Investment in Education has opened doors.

St. Mary's school as an emergency shelter in December 2004

We first came across St. Mary's school in December 2004 when we were looking for Colin, the fisherman who prevented me from drowning in the Asian Tsunami.      The school  was used as emergency shelter for  the fishing village which had been destroyed. Over the railway tracks from the village, the school was in dilapidated state.  One big dreary room with a leaky roof.

St. Mary's school in March 2005.

 FODAD has been  helping the school since we first returned  to Sri Lanka in March 2005.  The support our family and friends have given has meant that the children get a nutritious meal every day and  new shoes  and uniforms each year. We have put in classroom dividers, there is a leak free roof, running water,  computers, musical instruments, prefects' jackets and many other small things which  make the children's' school somewhere to feel proud of.    We also give attendance and merit prizes.  In addition, we pay a monthly contribution towards light-bulbs, the electricity bill and toilet cleanser.    We have also paid 2 teachers for the past 6 years.  The base cost to us is about £9000 per year.

St.Mary's school, October 2015

We have had some real successes and for the first time in the school's history, 7 children have gone on to other schools to take 'A' levels. 2 boys have already passed them.  One  of these boys has done an air-conditioning course and is working  and another has joined the Police Force.

For 7 years we paid  for extra lessons for children after school especially in those subjects where there was no teacher e.g. English.     To remedy this problem, we opened a new school-room on the beach.  This became so popular that this year we added another classroom.

We now have 2 school-rooms on the beach and 5 different  teachers on different days of the week.  Each weekday afternoon  a  teacher comes to teach English grammar, Spoken English, Maths, Science or  History.  The children are so enthusiastic that they turn up early to make sure they have a place in the class-room.  We have noticed a real improvement in their English.  Yesterday, the English Master told us that he believes that at least 4 of them will pass their 'o' levels.  If they do, they will be the first children from the fishing village to do so!

Classroom on the beach  1 opened in 2014

Classroom on the beach  2 opened in 2015

Thank you so much for your support.  There truly is Shared Hope for a Better Future!

10 Years of Happiness and Educational Success with Fathima Orphanage.

Don with the girls on our very first visit to the orphanage in 2005

Our last trip to the beach with friends from England earlier this year.

We were introduced to the Fathima Orphanage in March 2005.  Don's niece Liz in Ireland  had heard about this wonderful orphanage school  and we visited just after they had a new intake of girls who had been orphaned by the Tsunami.  We were overwhelmed with sadness but so heartened  by the Principal who loved all the girls as if they were here own.  Since that day we have visited the orphanage every time we have been in Sri Lanka and sometimes 2 or 3 times within those visits.  In December 2005 with the financial help of my colleague Angelo we took the girls out for their first day outside the orphanage walls and now we go to the beach once or twice a year.

Earlier this year with  wonderful Mrs Mohamed. One  of the newest girls is  on the far left. We have known the other 2 girls for years!.

At the beach  earlier this year with  girls we have known for 10 years.

FODAD supports the secular teaching at the school - English, music, economics, cookery and needlework.    The orphanage which houses over 80 girls  has seen great academic successes with girls reaching A level standard.  4 of our girls took nursery school courses and the couple who have got married are still in touch with us. One is expecting a baby any day now.   The cost of this invaluable support is approximately £4300/US$6600  per year.  It is impossible to calculate the difference this has made to the girls who, after the Principal and teachers, see Della and Don as their only family.  Those of you who have supported these girls have brought happiness beyond measure.

A little bit of bonkersness celebrating elders' day this week. 

Of things Medical

When we first returned to Sri Lanka after the 2004 Tsunami we were told by a local Priest who had a helped  the fishermen in our village  that his dream was to open a free clinic,  He said that he had 3 rooms he could put to good use.     We provided the money and clinic was opened late in 2005.

The sign above the clinic

The clinic which is open every Friday morning  still operates in the same 3 rooms and  has just under 4000 registered patients.  8 doctors work in rotation on a voluntary basis and FODAD supplies all the drugs at a cost of approximately £4600/US$7500 per year.
We visit  the clinic every time we return to Sri Lanka and are quite humbled  by the sheer dedication of the doctors and of Neighbours in Christ who run the clinic.
18 months ago we were asked if we could bring vitamins when we visit.    On Friday October 9th  we were able to donate the vitamins which we had brought with us to the duty doctor

Don with the Doctor with some of the donated vitamins.

We visited the clinic again on Saturday 10th  as we we had a free eye-clinic for the aged. Sadly, we could only cope with 85 people throughout the day in a makeshift optician surgery on a bus and we had to turn another 30 away.  So much thanks to everyone who supports us.

On the bus

The bus which became a surgery.

Chatting with the patients.

All Things Academic

Lots to report on since our last blog, particularly about edcuation which is our top priority and has really been showing results in the last couple of months.   In May we were delighted to hear that Smith (one of Doreen's sons - whose story you can read here: http://wwwfriendsofdellaanddon.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/july-2014-week-2-blog.html) was accepted to do his A-levels at St Sebastian's College.  He has been there for about a month now and we hear he has settled in well and is already a valued member of the school cricket team! We have known and supported Smith for 7 years now and to see him take advantage of this wonderful opportunity as a result of his own hard work is really at the heart of what FODAD seeks to achieve.

Smith on his first day  

Smith on his first day

We are also thrilled to report that our classroom on the beach which opened last September (more info here http://wwwfriendsofdellaanddon.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/education-educationeducation.html) continues to be a huge success.  The classes there are so well-attended that they frequently overflow into the additional room next door and the classroom is now equipped with its very own ceiling fan to make the lessons more comfortable for the children.  There are two wonderful English teachers who run classes 4 times a week, and there are also extra maths and science classes being held once a week as well.  This is way beyond what we ever imagined 10 years ago.  Improving the children's level of conversational English in particular is crucial in allowing them to break out of the poverty cycle and really change their lives.  We can't thank our supporters enough for enabling FODAD to provide these opportunities and allowing us to continue into our second decade!

The classroom (and ceiling fan!)

English lesson 

Kishmi

10th anniversary video

It's hard to imagine that FODAD has been operating since 2005.  Even stranger when you think that 'the iPhone wasn't released until 2007 - 2 years after we started - and the iPad only came along in 2010.  Facebook opened up to the general public in 2006 and YouTube marks its own 10th anniversary in 2015.

So much has changed since we started and all of these "new" technologies have allowed us to reach out to hundreds of supporters around the world and allow them to see the benefits that FODAD delivers, simply because of their donations.

No one can predict the technology that we will take for granted in 10 years time, or even if FODAD will still continue. But there will be thousands of people who have benefited over the last decade simply because of the generosity of the friends of FODAD. Thank you so much.

Creating opportunities

Teaching in the Village School

Julia and Malcolm Banfield discover first-hand the difference FODAD is making to the Ratmalana fishing community.

I met Della and Don when they returned to Don’s former workplace, Wadham College at the University of Oxford, some ten years after they had been saved from the Tsunami in Sri Lanka by a Ratmalana fisherman, Colin.

Their enthusiasm for the country, its people and the charity they set up was so infectious that not long after our meeting, my husband and I began looking at flights, itineraries and hotels in Sri Lanka.

We have just returned from a marvellous fortnight touring this fascinating country. Aside from the warmth of the people, fabulous food and breath-taking landscapes, a highlight of our visit was spending a couple of days in Ratmalana, discovering first-hand the contributions FODAD is making to this small fishing community.

Sandwiched between the railway line and the beach, Ratmalana still shows signs of the destruction caused by the Tsunami on local dwellings, though villagers have done their best to rebuild their homes using corrugated iron and wood. “Following the Tsunami, the government provided apartments for those who lost everything, but the flats are too far from the beach for the fishermen to be able to get to work, so they prefer to remain here,” explained fisherman and village elder Udaya who runs FODAD in Sri Lanka.

Laundry is drying on the stones between the railway lines, children play cricket in every available space, and fishermen sit repairing their nets. Colin invited us to look in his home where, like most people in the village he has very few personal possessions and his sister and her daughter share a single mattress on the floor. The hot sunshine, combined with the brightly coloured clothes of the villages and their friendly greetings to us do little to disguise the extreme poverty of the village environment.

The School on the Beach

Sitting in on an English lesson with a teacher funded by FODAD, the enthusiasm of the children who range in age from five to fifteen is not dulled by the breaks enforced by the noise of the train as it rattles past on a regular basis. The children attend state school in the mornings but come voluntarily to the classes in English, Maths and Science provided by FODAD at the school on the beach four times a week.

“A good level of spoken English will help these children get better jobs, particularly in work related to the growing tourist industry in Sri Lanka,” said the teacher.

Asking the children what they wanted to do after leaving school, the responses included air hostess, engineers, teachers and tour guides. Ambitious choices when you realise that many of these children have never travelled on a train, despite their proximity to the railway. The villagers are proud of one former classmate whose English was good enough to secure him a job in the prestigious Mount Lavinia Hotel which lies just along the beach.

We had brought with us a laptop donated by a Wadham student which was quickly set up and connected to the FODAD funded WiFi in order to help the children improve their computer skills as well as have access to online teaching and learning resources.

Visiting the state funded, FODAD supported Village school, we saw some of the same faces we had seen in the school on the beach. Here the Principal shows us a long list of items which FODAD money has provided including partitions to separate the different classrooms, books, materials and IT equipment.

Said the school Principal: “Many of these children are able to attend school because they have been helped to afford the obligatory school uniform and shoes. They also receive a meal here every day thanks to FODAD, and at playtimes they benefit from the playground equipment provided by the charity. A FODAD funded attendance prize has been helpful in encouraging pupils to come to school,” she added.

Having trained and worked as an English as a foreign language teacher, I was thrilled to be able to take some English classes at the village school and the school on the beach. It was extremely rewarding to work with such enthusiastic pupils, some of whom have achieved a very good level of English. Despite the fact that I speak no Singhalese, the students were polite and attentive, keen to practice their spoken English and to participate in a variety of learning exercises from singing to drawing and role-playing.

Before leaving the Ratmalana community Udaya, the village school Principal and the English teacher at the school on the beach, asked us to pass on their thanks to all those who are supporting FODAD, and for the help which is making such a difference to their lives.

As we waved goodbye to the smiling students we were showered with illustrated thank you notes that the younger children had made. Returning to Oxford where the majority of students have limitless opportunities ahead of them, it is encouraging to think that FODAD is giving these Sri Lankan children a chance to achieve their dreams.

Julia Banfield

Rose Robin visits the Village

See what Rose Robin got up to when she visited our village and got the kids involved in decorating the new school room on the beach in this incredible movie.

Rose is an inspiration and has helped traumatised children through free expression workshops.  She has worked across the world and more details can be found on her Painting Pirates website.

Our heartfelt thanks to Rose for making this incredible snapshot.

More a Link than a blog!

Recognise the new teacher?

We have been back in Sri Lanka for just over one week and have been so busy that we have not got round to blogging.  So, I decided to do a very short photo blog and also give you the link to FODAD on Facebook where there are lots more photos.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-Della-and-Don/175121529204742?ref=aymt_homepage_panel


Last week we were joined by Don's niece Claire.  Don had not seen her for several years as she lives and teaches in Doha. Sadly, she could only join us for 2 nights but it was wonderful!

Uncle and niece reunited

She joined us at the nursery school where we distributed some toys which had been donated by generous friends in Oxford and then we went to the school where she was welcomed by the band. They were playing the instruments donated in memory of her father.

The Plaque in our school in memory of Declan Gallagher

At the weekend we distributed toys and clothes donated by our friends

Minushi Della with her precious new doll

We also distributed 200 t-shirts given to us by the students at Wadham College.

Children, Don and teacher outside our classroom in their Wadham t-shirts.

There will be more news soon.  Would love to have your comments.