Project Update

Current Projects

ASL is currently supporting the following projects for children:
	ASL TWINS Global School Partnerships ASL TWINS initially began in the immediate aftermath of tsunami, helping channel donations directly from schools abroad to schools in Sri Lanka. This enabled the Sri Lankan schools to replace lost resources and get children back to class quickly. These new links helped schools to begin friendships across the seas so that students could learn more about each other's culture and add a global element to their learning. TWINS has now shifted its focus away from disaster relief and we now encourage tangible and meaningful links between schools that are based on regular educational and cultural exchanges. The program is equipped with a full-time team of skilled local and international staff. TWINS Field Officers support over 80 partnerships with Sri Lankan schools spanning the coastal and inland areas between Hikkaduwa and Tangalle. The Rainbow Centre AdoptSriLanka funds the majority of running costs for the Rainbow Centre including education materials, teacher salaries, rent, utilities, nutritious food and milk, medicine, uniforms, staff salaries and transportation. The Rainbow Centre gives daily support to children in south western Sri Lanka suffering the effects of extreme poverty. These children live in slum accommodation or on the street with parents who are unable to provide them with adequate care. (For more information click here) Lighthouse Community Pool - Free Swimming Classes for School Students Following the tsunami, AdoptSriLanka funded the 'Swim for Life' program which, in partnership with SwimLanka, taught 1000 tsunami affected children to swim in mobile swimming pools along the southern coast. The Lighthouse Community Pool was officially opened in July 2008, to provide the Galle community with a permanent location for these life saving swimming classes. This 25 meter pool provides a forum for local school children to receive swimming lessons completely for free of charge. The pool is open 6 days and week and 3 Sri Lankan coaches provide children and other marginalised community groups with the skills and confidence needed to survive in the water. ASL TWINS Annual Creative Writing Workshops and Competition This annual event is coordinated by AdoptSriLanka as part of the Galle Literary Festival's Community Outreach Program. Since 2007 children from schools around Galle have come together for this annual event to express themselves creatively and be awarded special prizes. In 2009 a series of workshops has been added to the program which will be led by published writers and festival representatives. ASL TWINS English Camps The weekend long English Camps were piloted in March 2009 involving 6 schools from rural areas around Galle. Over 100 children had the chance to immerse themselves in the English language while enjoying a variety of educational tours and group activities linked to their curriculum. Past children's projects supported by AdoptSriLanka: Interschool Debating Tournament The School Debating Competition was a special tournament in Sinhala medium that involved 80 schools from the southern province. The tournament culminated in a final held bout which was aired on National radio. This project had the full backing of the Southern Provincial Education Department. Pahumine House ASL provided funds for the building and equipping of a wing of this home. This was to allow space for up to 100 orphaned children from Sri Lanka's ethnic minorities, many of whom had been badly affected in the Eastern Province. Swim Lanka This project provided transportable swimming pools to villages around the coast, helping to provide swimming and water confidence. As a result, over 10,000 children have received swimming confidence certificates through this program. Weligama Trauma Project The Weligama Trauma Project completed its last children's program on Sri Lankan New Years Day 2006. From August 2005, we had run children's programs twice a week in three different displacement camps in the Weligama District. These programs often had over 60 children in attendance at one time. From April through to December 2006, the team shifted their attention to the children of Nugagahahena Village Mirissa and continued the same programs. ASL has now finished all children's trauma programs. Ruhunu State Receiving Home ASL held a charity dinner to specifically raise funds for The RSRH and was one of the first organisations to support this project. Click here to view before and after photos. Our involvement with this project was finished in March 2005, after a report in the press called into question the suitability of one of the Managers. Donors of unspent funds were notified and agreed for their funds to be reallocated to other projects. ASL Pre School Building Program As part of ASL's commitment to supporting the development of the children of Sri Lanka we ran a Pre School Building Program. ASL has constructed 8 preschools, all of which are now open and educating children from the ages of 3 - 5yrs. To view a pictorial report of the schools which have been built so far, please click here.