Background

Since 2013, which was my first volunteering trip to Sri Lanka, I along with many amazing supporters, have raised in excess of £25,000 from fundraising activities including sponsored cycle rides and swims, second-hand clothes sales, suppers and via Just-Giving donations.

We’ve delivered and supported

• Trainings on Report Writing and Monitoring and Evaluation at Women’s Development Centre (WDC) in Kandy
• 1-1 coaching and mentoring for managers in-situ at WDC and remotely via Skype
• Workshops on Engaging Parents in their Children’s Education at WDC
• Introduction of a staff appraisal system at WDC
• Support for a blind braille teacher working at WDC which was in the form of an electronic braille machine. This enables her to translate English and Sinhalese text into braille much more efficiently
• Nine volunteers, excluding myself, have travelled to Sri Lanka to give their time and skills. Some have taught English in schools and temples raising funds for more than 3000 English books. Another volunteer set up a sports programme along with full sports equipment in a remote village in Kurunegala. Other volunteers have delivered train the trainer programmes and some have supported with physical construction work on cave temples, whilst another arranged eye tests and thousands of recycled spectacles from the UK to be sent out
• During Covid when schools were closed, volunteers delivered lessons over Zoom which helped to keep women living in refuges and children in learning
• Promotion of the sales of face masks and other items in the UK made by Sri Lankan women struggling with low income during pandemic restrictions with all funds raised returned to Sri Lanka

Volunteer, Rebecca Foley, reading stories and teaching English in a village school in Kurunegala

We’ve bought and distributed

• Three new electronic braille machines: one for WDC in Kandy, one for Their Future Today in Galle and another for the Manapaha Foundation in Kurunegala
• Stationary items for local schools and pre-schools especially in the tea plantation areas where supplies are very short
• Children’s clothes from the UK given to pre-schools and children living in remote villages
• 12 heddle looms for girls in the Kandy refuge to learn to weave on – please see weaving blogs for the outcomes of this amazing project
• Sponsorship of Buddhist monk, Rev Ragama, from Kurunegala to come to a London college for four months to learn English so he can return to build English speaking capacity in his village
• Thousands of food parcels for families living in remote areas during the pandemic lockdown

What is being planned

• Sponsored mega trek across Sri Lanka planned for March/April 2023 (Stage 1 completed April 2022) to raise awareness of gender-based violence and raise funds to support the ground-breaking work of WDC and TFT
• Several volunteers in the pipeline preparing to travel to Sri Lanka to volunteer their time and expertise freely in a variety of ways now pandemic and FCDO restrictions have been lifted
• New UK volunteers teaching the girls in the refuges over Zoom
• Further specialist weaving training for girls at WDC refuge by UK volunteer
• Continued and targeted promotion of craft items made by women in Sri Lanka especially those in the refuge in Kandy
• Continued raising of awareness of the work WDC, TFT, and the Manapaha Foundation http://www.manapahafoundation.org.uk/ does in Sri Lanka and how people in the UK can help if they wish

Delivering donations from the UK to children and teachers at Pupuressa tea estate pre-school in the Central Province

The video link shows my son, Joe, reading from a children’s book with Biso, (WDC’s blind teacher), translating it into braille using a manual braille machine. It was through Joe helping Biso that he offered for us to raise funds for an electronic braille machine so she could convert texts more efficiently for her blind students. As it turned out we, with the help of many donors, raised funds to buy three braille machines costing £700 each. The other two machines went to help blind villagers in Kurunegala, headed by Rev. Ragama from the Manapaha Foundation and to the girls’ refuge in Galle supported by Their Future Today.

Above are just some of the ways we’ve been able to help those who need support in Sri Lanka. There are too many to list them all here. Furthermore, there have been many spinoffs from the nine volunteers who have raised funds and contributed in many different and very significant ways after their volunteering period. Each of them has left a significant legacy.

Forthcoming fundraising activities

• Donate your good quality pre-loved clothes which you no longer wear and either come along and buy these donated items or purchase them via Ebay. 100% of all proceeds go directly to TFT and WDC projects. I’ve raised over £4000 during the lockdown period alone through this activity.

How else can I get involved?

1. Complete a sponsored activity by either joining a pre-planned one or creating one yourself eg, a challenging cycle ride, an extended trek, a parachute jump, or any idea you have where you think you could raise some funds and have fun doing so
2. Host an event – perhaps a progressive supper that you charge guests to attend, a coffee morning with a raffle, an online auction, or any other ideas you have
3. Offer to volunteer your time and expertise in Sri Lanka at a refuge for girls who are victims of gender-based violence – either in Kandy or Galle or Colombo, an orphanage in Galle, or at the Manapaha Foundation in Kurunegala
4. Join me for a leg of my trek – Stage 2 March/April 2023 or Stage 3 March/April 2024
5. Follow my blog and comment on it
6. Or simply donate at Marcia Summers is fundraising for Their Future Today (justgiving.com)

If interested in any of the above or have any other ideas, please get in touch – marciasummers@hotmail.com

07818 086 067