Keith "Chick" Denson's Special Appeal.

Your HELP is still needed at

PATUWATHA and DODANDUWA, SRI LANKA

The Latest Information on Chick's Appeal, FEBRUARY 2008,

Patuwatha and Dodanduwa are small communities on the west coast of Sri Lanka, located just south of Hikaduwa and about eight miles north of Galle. Most of the houses and the local school were destroyed by the tsunami and the local church and the curate's quarters were very badly damaged.

Two small multi-faith camps of families, who have lost everything, have been established there with tents supplied by the Japanese government. The camps are under the supervision of Sri Lanka Naval personnel. The camps are well run, orderly and are kept as clean and tidy as the circumstances permit. There was no proper shelter in the camps from the sun or rain other than the tents. There was only one "hole in the ground" toilet in each camp for the adults and children. All cooking had to be done out in the open over open fires.

Patuwatha Camp

The generous donations made so far are being used to improve the living conditions for these families, particularly the children, in these temporary camps. He expects that it will take at least twelve months to re-house these families, maybe even longer as the government is imposing a ban on house construction less than 100 metres from the high water line. It was within this prohibited zone that the families had their previous houses and plots of land so new land has to be found for them.

Chick and Daphne's Report February 2008

What started as a Tsunami appeal to all you generous Riggers and friends is now a fully fledged charity.
The name of the charity is Sri-Lanka- Child-Care and the Charities Commission Registration Number is 1116046.
This is the next stage in our mission to help relieve poverty, sickness and distress, the advancement of education and the preservation and protection of the good health of the children of Sri-Lanka.
The first goal was to help Tsunami affected children by providing them with basic human needs. Thanks to the donations that you made we were able to make life a little better for the children in the refugee camps.
The next goal was to provide a scholarship for 20 of the worst affected children so that they could get back to school and receive an education. We have been doing just that for over two years now thanks to the generous regular sponsorship of members of the Ex- RAF Aerial Erectors Association and other methods of fund raising.
This was just the tip of the iceberg, so our next goal was to increase the number of scholarships to 50 and we have succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.
Following a meeting with Mrs. Hazel Corteling who administered our support scheme, we visited Sumaga Farm at Baddegama.
Sumaga Farm turned out to be a fantastic social community project. It all started as a small college to teach life skills to young women from deprived, mostly Tsunami related, village backgrounds.
The College runs six month residential courses to teach useful skills such as sewing, health and hygiene, cooking, animal husbandry and organic gardening. Students are taught to look after chickens, pigs and goats and the manure from these animals is used to fertilize all the College fruit and vegetable gardens. The food produced is used to feed the students and the children attending the Day Care Centre. Any surplus meat, eggs, fruit and vegetables are sold in the farm shop to the local people.

The Sumaga Farm Day Care Centre,

The Day Care Centre was originally set-up and funded by a German charity which has now scaled back its support of the project and has transfered much of its funding to an African project. Sri-Lanka Child Care and the local Anglican Church are now providing the majority of the support for the centre. Thus our 20 children has now grown to 220.
The 200 deprived children are aged between 3½ years and 11 years old. They attend the Day Care Centre from 07-30 and are given breakfast, lunch and a snack before leaving at 16-00 hrs. They all receive an education which includes English while they are at the centre.

The Original Twenty,

Of the original 20 children, 4 have now reached the age where they are studying for their A-levels and one is now reading Chemistry at Colombo University.
The remaining 19 children are currently attending school in Galle, a daily 9 mile journey by bus, and are being provided with scholarship funding by Sri-Lanka Child Care.
A laptop computer (refurbished) was purchased and was recently flown out to Sri-Lanka and is on loan to the student studying at Colombo University so that she can do Power Point presentations etc as part of her studies. The laptop will be returned to the Sumaga Farm College equipment stock once she has graduated.

Redundant Laptop Computers

Chick is hoping to build up a small stock of laptop computers which can then be loaned out to Sumaga Farm College students while they are studying there or are successful in getting into University. Any donated redundant laptops would be gratefully received even ones which are not in working order. If the company you work for is re-equipping with the latest model, he can find a home for your/their old ones. Give him a call if you can help, details below.

Redundant Mobile Telephones.

This Fund Raising Scheme will not cost you a penny but will have a life-changing effect on at least 30 children in Sri-Lanka.
All you need to do is collect redundant mobile phones, look in your cupboards and drawers etc and ask all your friends to do the same. When you have collected some contact me and I will send you a Freepost envelope or you can send them to our Freepost address given below. If you all do this I guarantee that we will reach our goal by the end of the year.

SPONSOR a CHILD

We are seeking people willing to sponsor a child by making a regular monthly donation of £6 by Standing Order. More information on sponsoring a child can be obtained from me at the address below.

Raise Funds

Lastly, but not least, we are now looking to raise funds on a regular basis, perhaps by friends running fund raising events and/or by the gifting by standing order of a set amount per month.
We are looking for ideas and suggestions!!!.
If you think you can help with our fund raising etc. contact me, Chick, using my E-mail address :- kaydee1938@hotmail.com or telephone me on 01457 873837 or write FREEPOST RRAU-EUTK-GBTG, West View, Lawton Fold, Grotton, Oldham, OL4 4RJ
You can also help with the project by donating money on a regular basis ( minimum £1 per month ), donations of cash or cheques can be sent to me at the address below.
Once again, THANK YOU VERY MUCH and please keep up the good work for the sake of the children of Patuwatha and Dodanduwa.
      BEST   WISHES      Daphne and Chick Denson

Cheques must be made out to "Sri-Lanka-child-Care Ltd"