Newsletter January 2020

From the 14th. to 25th. January 2020 Theo Mosch and Paul Davenport returned on behalf of the Foundation Kalapuwa to Sri Lanka. This time accompanied by two entrepreneur friends Diederik Mutsaerts and Roy Bens. This was an exceptional trip for all four and together they achieved much. An impression of the activities:

165 children to school

We are incredibly grateful for all the donations made to the “tikkie “promotion in December 2019 which has resulted in our being able to send almost 300 children to school for a year.
In January we arranged for 165 children to have a new school uniform, satchel and school-set. A fantastic result and in April we will be able to give the same to the next group .

Group Micro-Credits

As you will be aware one of our latest initiatives is the establishment of micro-credit groups under the auspices of Mr. Mangale Asoka, a local social worker. We are delighted to be able to report that a second round of 6 groups has been established and will be in operation by 1st.February 2020. Worth noting is the fact that all the groups are entirely composed of women and we appreciate the idea that this is aiding the female emancipation in Sri Lanka.
To give you an idea: this is group Fros BV (group 7) and the women receive a group-credit to buy and produce herbs, garment fabrics, a grain milling machine and tools for the repair and maintenance of Tuk Tuks. They are collectively responsible for the monthly repayments and this system has proved itself by putting the onus on each individual to support the group, No interest is levied on the loan (unique situation in Sri Lanka) but we require that each group together, twice a year, undertakes to prepare and deliver a meal to the Boys’ Orphanage.
Photos of groups 8 to 12 will follow.

Women’s Union

We received an invitation to visit the Women’s Union. This is a fantastic local initiative from 150 women who each donate 70 rupees every month to help impoverished people to organise funerals for those too poor to pay for this themselves. They arrange for a tent and chairs to be brought to the house where another part of the group cooks a meal (customary in Sri Lanka). To our great surprise we were greeted by a large gathering of women eager to make our acquaintance. Not surprisingly the first question was could we supply a new coffee machine as the old one was broken. Cost approx. Euro 500. We have approached a charitable organisation well known to us in the Netherlands to help fund this.

Violin

In our last news letter we informed you of our gift of a violin to a young girl studying music. One of our loyal supporters , Maike Kramer-Heijnen, sent us a message that she would like to sponsor the gift. Many thanks Maike and Jan. On this trip we paid another visit to the girl and were pleased with her progress. However, a bigger problem is the overall health of the family. The Father is ill and the Mother can only work sporadically and the children are unable to attend school regularly owing to the cost of transport. In April we will make a return visit to see if we can help the family further.

And then this :

• The repayments of existing micro-credits has, for the most part, suffered greatly as a result of the atrocious bombings last year. Many of those who had received a micro-credit loan are largely dependant on the Tourist Industry. No tourists – no income. Luckily the industry seems to be showing some improvement and signs of recovery. We sincerely hope so. We visited many of our people who are, in the main, optomistic about the future and we have allowed all some leeway in the repayments, at least until our visit in April 2020 when we will re-evaluate the situation.
• Also during this visit we supplied 3 wheelchairs to people in need and 6 children were given bicycles so that they could go to school and avoid the public transport costs.
• We accompanied our cook Nirmala on her ‘Meals on Wheels’ route that we had set up some time ago. Twice a week she cooks and delivers meals to 20 elderly and socially dependant people and we experienced the gratitude with which the meals were received. This is a great adition to our activities.
• We encountered a major problem at the Boys’Orphanage.When we arrived it was apparant that the supply cupboards were empty as were the stomachs of the boys. This is a massive problem for which we do not have, as yet, a permanent and sustainable solution. This time we decided on direct action and filled a van with food stuffs and supplies (personally funded) which we took to the orphanage. A whole table full, but this will not last long with so many mouths to feed.

On the 22^nd. April 2020 we will be returning to Sri Lanka. If you have any questions or suggestions, or are able to help us in any way, please get in touch.