Archives
A review of our activities over the past two years.
Visit 2024
This year, Françoise and Gérard, the sponsors of two children, travelled to Sri Lanka ahead of us in January 2024. This gave them the opportunity to meet their sponsored children, accompanied by our coordinator, Manju.
Then, in February 2024, three of us travelled to Sri Lanka again – the Secretary, the Deputy Treasurer and the Chair – to review our work with our partner Sahanoda, with whom we run two initiatives: a sponsorship programme and the sponsorship of a nursery school.
In south-eastern Sri Lanka, we were welcomed by other coordinators, including Nalini, who accompanied us to the two schools for children with disabilities and to the Navajeevana Rehabilitation Centre, to whom we handed over more than 300 pairs of glasses in response to their request last year.
Four members of the association then joined us to meet their sponsored children and attend dance performances, as well as IT and English lessons at the La Mignonne resource centre, run by our coordinator Manju, who has also organised a sponsorship programme in his village.
Together, we all travelled on to Lunugamvehera to meet teachers and sponsored children.
As in previous years, all these meetings were filled with joy and gratitude.
Following a request from Sahanoda and thanks to donations, we were able to serve meals to 160 children and parents during this gathering.
We returned from this visit to Lunugamvehera with requests for new sponsorships for young children living in vulnerable circumstances.
We are also currently setting up a new initiative: the CHANDIMA ENGLISH TUTORING PROGRAMME, following a request from Navajeevana, which would like its staff to improve their English.
Visit 2023
In the end, in March 2023, there were four of us setting off. The welcome we received from our partners at the Sahanoda Foundation was as moving as it was warm. Students had travelled from far and wide to see us again and express their gratitude for the support of their sponsors.
We travelled across the whole of the south of the country to visit families and children in Moreketiara, Lunugamvehera and Gintota, as well as the schools for children with disabilities in Kirinda and Hakmana, the nursery school in Lunugamvehera, and the NAJAVEEVANA REHABILITATION CENTRE in Tangalle.
The director of Sahanoda, the Venerable Haputhale Pangnarama, and our coordinators, Manil, Diana, Manju and Nalani, were on hand to organise these visits and provide an update on the sponsorship programme and other initiatives.
Everywhere we went, we were welcomed with flowers, exotic fruits, meals, dancing, music and heartfelt words of thanks. You can read some of the children’s letters in the TESTIMONIALS section and see more photos in the GALLERY section.
Current needs: During our visit to the optical centre at the Navajeevana Rehabilitation Centre, our coordinator Nalani told us about the difficulty and cost involved in sourcing spectacle frames. We are therefore currently collecting spectacles, which we will take to Sri Lanka during our next visit in March 2024. Please contact us if you would like to take part in this initiative.
Following our last visit and a request from our partners at the Sahanoda Foundation, we are currently looking for sponsors for two students and two young children. For more information, see the sections ‘OUR INITIATIVES’ and ‘SUPPORT US’.
Visit 2022
Due to the political instability and economic crisis in Sri Lanka, we were unable to visit the country in 2022. However, we organised several initiatives to support our families and schoolchildren there. Details of this support can be found under the ‘OUR INITIATIVES’ section of the menu.
Visit 2020
Every year, a number of sponsors travel to Sri Lanka to get to know the children they sponsor. To date, around thirty sponsors have made the trip and had the opportunity to meet the children they support, which brings great joy to everyone and strengthens the bonds between them.
In March 2020, five people travelled with Patricia Biron. As usual, with the help of our coordinators, we organised receptions with our partners at Sahonada in Dehiwalla and Lunugamvehera, where we met the children and their families. We also visited the Wikipithi schools, as well as La Mignonne, where we attended a dance performance organised by the children and their teachers, and then the schools in Hakmana and Kirinda. We returned to France just before the airport closed in mid-March due to a few cases of Covid-19.
Covid 19
The Sri Lankan government very quickly put restrictions in place: hotels, restaurants, shops, schools and universities were closed. Children did not attend school for four months. Most students followed their lessons remotely. Fortunately, some sponsors bought computers for their sponsored children, which made it easier for them to keep up with their studies. Schools reopened in stages on 10 August 2020 but closed again in October 2020 due to the potential resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The airport’s opening, originally scheduled for 1 August 2020, had been postponed to 15 August 2020, but since then international airport services have been temporarily suspended until the first quarter of 2021. The reopening of the borders to travellers has been delayed, with no official date announced. Despite very strict measures and a curfew, the Sri Lankan government reported 6,596 cases of COVID-19 in mid-October 2020, including 3,561 recoveries and 14 deaths.
Visit 2019
Following our annual visit in February/March 2019, one of our sponsors, Nathalie, travelled alone to Sri Lanka to meet her sponsored child, Upidya. She arrived on 21 April 2019, a date that, sadly, the Sri Lankans will never forget, as it was the day a series of attacks struck hotels frequented by foreigners and three Catholic churches. On that day, 158 people were killed and 400 were injured.
A curfew was immediately imposed across the whole island for an indefinite period. To help calm the situation, the internet connection was cut off. Thanks to the help of our coordinators, a driver and a pass, Nathalie was able to reach our friends on the south coast. Despite the terrifying situation, she braved the deserted streets in a tuk-tuk to meet her goddaughter and her family, who were too afraid to leave their home. Nathalie’s journey was an emotional one. Of course, she had to cut her stay short because the atmosphere in the country was so grim. Upadya’s family were very grateful for her visit; they were delighted to share a few moments together and strengthen their bonds.
Visit 2018
Following its annual visit to Sri Lanka, the Chandima charity wishes to support two new projects:
- Sponsorship of two schools catering exclusively for children
and teenagers with disabilities. The resources available to care for
and support these children remain very limited, even though
they have specific educational needs.
- Completing the finishing works on a house where Malmi, Shewami, Sasmi and their mother
live in extremely precarious conditions. There are no doors or windows to protect them
from the outside world, particularly from the many wild elephants found
in the Lunugamvehera region.
A fundraising campaign has been launched. We have raised enough funds to carry out these two projects. We would like to thank you in advance for your involvement and support!
Visit 2017
In 2017, CHANDIMA continued its sponsorship programme in partnership with the Sahanoda Foundation and continued to sponsor nursery schools and the La Mignonne resource centre in the Nakulugamuwa region. As is the case every year, students who have completed the programme leave, making way for new children.
New for this year, the La Mignonne resource centre welcomed a volunteer for a month in February/March 2017. This year, La Mignonne hopes to set up a sponsorship scheme to enable the most disadvantaged children to obtain the necessary school supplies, uniforms and shoes.
2017: Aid for flood victims
Your support in response to the floods
Thanks to your generosity, we were able to raise the fantastic sum of €900. Manju, our coordinator in Sri Lanka, was able to organise a distribution of school supplies. He worked in collaboration with a local MP to obtain a list of children who had lost everything. The MP came to attend the distribution to meet the children. As a result, 70 children in the Tangalle region were able to benefit from this first distribution of school supplies. There will be another distribution next week for 200 children in the Matara region. All the photos from the distribution can be viewed here!
A big thank you to you all
from the children
and their families.
Aid for the victims of the terrible floods
Once again in its history, Sri Lanka is facing a humanitarian disaster. Since 25 May 2017, torrential rain has lashed the country, causing devastating floods and landslides that have swept everything in their path. According to the WHO, more than 500,000 people have been displaced, 2,788 homes have been destroyed and 18,413 homes have been partially destroyed. The regions most affected by these floods are Ratnapura, Galle, Matara and Kalutara.
Call for donations
Among the worst-affected regions are the districts of Colombo, Kaluthara, Galle, Rathnapura, Matara and Hambantota – areas where we are working to support children’s education through sponsorship programmes and nursery school funding schemes.
There has been extensive damage to schools and children’s belongings. The Sri Lankan government has pledged to provide two school uniforms, a pair of shoes and exercise books for each child. However, the children need to replace all their school supplies: pens, pencil cases, exercise books, etc.
