RACHEL’S KIDS SRI LANKA 2019 NEWSLETTER

ANNUAL TRIP TO

SRI LANKA It's that time of the year for our annual trip to Sri Lanka. Rachel’s Kids International is further committed in

their task of helping children born into poverty and living under impoverished circumstances.

Being the 15th year to Sri Lanka, the trip at the end of January, Dr. Navaneelan was accompanied by

seven passionate and eager volunteers. The trip included visiting all our projects including meeting with

over 300 foster children and their families and meeting with a girl’s orphanage. Throughout the trip close to

1000 children were visited. Our highlight this year was the visit and grand opening of our new project, St

Mary’s Recreational centre and study hall built by Rachel’s Kids.

On this visit we were able to support and touch 740 young souls by delivering bountiful number of items

which were collected and donated by generous people in our community and items purchased by your

overwhelming financial support.

We were able to provide backpacks filled with school supplies for all the children, personal toiletry care

packages, clothing, stuffed animals, and bags of essential food items to some of the needy families.

The children were overwhelmed with the 320 pairs of "Shoes that Grow " that found homes on the feet of

the most in need. These were generously funded by our community at our annual fundraiser last year.

Thank You!

This year we also had a few new initiatives with the “Arts to Heart” program where we connected the

children in Cornwall with artwork created at the schools and exchanged with the children in Sri Lanka. We

were also able to distribute 70 feminine hygiene kits to the girls at the Good Shepard orphanage and St

Roche school.

Currently there are 330 children enrolled in our sponsor program and sadly about 35% of these are still in

need of a matching sponsor. We would like to reach out to everyone to help us bridge this gap.

On the local front Rachel’s Kids has once again been overwhelmed by the generosity

and support of the people in the local communities of SD&G and Akwesasne and offers

their sincere thanks to one and all. We would like to thank all our major sponsors, donors

and third party organizations who have generously partnered with us to help us raise

funds to put back into the community through our Small Moments of Joy and Helping

Hands Program. The support we have received is also helping us with funding our much

needed programs and camps offered at our very busy Rachel’s Kids House of Hope.

In closing, let us leave you with this quote by David Wolfe recently shared by Dr. Navaneelan: "working

hard for something you don't care about is called stress, working hard for something you love is called

passion!”

Did you know?

Only between 15-18% of our funds raised/donated are used for our projects in Sri Lanka.

No money donated to our organization goes towards any expenses incurred during our yearly visit to our

programs in Sri Lanka.

These expenses are privately funded by Dr. Navaneelan

If you have any inquiries regarding any of our various projects, please don’t hesitate to contact us at the

Rachel’s Kids House of Hope.

Welcome to the island of

SRI LANKA Rachel’s Kids sponsor plan connects Canadians with children in Sri Lanka. This

island hosts a population close to 21 million people and is half the size of

Newfoundland. Unfortunately, this beautiful island has been torn apart by 40

years of civil war and by a devastating tsunami in 2004 . This has left thousands

homeless and displaced. These disastrous events are still being felt in Sri Lanka

and the ones who are most affected are the children.

In Sri Lanka, as in many developing countries, regular school instruction is often

inadequate to pass national exams and to gain admission to higher education.

These classes, however, can be very costly and are not within reach for many families. Every parent wants

to see their child reach their educational goals. Even in Canada we are aware of how expensive this can

be. By sponsoring a child we are able to assist some of these children to achieve some form of vocational

training or receive higher education, which we at Rachel’s Kids believe is the way out of poverty.

Every year our amazing and generous donors donate to Rachel’s Kids International either through our

annual fundraiser or throughout the year. The care packages that we distribute comprise of toiletries

collected by different schools in Cornwall. The stuffed animals were generously donated by Pet Smart in

Cornwall. Clothing, sports equipment and stationary were donated by several individuals over the course

of 2018. Hygiene packages were courtesy of a local program ‘Go with the Flow’ and also donated by the

staff of Dr. Navaneelan Dental Office. Shoes were donated by generous individuals and First Baptist

church. So what do we spend your generous donations on?

School bags with school supplies for over 740 children, food bags for their families, renovating and

maintaining schools and helping provide a safe environment for the children. Your donation also provides

much needed assistance with their education, breakfast programs, clean water and improve sanitation.

This is all achieved with less than 15-18% of the total donations and funds raised throughout the year. The

Canadian dollar goes a long way!!! All the remaining funds stay here in Cornwall and go towards helping

the children in our very own community.

No money donated or raised by our organization goes towards expenses for our volunteer travel costs. The

expenses incurred during the travels are funded privately by Dr. Navaneelan. Your complete donation

goes directly to help improve the lives of children in Sri Lanka.

for every child

food

water

shelter

family

school

a better future!

Mount Carmel Parish is Rachel’s Kids longest running project in Sri Lanka. This year marks it’s 10th

year in participation. Located in the outskirts of Colombo this church/parish has attendees from

some of the poorest families. There are a total of 150 children, and over the years we have seen

children graduate out of our program and either go to college, university or some form of skill

training. This year we distributed school bags with school supplies, “The Shoes that Grow”, care

packages, and food supplies to the families.

ABOUT OUR FOSTER SITES

Omanthai school is located in a small town in northern Sri Lanka. This school was privately built by

Dr. Navaneelan in 2014, and educates students from kindergarten to Grade 5. Many of these

children are from families that were displaced by the civil war.

As more and more people return to the area, the number of students continue to rise. Currently

there are 65 students enrolled and this school is managed by nuns. The teachers at the school are

given some assistance to supplement their salary of $40.00 a month.

This year, we visited the school with much needed school stationary, school bags packed with

school supplies for each child, and care packages. In the past, Rachel’s Kids funded to construct

a well (as you may see in the photo included) so that the children can have clean drinking water,

and the people in this village were very grateful. We intend to help build a much needed indoor

toilet, which now consists of a hole in the ground.

St. Roche school is located in Jaffna which is in the northern part of Sri Lanka. The children at this

school are from some of the poorest families and the parents of these children who attend this

school are either street sweepers or drain cleaners. They are considered low caste and sadly are

discriminated and excluded from other schools. Many of them walk several kilometres to school,

sometimes with no shoes. As the parents leave their homes very early in the morning, the children

are left to tend for themselves and hence come to school with no breakfast. There was in

existence some funding by a third party to cook some food in a make shift kitchen, which recently

has been condemned by the health department. Rachel’s Kids has stepped up to renovate this

kitchen and to provide a small water tank so these children could be fed and have clean drinking

water .

In 2016 and 2017, Rachel’s Kids participated in the much needed renovation of some classrooms

which was completely financed by a generous third party who wished to remain anonymous.

Below you will find pictures of the existing kitchen.

This year we distributed school bags, school supplies, care packages, and food parcels which

included rice, lentils, milk powder, and sugar. We also distributed “The Shoes that Grow” which

were generously donated by the attendees of our annual fundraiser. As you can see from the

smiles on their faces, these children are so grateful for all your generosity.

For the first time in the history of this school two girls got admission into university. The extra funding

that we provided for extra classes was a great contributory factor. With a population of 21 million

and very limited universities, admission to university is extremely competitive!

Moolai School is located in northern Sri Lanka. This is another school that was privately built

by Dr. Navaneelan in 2008. As the number of children grew, Rachel’s Kids built two

extensions, one in 2014 and one in 2016. The parents of some of the children attending this

school volunteered their time to provide labour during these renovations. This year we

provided school supplies, school bags, and stuffed animals. The teachers in this school are

also given some assistance to supplement their salary of $40.00 a month.

Good Shepherd Orphanage is a haven to a group of 55 girls and is managed by 3 nuns. Some of

these girls were forced to participate as child soldiers in the civil war and have been either

abandoned by their parents or lost them to the war. The remainder of the resident girls are

survivors of sexual abuse, sadly by a family member. They are here as wards of the court for their

protection. The girls living at the orphanage range from the age of 3 to 16.

This year we distributed clothes and care packages which included feminine hygiene kits courtesy

of a new Cornwall local production called “Go with the Flow”. This program is geared to support

young girls to stay in school even after they hit puberty.

We also introduced the “Arts to Heart” program where art work on canvas created by children in

Cornwall were handed to these girls who in turn returned the favour by creating their own artwork

for the children in Cornwall. This is to create a connection and communication between children

half way across the world and to bring awareness to children in our community.

Below you can see pictures of the volunteers dancing to music with some of the girls, which is

done every evening at the orphanage as part of therapy.

St. Mary’s Rec Centre and Study Hall is our newest project and is situated in the central

south of Sri Lanka. This is an area on the outskirts of Ratnapura, and people in this area are

mainly workers at the surrounding tea plantations. As history goes, these workers have

always been very poorly paid and as a result their children tend to drop out of school to

seek employment. As you can see from the pictures below, their homes are little shacks

and there is hardly any room for the families to live in, let alone for the children to study.

This centre will be a haven for the children in this area to gather, participate in study

activities, games and feel safe. During the day, skill training programs will be conducted

by the nuns to encourage school dropouts to acquire skills in sewing, carpentry and

electronics.

The centre requires furniture and books so we can provide a small library. The people in

this village have never had anyone help them before and needless to say their gratitude

was very emotional and the volunteers were equally emotional!

SMALL ACTS, When multiplied by millions of people...

...CAN TRANSFORM THE WORLD

RACHEL’S KIDS BY THE

NUMBERS

Only 65% of the children in our foster

program currently have sponsors.

20% of funds raised by Rachel’s Kids

go to international projects.

2009 2019

Children Fostered

360 food parcels distributed this year

740 backpacks filled with school supplies distributed this year

320 pairs of shoes distributed this year

WHERE DO YOUR DONATIONS GO?

Every year our amazing supporters donate to Rachel’s Kids International, either at our

annual fundraiser or on their own throughout the year. So what do we spend that

money on? No money donated to our organization ever goes towards travel expenses

for our volunteers or board members. All donations go straight to the children. Here’s

some of what we spend it on.

THE SHOES THAT GROW

Thanks to our donors, 320 pairs of “The Shoe that Grows”

were donated. These shoes will ensure their feet are

properly protected and that their long walks to school

are made more comfortable and safe.

FOOD PARCELS

One of the most appreciated gifts we provide are food parcels. These parcels include staples for the child’s entire family including rice, lentils, cooking oil, milk powder and cooking utensils.

HEALTH & HYGIENE PACKAGES

Our health & hygiene packages include basic toiletries including toothbrushes and toothpaste, shampoo, soap and first-aid supplies. While these are things we often take for granted, they can be essential tools in keeping children clean and in good health.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES AND BACKPACKS

Each year the children in our projects receive a new backpack filled with age-appropriate school supplies including notebooks, geometry sets, pens and pencils, highlighters, erasers, graph paper, pencil crayons, lunch boxes and water bottles.

WE RISE

by

lifting

OTHERS