Progress Report, June 2008 (1.5 Mb pdf)

In 2006 Real Medicine Foundation made initial contribution to Tangalle Infant Relay for an enclosed playground for the children that was safe from the road, dust and dirt that was caused by heavy traffic. Recently, Real Medicine announced its continued support for Mr. Mahendra Andrahennadige and his TIR project by providing salary support for his pre-school teachers. Providing employment is just one of the ways Real Medicine Foundation supports Sri Lankan communities. Please click here for the teacher profiles.

While many of the original classes were filled with tsunami affected children, those that come now are from poor rural families who would not otherwise have access to pre-school care.   And TIR's services go well beyond mere instruction.  They provide meals for those children who have not been fed prior to coming and have sponsored families who cannot afford to support their children. Please click here and here to read about these families and their stories.

Hasindu is a very shy troubled boy.

Naweena has a hole in her heart

Over the past three years, TCR has provided invaluable services to the children of the Tangalle community however, Mr. Andradinghe project and community involvement has expended well beyond his original intention to have a school. Recognizing that he could do more for his community with the resources he had available, he established a hostel for 16 young women from out of town who needed a safe place to stay while studying in the Tangalle Area for government exams. He has also initiated a home gardening program with the Tangalle Agricultural Center for the 220 families of the Yayawatta Village on Tissa Road and has prepared a proposal for a Special Science Library Lab to meet the needs for the over 2000 college students in the Tangalle Area.

Mahendra, pictured here in blue as we make our first contribution for 2008, is a clear example of an emerging community leader. Although we are not the only supporter of his efforts, our contributions help offset his expenses and this enables him to realize the full potential of his visions for the long term benefit of his community. Please click here to visit his website.

Progress Report, March 2008

Tangalle Pre-school children perform year-end concert
By Mahendra Andrahennedige
December 2007

After the completion of two years, the children at Tangalle Pre-school and Kindergarten performed their skills and talents at this special event. It was held at Deepankara School Hall on December 14, 2007 at 2pm. The performances lasted nearly 4 hours. No special guests were invited for the event, but the teachers and parents of the children participated and organized this event very well. As it was a rainy day, the attendance was not as high as expected, but the rain did not affect the performance of the kids. The children’s parents and relatives were enthusiastic to see the talents of their kids that we had been able to support and develop at Tangalle Pre-school for the last two years. The parents highly appreciated our teachers’ dedication and commitment making their children’s performances possible.

There are 15 children graduating after a successful course at our pre-school.

We also organized some treats, such as cake, biscuits and bananas for the gathering. Finally, the kids were rewarded with a certificate and a gift that will help them for their first days at school next month.

Teacher Dilsha lighting the oil lamp		Children attending the event
Our youth hostel student Madushani MC’d the event		The girls in pink dresses welcoming guests
They extended greetings to each side to cover every angle		Girls and boys dressed up in traditional Sri Lankan children’s outfits. This is a traditional dance to show the power of unity: "If we are together, we are powerful" is the theme.
Village kids playing in an abandoned paddy field, after school. We don’t see that very often anymore.		This is a story of two generations. The modern young generation and old generation that lived in jungles are seen together.
A large sun flower is talking about the nature and its preservation.		The ancient Sri Lankan (wadda) dance with hunting tools.
One last song about nature and its beauty.

April 25, 2007
By Dr. Martina C. Fuchs

We visited the Day Care Center and Montessori School in Tangalle in March 2007 and were very impressed and happy to see what had been accomplished in just one year. In addition to their complete renovation and upgrading, Mahendra Andrahennedige has made his dream a reality and added a Hostel for 16 young girls, ages 16 and 17. This Hostel makes it possible for them to dedicate themselves to advanced education in Tangalle without having to travel many hours per day back and forth to the remote villages that are their homes. RMF has supported the renovation and upgrading of the Day Care Center and Montessori School together with partner organizations around the world - Mahendra had done a fantastic job in connecting the dots. RMF is committed to supporting the sustainability of these projects. Following is an update by Mahendra in his own words.

Construction of the front wall, Montessori Pre-school in Tangalle

Student List

March 21, 2007
By Mahendra Andrahennedige

"As we understand, as human beings, our greatness lies, not so much in being able to remake the world, but to make the world a better place… By doing the best we can, for ourselves not, but for the needy, where it is needed…"

HISTORY:

On December 26, 2004 a massive underwater earthquake triggered a Tsunami that unleashed its natural terror, resulting in one of the most catastrophic, deadliest disasters known in the history of man.

Even several months after the Tsunami, we realized among the community in and around Tangalle, how many people were still having so many hardships in their lives: children not attending schools, parents running here and there to get donations and to government officers to prepare and replace essential and necessary documents, totally neglecting their little kids at home. School girls were left alone at home or in orphanages without any protection...

In this situation, we took on the responsibility to start to do something for the neediest ones. We joined forces with our friends from Europe (Germany, England and France), the USA and Sri Lanka to raise funds to provide immediate and short-term humanitarian assistance.

Providing individual help to needy families:

• Renting two homes and employing three families in these homes until they would find a permanent home (LKR 13,500.00 per month).
• Helping a family to buy a spice grinding mill to originate an income to maintain two children as they were homeless and the father had lost his job (LKR 25,000.00).
• Helping an old grandmother to buy a sewing machine to carry on her life with her orphaned grandchild (LKR 25,000.00).
• Helping a father to buy a bicycle to continue to sell fish for his and his son's daily living (LKR 6,000.00).
• Helping a young father to build a pulling cart to sell snacks for his daily income (LKR 5,000.00).
• Helping a father of a little kid to make the floor cement for the child to play (LKR 5,000.00).
• Helping a grandmother to start a business making morning hoppers to support the seven family members living with her (LKR 9,500.00).
• Helping a young father to buy a fishing katamaran to feed his two children (LKR 30,000.00).
• Helping a young father to buy a second hand out-board engine to make it possible for him to do deep sea fishing again (LKR 60,000.00).
• Helping a man to buy a second hand three-wheeler to continue his business and support his two small children (LKR 100,000.00).
• Buying fishing nets for a fisherman who had lost them in the Tsunami (LKR 15,000.00).
• Buying fishing nets for a second fisherman who had lost his nets in the Tsunami (LKR 12,500.00).
• Helping a fatherless family of five (LKR 5,000.00 each month).
• Supporting a fatherless family of four (LKR 3,000.00 each month).
• Helping an old couple with their living expenses and medicine, and their widowed daughter to continue her coir rope making business (LKR 4,000.00 each month).
• Helping a university student, whose father is half blind and cannot work (LKR 3,000.00 each month).
• Helping a family to school two children (LKR 2,000.00 each month).
• Helping a fisherman to buy a new boat and built a new house after losing everything in the Tsunami (LKR 400,000.00).
• Buying a new boat (long distance) for a fisherman, who had lost it in the Tsunami (LKR 10,000,000.00).
• Implementing a new place for 16 pre-school children.
• Creating a hostel for 16 students.

PROJECTS:

• Continuing the individual help to needy families.
• Running a student home for 16 female high school students from remote villages.
• Finding individual sponsorships for their future studies at university.
• Running a kindergarten/ pre-school for 16 children.
• Opening a second kindergarten for 11 needy kids at a tsunami housing village.
• Creating 10 jobs: 1 director, 5 teachers, 2 maids, 1 gardener and 1 accountant.
• Creating a Social Service Center (registration in process).
• Managing a budget for all these projects: investments and sustainability.

1. Continuing the individual help to needy families :

Even before the Tsunami, many families were in need of social support. After the Tsunami, some of them have been helped, some haven't and still have real needs. We try to help some of them by providing direct help. We are also looking for individual sponsorship for these families, from Sri Lanka and from abroad.

	This is Kumara and his family in front of his home after the Tsunami. He received some help to build a new home, and his wife is working in our kindergarten. We are supporting them with LKR 2,000.00/month until the family can settle into normalcy. At the moment, they are much happier than before.
	Kusumalatha and her only son Sudesh in front of their home. Sudesh lost his father in the Tsunami. His mother had to start working at a road construction company as a laborer, bud did not earn enough money to give her son a better education. Now we are helping this mother and her son with monthly support to have a better education for Sudesh, who is hoping to become an engineer.
Pemanada is the father of four children. He is half blind, so he cannot find work for himself. His wife has to work as a cooking assistant at a nearby factory to feed the family. When their elder son got his exam to enter Engineering University, they found it very hard to find money for him. So we decided to help him by paying LKR3,000.00/month to cover his basic expenses at university. Now he is studying in his last year.
2. Running a student house (hostel) for 16 students:
This is like a youth hostel. Everything is provided (bed, food, tea...). The house was in bad condition and needed to be renovated.

The house is now fully furnished. There are four rooms for the students, one for the two maids, two bathrooms, a furnished kitchen, a dining room and a study room. There is also a garden, a TV and a telephone. The improvements are continuing.