Twins has been operating for 18 months now with 100 Sri Lankan schools benefiting from cultural, sporting and some financial input from their overseas twin school.

It is by far the biggest project under the Adoptsrilanka umbrella with a staff of 6 people on the ground and various counterparts in both the UK and Australia.

In the early days of the tsunami, the project was concerned with simply getting children back to school and helping with the provision of all necessities including clothes, shoes and educational material. We also built new classrooms, many toilet blocks, libraries, 4 Montessori schools, and several boundary walls that were destroyed by the wave.

We are still finishing off the building work and hope to have completed it all by mid August 2006.

These days we try to achieve the maximum educational benefits from such a relationship and we assure that 100 % of any funds sent to the Sri Lankan schools is used to directly improve the quality of education that the student receives. We are encouraging the cultural, educational and sporting links between schools and are not putting as much emphasis on financial benefit.  Now that the tsunami is behind us, ASL do not want to encourage a climate of constant financial hand out.

 All donations  sent by their overseas Twin will be monitored and spent on  requested educational, sporting and cultural needs. Once a request is made and agreed on, the Twins Field Officer and the Department Head get quotes and then go shopping.

Twins will expand again this year as we enter a new phase of overseas student exchanges. We have clearly stimulated a very wonderful relationship between children internationally with this exciting project.

Our Twin’s Officers visit every school monthly to discuss needs and to assist in developing ideas that can be shared with their Twin school overseas. There have been some wonderful exchanges in the field of sport with international visits, art competitions and exhibition exchanges. We are also developing very successful English activity exchanges where the children swap ideas on a pre-chosen subject and make international  comparisons.

The Field Officers keep an open dialogue with their overseas Twin by e-mail and post.

Recently some of the senior students from both Harrow School and Monmouth School have visited for a voluntary secondment with their Twin school and this has strengthened the bonds and given Sri Lankan children a truly unique experience.
The project goes from strength to strength.

For Details on School Twinning and other Adoptsrilanka projects please visit: www.adoptsrilanka.com or our new site www.twins-srilanka.org

Twins is completely reliant on donations and wouldn’t be able to exist without the generous and magnificent effort the overseas schools make.  
Donations can be made to support ASL Twins through Children in Crisis Reg. Charity (1020488) www.childrenincrisis.org.uk

ASL has committed that 100% of Twins school donations goes directly to it’s SL Twin. Currently the Adoptsrilanka General Donation Fund is paying all Twins Admin Charges. We estimate this year they will be $75,000USD.
If you are an interested donor and would like to make an independent donation to the general administration of ASLtwins:
Please send a £sterling cheque made payable to Children in Crisis (With Adoptsrilanka Twins Admin written on the back) to Caroline Barnes, Children in Crisis 206-208 Stewarts Road, London SW8 4UB. To make a credit card donation please call 020 7627 1040

If you are a UK school interested in joining the Twins Programme please follow instructions by clicking on information package. The programme is currently not taking on any new Twins but we are happy to answer any questions you wish for future inrolment.