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 22nd. 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.
Sincerely,
On behalf of the Foundation Kalapuwa
Theo Mosch and Paul Davenport
Stichting Kalapuwa Sri-Lanka
Website: www.kalapuwa.nl
kvk: 61002550
email: info@kalapuwa.nl
iban: NL04RABO0190466855
ANBI nr: 8541.59.861
Veenestraat 21
3751 GE Bunschoten Spakenburg
Following on from a meeting with Jaap Plugge we have been in contact with the Director of the AGIO Training centre in Kalutara. Jaap has been working for a number of years in Colombo and knows the Dutch sponsor and director of this project. The centre focusses on the proffessional trades such as welder, electrician, plumber and a/c tecnicician. The students study for one year and achieve the Certificate 3, then are placed in a work-experience job and finally another 6 months training. At the end of this the students have a Certificate 4 which is comparable with a MBO trade diploma in the Netherlands. We were informed that the number of potential students for the AGIO was insufficient . By working together we have now been able to introduce boys from the Orphanage and suitable boys from the Peninsula who are known to us, to the school intake procedure. The boys receive not only an education but also regular meals, books and school requirements, a uniform and RS 1300 ( euro 6.50) per month pocket money. When they are placed in a work-experience job they receive RS 12,500 per month. We are delighted to be able to have this coperation and it proves the point that by working together amazing things can happen and to put the right people in the right place.
This young girl came with her father to the hotel to ask us if we could purchase a violine for her. Our first reaction was that this was outside our normal remit but talking to them we realised that this was a very special little girl who was the only girl in her music class without her own violine. She is not only highly inteligent but also musically gifted. A violine would cost euro 45, we immediately arranged a visit to a musical instrument maker. She has had only ten lessons but we were impressed with her aptitude. This was one of those ‘feel good ‘moments and we, jokingly, told her that when she becomes a famous violinist she can pay us back. Who knows?
This time our special thanks are directed to the Matthijsen family from the Edel Collection in Bunschoten. Your help has resulted in a new computer location, new furniture and educational materials for the Koshena School in Payagale. This one of the poorest schools in the area and this help has had an enormous impact for the students and their education, especially with computer studies.
