The 14th June 2005 marked one year since Friends of the South was incorporated as an Association under Sri Lankan law, dedicated to 'improving the livelihood of local people living in the South of Sri Lanka'. Entirely not-for-profit, Friends of the South is managed voluntarily by a group of seven Sri Lankan and expatriate friends living in and around Galle. Thanks to all donors and supporters for enabling us to carry out our work.
We remain busy continuing and expanding existing programmes and developing others. Programmes can be divided into four main categories, and are further explained on our website, www.friendsofthesouth.org.
1. Sponsor-a-Child
This 3 year scheme provides scholarship funding for needy children covering both education, as well as basic living, requirements. The underlying aim is to help children from impoverished families raise themselves out of the cycle of deprivation that their families have been caught up in. We are working on this project with the Southern Tsunami Trust (STT), a registered trust established by a group of Sri Lankans with wide-ranging experience of humanitarian activities. Selection of the recipient children, neediest first, is carried out by the STT.
The sponsorship is a mixture of expenditure and savings to be built up over the 3 year period. On the third anniversary a decision will be made relating to the continuation of the program for a further period.
Figures are based on the child's age at commencement and are as per the table below for the initial three year period:-
Age Group
No of Children
Amount
Education Exp
Savings
Total Cost per Child
Total Cost for All (Rs)
6 and 7 at outset
51
1,000
750
250
36,000
1,836,000
8 and 9 at outset
41
1,250
1,000
250
45,000
1,845,000
10 and 11 at outset
39
1,500
1,250
250
54,000
2,106,000
12 and 13 at outset
39
1,750
1,250
500
63,000
2,457,000
14 and 16 at outset
30
2,000
1,500
500
72,000
2,160,000
Total
200
10,404,000
FoS has created a separate account for this program due to its long-term nature and at the time of writing we are looking for sponsorship. Wishing to retain our 'administrative-cost-free-zone' we do not intend to allocate sponsored to sponsor.
However, in addition to the sponsorship funds, FoS has donated funds to the STT in order for them to: rent an office space; purchase office equipment; hire a 'manager' to manage the program; and provide additional facilities to the children- e.g playground area; library; computers for learning.
In addition, to ensure effective monitoring and to give maximum benefit of the children, FoS will fund one sub-manager per 50 children. This individual will follow all developments with the children and their families closely. He/ she will indentify their ongoing needs and be best placed to address them efficiently. These responsible individuals will be appointed by STT.
If you wish to help sponsor children through this project, please look at the Sponsor-a-Child section on our website, www.friendsofthesouth.org.
Whilst we have had promises, to date we have not received any dedicated funding. This is much needed as 650 children have already been identified and we hope to enroll 1000, at a cost of around US$0.5m for the first three years.
Funding to 30/6/2005 is Rs1.1m (US$11,200)
2. Livelihood Programme
Since we last reported, we have continued with further projects to assist damaged businesses restart and help get people back to work. We have so far helped around 100 small businesses and in certain cases individuals or sole traders. In conjunction with other groups (Project Galle 2005, Katugoda Jamath Association and Hands on Sri Lanka) we have assisted a further forty or so other businesses. These range from batik producers to plastic flower sellers, grocers to tyre repair shops, carpentry shops to poultry farms, tailors to shoe makers. Our support here will have directly sustained dozens of livelihoods and improved the outlook for businesses employing several hundred people. This is a core programme that will be continued indefinitely and will evolve in accordance with changing conditions on the ground.
Funding to 30/6/2005 is Rs6.6m (US$70,000)
3. Swim Lanka
The first of our initially planned four pools in the Swim Lanka project was launched on June 30 th in Thalpe. To recap, this project aims to relieve the trauma that many tsunami-affected children associate with water, and also teach them basic swimming techniques over several weeks. Once 'qualified', children receive an official Swim Lanka certificate at an award ceremony.
The Thalpe pool is located on private land just behind the beach. The lauch was a joyful occasion involving the 96 enrolled children and their families with the participation of Swim Lanka mastermind Julian Bolling and his partners. The five coaches that have been trained through Friends of the South's partnership with Swim Lanka in the Galle area then started classes immediately.
We aim to get the other three pools in the initial stage of this project open within the next few days, two in Katugoda and one in Unawatuna. Once this has happened we will decide with Julian on the most practical way of going forward with the programme. This will definitely involve moving these existing pools to new locations on the coast when children in current locations have finished their courses. In addition it may involve building more of the fiberglass pools, and the construction of larger, permanent pools so that many others can have the chance to learn to swim and enjoy the benefits that swimming offers.
Funding to 30/6/2005 is Rs1.2m (US$12,500)
4. Fishermens' Friends
Our scheme to revive the local fishing industry continues to grow. Over the last couple of months the production of boats has slowed down, as Mr Jayatillaka - the licensed Galle boatbuilder through whom we have been working - has had more and more demand for his boats. The Belgian army have provided a new boat shed for him, and his business is growing.
There are now many other organisations that are handing out boats up and down the coast, and we are making our vetting process even more rigourous to ensure we are not doubling up on boat hand outs. Even so, there are many needy fishermen and their families out there. There is still no central register of boats, so our local knowledge is invaluable, and we are liaising with all other bodies assisting the fishing industry to avoid duplication.
To date we have handed over 33 newly made boats as well other tools and equipment to help fishermen and fish retail stalls. We have an order for 5 new engines from Yamaha. The waiting list for engines is months - we will not see these before October. We are looking at setting up an outboard motor workshop here in Galle at Mr. Jayatilaka's new yard, turning it into a one-stop shop for boat repairs.
Funding to 30/6/2005 is Rs3.95m (US$41,000)
General
In addition to these four programmes, we have carried out a number of ad hoc projects since the tsunami. These can be loosely put into two groups, one for schools and children and the other for housing. The former includes our 1000 kids project (supplying1000 affected children with books, satchels and stationery), rebuilding a local school and other donations of books, clothing, musical instruments and scholarship funding. The latter includes funding three new homes, providing housing materials, back-to-home packs, water tanks and other domestic items. We will continue with such projects funds permitting, and provided our regular vetting criteria are met.
Continued thanks to the Web of Hope who have been running an online fundraising campaign for us allowing UK taxpaying donors to benefit from Gift Aid. Please visit their site at www.thewebofhope.com, and pass on to others who might be interested.
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