What a day it was when 27 girls from Anula Girls Orphanage, Balapitiya were treated to an outing at the zoo. There were smiles all around as they spotted their favourite animals and viewed with wonder and excitement the antics of the famed elephant show and sea lion show. Also the chimpanzee show, Reptile show and pelican feeding topped the highlights of the day.

Eagerly awaiting the elephant show

The outing was planned and sponsored by compassionate couple Stewart and Heather Ritchie who have continuously been supporting the work of the Foundation their sons Scott and Greg and other friends of the Ritchie family, from the very early days of the tsunami tragedy. The outing was managed by the Foundation of Goodness’ (FoG) RLP Coordinator Fazana Ibrahim.

The Big Day Out
17th January was the day these girls had been eagerly waiting for and more so as it had been quite a while since they had ventured out of Balapitiya on a trip. At 7.30 AM they were all ready to board the bus that arrived to take them on a near 3-hour long journey to Dehiwela, to the zoo, under the watchful eye of their 2 matrons and other committee members.

Singsong enroute to the zoo

The bus that transported the girls to the zoo was provided free of cost by Rizwan Sherrif of ECD Global  and the driver and his assistant too chipped in by working free of charge for the day.

10.15 AM and the girls were at the zoo and walked in free of charge, thanks to the kindness of the zoo director Mr. Dumindha Jayaratna and the assistant directress Ms. Dhammika Malsinghe who waived the entrance fee.

From here on the girls’ enthusiasm and love of animals were evident as they keenly observed the many species of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and amphibians on display. Their breakfast (tea and dinner too) had been taken care of by the Ritchie family, while lunch was provided by their friend Sheron Fernando.

The elephant show was the firm favourite

But the main highlight of the day was the elephant dance, which captivated the girls and had them spellbound at times and giggling and laughing as well. It is not surprising that the elephant show has been one of the zoo’s more popular attractions as John Hargenberg, who started the zoo in the early 1900’s, was from a famous family engaged in animal circuses.  

It was a happy yet tired bunch of girls that boarded the bus for the return journey to Balapitiya. The long trip back was made comfortable with dinner snack packs served to all, carefully thought of by the caring Ritchie family.

It was a day that would never be forgotten. It was one full of enjoyment which also left the girls enriched with new knowledge and understanding of the animal world.

Home Gardening

Since tackling the animal kingdom on their day out at the zoo, the girls of the Anula Orphanage have decided to go green and have embarked on a home gardening venture. Very soon half an acre of their compound will be used to produce vegetables, herbal greens and other daily essentials required for daily consumption at the Orphanage.

This project is the brainchild of the Ritchie family, who has contributed in no small measure to making these girls lives better, and is being sponsored by them as well. The Foundation of Goodness’ (FoG) Environment Sector – which is one of 30 management sectors it operates, will oversee the project and monitor it on a monthly basis. The idea was born out of the need for an avenue to supplement the high monthly cost to purchase vegetables for the Orphanage.

Preparing vegetable plots for cultivation

In preparation for the new venture, the Seenigama Diving and Training Centre students held a shramadana to clean up the land. On the 14th February 2 labourers along with 2 agriculture officers from the FoG Environment Sector prepared the ground into vegetable patches and planted amongst other varieties chillies, aubergenes and herbal leaves.

From now onwards, the girls at Anula Orphanage have been entrusted with nurturing the home garden under the guidance of the FoG environment team.  The thrill of the first produce awaits them!

Commenting on this effort the Foundation of Goodness’ (FoG) founder/trustee Kushil Gunasekera said “We are very pleased to have had the opportunity to get involved with the Girls’ Orphanage and upgrade its’ standards from a neglected state, largely owing to the very caring and compassionate Stewart & Heather not forgetting of course many other overseas and local donors who have helped us in numerous ways.  Special mention must be made of Verity Slee – former Australian Aid Youth volunteer at the Foundation and her colleague Ynys Onsman another AusAid volunteer at the Foundation who worked tirelessly to make our partnership blossom including the recent fund raising campaign along with their friends to sponsor the monthly remuneration of the two matrons. I also have to thank yet another volunteer Jennifer Gibson who took the assignment of compiling a comprehensive report on the Home for the evaluation and consideration of future potential donors, which was well prepared through extensive research.”

Gunesekera also acknowledged the people behind the scene at the Foundation’s office who play a major role with regards to the work being done at Anula Girls’ Orphanage “With our Management team - spearheaded by Fazana who has very efficiently followed up on all the priority needs with the help of Dilhani as well, a huge difference has been made from where we commenced and now with Stewart & Heather taking a huge liking to make the future prospects of these less privileged girls, we are on the way to achieving better standards and a pleasant environment which otherwise would not have been the case.  More importantly it is their food requirement that matters on a monthly basis which we are working on with great faith in fulfilling this basic and vital need.

At the end, it is all about helping others to make their world a better place.  As the saying goes “We have two hands, one to help ourselves and the other to help those in need”.

“If you love animals called pets,
why do you eat animals called dinner?”

2009.02.16