahula Trust decided it would be suitable to conduct some extra classes on the premises. The home is run by donations and it is hard to find money to spend on additional schooling. Although the Department of Child Protection gives a grant of Rs.300.00 (less than £2.00) per month for each child, it is very difficult to allocate any of that money to run extra activities like tuition classes, because these extra classes involve finding extra money for teachers.
The managing trustees of the home requested the Rahula Trust to help conduct these extra classes. At the beginning of this year Mr. Tom Kariyawasam visited Sri Lanka and saw the orphanage for himself. As a result he recommended to the trustees that they should support this project. The trustees agreed with his proposal and have sent Rs.96,000.00 (£550) to pay for additional classes for one year.
The classes have already started. English is taught on Saturdays, science on Sundays, and mathematics on Mondays. We are getting reports from the superintendent of the home that the classes are being conducted satisfactorily, and we hope this will bring a real benefit to the lives of these children.
INTRODUCING A VILLAGE IN SRI LANKA
KIRI/WEVA, SEVANAGALA
(Monaragala District)
This village is situated near Sevenagala in Embilipitiya in Monaragala district. It is a poor area with few resources. Most houses are very small and made with mud with coconut leaf roofs; generally they are without electricity and mains water. Some families have as many as ten children and accomodation is not adequate at all. Most of the villagers are farmers who rely heavily on rain water to cultivate their land. The villagers are dependent upon the growing vegetables and selling them in nearby cities. When there is no rain, the havest is very poor. Some months they have to suffer due to drought.
Since last year we have started sponsoring 4 children in this area and we could see their extreme poverty. Our help in assisting with the education of some of the village children who are living in extreme poverty and whose parents are struggling to make even the simplest of livings, will help to pay for their children's educational expenses. We are confident this will make a real difference to their lives.
Children from Kiriwewa, Sevanagala, Monaragala District, Sri Lanka
The Secretary's Visit to Sri Lanka
When I visited Sri Lanka in November and December 2004, I was able to visit some of the children sponsored by the Rahula Trust in differnt parts of the coutry. Finding of the children was not easy because of the information in their address is very limited. There are no numbers on the house or name of the road. With the help of local tri-wheel drivers we managed to locate their houses. To understand the real life of the children we did not inform them in advance about our visit. We managed to visit most of the children but some of them we could not meet, because they were out in tuition classes or dhamma classes.
There are five children in Anamaduwa area in Puttalam district. They are not in one village but in five different villages. We met 4 chidlren in this area, one was in a tuition class. In Anuradhapura district we have about 30 children. We met some of them who attend extra classes which are sponsored by the Rahula Trust and held in the Jayanti Vihara.
The children in Sigiriya, Dambulla in Matala District were also visited. In Monaragala district we managed to visit most of the children in Bibila, Monaragala, Kotiyagala, and Sevanagala. I also paid a visit to the children we started sponsoring last year in Molakepupatana village near to Tissamaharama, and the children in Poddala and Batapla (in Galle District), and Beruwala (in Kalutara District). My last visit was to children in Bandarawela. I could visit the new house built by one of our generous sponsors for a poor family in Mirahawatta.
Most of the children we visited are doing well in their
studies. Also, we could see their real way of life. There were some children
who have adequate living condions, but most of them are poor and the support
they are getting is very useful for their studies.
Venerable T. Bandula
Kenya Sponsorship Programme and Nyumbani Project.
The Rahula Trust is continuing to support the Nyumbani Orphanage in Nairobi. When they are admitted to the home, all the children are not only parentless, but are also HIV+, which is about the worst possible start in life that anyone can have. However, if the children are less than about 18 months old, with good nutrition and suitable medication, there is about an 80% chance of turning them round to HIV-. There are roughly 80 children at Nyumbani and they are brought up in an atmosphere of love and care. They are well fed, well clothed and their medical needs are looked after as far as possible, although the high cost of anti-retroviral drugs is a heavy expense for this small enterprise.
The Rahula Trust has been providing some equipment to help with the education of the children. They have sent us a picture of some of the children together with their new printer and radio. The printer will be used with Nyumbani's computer, and the radio will enable the children to listen to lessons broadcast on the national radio station.
Joan Mutuku
Mary Mutuku
This year we also have a donor who has offered to sponsor two children in Kenya. They are sisters, whose father was killed in a car accident and whose mother has been struggling to bring them up as a single parent in a country where there is no state aid for families living in this precarious situation. Joan Mutuku is 21 years old. After leaving school, she spent a year in Germany as an au pair, learning to speak German. She is now in her first year studying hotel management at a college in Nairobi. Her younger sister, Mary, is 19, and is studying in Form 6 (Advanced Level) at Taibah College in Kampala, Uganda. Her favourite subjects are Religious Studies and Kiswahili language. This year she distinguished herself by being elected president of her class and she enjoys playing basketball.