NEWS UPDATE AUGUST 2005.

It’s been a while since the last news update as we’ve all been very busy.  Lots has been happening, we’re glad to say, mainly thanks to the valiant hard work of our volunteers, Laura Dunham and Katie Posner, and of course Jake Zarins working for both Project Galle 05 and Friends of Unawatuna.  Thanks, too, to Erik Coleman, working for Project Galle 05 and coming up with some great ideas for us to get involved with!

Laura writes:   "The town is starting to shape up with many new businesses, restaurants and guesthouses opening.  There are lots of tourists in town which is excellent for morale" . 

ONGOING PROJECTS

Unawatuna MV School

The MV School in Unawatuna now has its computer room nearly completed, with 10 new computers and internet access to go in.  We also plan to fund a computer teacher for a year, who can teach basic computer skills to the students and also train up a couple of teachers who can continue the training when the year is up. The internet access could be really useful in helping to maintain links between the MV School and schools in the UK.

Unicef have donated material for school uniforms for all the students.  The Head Teacher has asked us for money to pay for them to be made, which we are happy to do.

Also at the MV School, work will soon commence on the building of the much desired toilet block, now we have found building quotes within a reasonable range.  This should meet the needs of over 900 students and staff.  Work on the perimeter wall is still in progress (it’s a very long wall).

Buena VistaSchool

At the Buena Vista School we have been asked to provide them with more toilets, now word has got around that we can do loos and walls!

UnawatunaMontessori School

The Unawatuna Montessori Pre-school looks after children aged between 3-4 years old.  Located on the main Galle Road in Unawatuna, the school is attended by 29 children from low income families.  Each child attends free of charge and many of the children come from families affected by the Tsunami.  The building itself was flooded by the Tsunami.  The buildings structure, including walls, roof, windows and doors are intact.  However, many of the facilities, for example, toys and furniture are now broken or washed away.  Friends of Unawatuna agreed to supply the school with new toys, uniforms and furniture. Please go to the Montessori school Projects page here for more details. Special thanks to Laura Thompson and Katie Posner for their work with this school.

Karapitiya Teaching Hospital

We were asked by the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital to supply them with medical equipment specifically for laparoscopy and endoscopy and, as Sian Hughes (the Welsh/Australian doctor who was caught up in the tsunami) and her husband, Tony Heselev, was going out there in July, they were able to hand over the donation personally, which were gratefully received.   Thank you, Sian and Tony.    Sian is also closely involved in forging links between the hospital she works for, the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, and Karapitiya in Galle, so she will be visiting Sri Lanka again in the near future.  Sian and Tony, with the surplus money from Friends of Unawatuna, also provided the neo-natal ward and the paediatric ward with two TVs and video players to relieve the tedium of in-patient care.

Sian wrote:  ‘Two surgeons in Karapitiya had requested equipment and we met them to discuss how we could help.  Dr Galketiya had been trained in laparoscopy keyhole surgery in Sydney and has equipment but did not have the spare parts required to continue its use.  Laparoscopic surgery is much less invasive so the hospital is very fortunate to have a surgeon with his training’. 

Sian and Tony also visited Hambantota, which is in a poor state, very badly hit by the Tsunami with insufficient aid coming in, even after eight months. 

The Esala Full Moon Festival has been going full tilt, bringing much needed revenue to the village through the arrival of thousands of pilgrims and Sri Lankan  visitors.  Friends of Unawatuna were able to pay towards the illuminations and tannoy system through the Wella Devalaya Temple and the Meegaha Temple, contributing to the hectic atmosphere of a regular annual festival.  Photos can be seen here

At the Meegaha Temple building work has been completed on the repair of the Tsunami-damaged wall, and Laura tells us the work looks “amazing”.  Great to have something completed. 

The Roomassala Temple has asked us to pay for two concrete moonstones to be made, in remembrance of the tsunami victims.  They are to be decorated, and should be a moving symbol of recent events. 

Gardening equipment has been presented to recipients by Jake, Laura and Kate. This was organised by a local Environmental Group, with a Ministry of Agriculture representative on board, who plan to follow up the project.  Friends of Unawatuna were able to help fund this project. We hope to maintain links with this group as Jake found them to be very impressive and well-organised. 

And new potential projects:

A very exciting new project still in its early stages is the Livelihoods Programme, in co-ordination with Project Galle 05.  This programme hopes to provide grants to beneficiaries planning to start up new businesses. The scheme is already underway in the Galle region, and Friends of Unawatuna plan to provide funds for Project Galle to expand to cover Unawatuna.  This could cover such variety of occupations such as replacing a peanut seller’s stock to purchasing deep freezers, from surf wax to chisels, grocery stock to repaying recently taken on loans.  Already livelihoods identified have included tea shops, batik dyers, fruit stalls, beauty parlours, wood carvers and communication centres, jewellery makers and gardeners.  Project Galle 05 will manage and coordinate the Programme, as they are already successfully doing in Galle.  

A second exciting project also in the pipeline is the Tsunami Scholarship Programme (TSP).  This is a Sri Lankan registered charity in Galle set up to provide financial assistance towards the educational needs of children who have been directly affected by the Tsunami.  They are already supporting children in three schools in the Galle region, and hope to expand into Unawatuna with our support.  We are currently exploring with them how best to do this.

Both this Programme and the Livelihoods Programme feel very close to our original Statement of Intent in that they aim to offer direct assistance to individuals to re-establish and develop their lives.

Donations and Support

Thank you to the many donations that just keep on coming, among them:

£2,345 from the fundraising dance at the Sandy Lodge Golf Club in Northwood, Middlesex, arranged by Richard and Barbara Posner.  Thank you SO much for your fantastic efforts.

£700 from the Paragon Trust in Tunbridge Wells, thank you for your generosity.

Thank you to the Kuwait English School for your generous donation and your wishes for success in our efforts to rebuild lives in Unawatuna.     

Thank you to David Birch, who raised £450 by running the Chester Half Marathon in May  -  well done!  This included £100 from his employers HSBC – thank you.

Thank you to Max Desoutter and his drumming teacher, Mrs Sigworth and class, who raised money through fund raising – fantastic!

Also thank you to the Sheringham Independent in North Norfolk for spreading the word and publishing our news updates in their newspaper.  Great to know just how many people are still following closely the aftermath of the Tsunami eight months later. 

And finally, thank you so much for £1,098.88 from Northwood College, which includes the sale of T-shirts designed by one of their students, with the logo “Break Through the Waves of Destruction”.  This is yet another donation from the college, so thank you Mrs Helen Levy for coordinating this (I wonder if you could send us a picture of the logo for the website?). 

Thank you also to all of you who made such generous contributions received by Friends of Unawatuna but not mentioned.

And good-bye to…

Sadly, two of our trustees, Claire and Jamie Wilkinson, will be stepping down from their role as trustees at the end of August, as they plan to go travelling later this year around the African continent.   They will be deeply missed, and have been invaluable in the creation and setting up of this charity.  We will miss them hugely, and wish them happiness, good health and safe passage in their travels. 

We must also say a big thank you and good-bye to Kate Posner, who has been working so hard in Unawatuna to get the money spent and the projects up and running.  She will be leaving the village next week to get on with the rest of her life, and will be very much missed by us all.  Thank you, Kate, for your time, hard work, and dedication.

With kindest regards,

Friends of Unawatuna

Jake Zarins

Claire and Jamie Wilkinson

Jon Walter and Tanya Smart

Matt Rose

Nick Keegan

Tarquin and Tine Desoutter