BALANCING THE GENEROSITY

Over the past year, the magnanimous waves that have poured in to the Seenigama region have been unforgettable to say the very least. The tsunami-affected areas were in an immediate need of repair and thanks to the amazing generosity of donors and supporters worldwide, so much work has been done in the Seenigama area since that time.

Yet, now that the immediate needs of the tsunami-affected villagers have been seen to, it is time to turn our attention to the needs of the neighbouring rural communities that were not affected by the Tsunami - those that are also disadvantaged but have received little media attention or assistance.

One example of this is the Woodlands and Dombagoda Schools of Gonapinawella, Hikkaduwa and Tittagalla, Ahangama respectively. Whilst neither of the schools were physically damaged by the tsunami, many of the students were affected, which has in turn emotionally impacted the schools. In such a context, there are many underlying tensions and emotions that are not easily perceived by outsiders. Some children are sad that they have not been affected by the tsunami, because they have seen their tsunami-affected classmates receive so much.

The 11th of January was an eventful and memorable day for the children of these two schools, when they received the kind of gifts that they would have never expected one year ago. Kushil Gunasekera - our Founder, formally declared the two new computer cum library rooms open at these two schools, and also opened the play park at Woodlands College.

The construction work on the computer room buildings was funded by a society in Aberdeen, Scotland called the Aberdeen-Sri Lanka Link. The Foundation of Goodness supplied the equipment in the facilities, including furniture, computers and library books.

The play park at Woodlands College was constructed thanks to the generous donations from Kings School, Ely in the UK. Their contribution was also utilized for the re-painting of the entire school.

The day commenced with the opening of the facility at the Woodlands College, which also included the opening of a shrine room, toilet block and a play park for the kids. A notable feature was the childrens' participation in the opening ceremonies and it was indeed a pleasure to watch the childrens' excitement at using the new computer cum library room and the play park

After the formal opening, guests were treated to a traditional breakfast and thereafter an enchanting variety show by the students. One dancer, in particular, shone amongst the rest and it is the intention of the Foundation to help this talented child through a scholarship which will help to further harness her abundant talents.

In his speech, the Principal of the school stressed how grateful these under-privileged children were for the new facilities provided and pledged to ensure that the facilities would be fully utilized for the benefit of the children. Kushil subsequently requested that the children take the opportunity to better their future prospects and promised to look into further developing this little village school.

Following that, the Dombagoda School at Tittagalla was officially opened at the auspicious time of 2.04pm. Once again, the ceremony, which included a formal welcome by the schools traditional music band, a flag raising ceremony as well as a variety show, was extremely well organised and enjoyed by all present.

It must be mentioned that one of the guests who accompanied the team from the Foundation of Goodness to this ceremony - a long time supporter of our work from Canada, Mr. Janaka Weerasinghe - was so touched by the event and the basic facilities available to the students, that he has so generously pledged to donate a TV and DVD player to the school as well as to purchase shoes for all the students. We are extremely grateful for his generosity and are pleased that our motto," Nothing Multiplies Like Kindness", clearly stands strong and true!

Speeches of gratitude followed from the school, to which Kushil once more responded with the promise to continue to assist and improve the schools to the best of our ability.

Another notable event at this school was the Foundations pledge to pay a nominal salary to the Music, Arts and Computer training teachers for a one-year period. This will no doubt go a long way to ensure their commitment to the school and the students, since they are not yet on the Government payroll. Their salaries for the month of January were also formally handed over at the ceremony.

Both of these schools have had extremely basic facilities in the past and are patronized by children from very poor family backgrounds who have never enjoyed such facilities before. The computer cum library rooms will no doubt go a long way in enhancing these childrens' potential and will assist them in becoming better prepared to face the future in today's challenging environment. This is especially so since IT knowledge is today a pre-requisite in obtaining a good job, and the lack of this facility is currently hampering the progress of many intelligent and able students in the rural community. The play park at Woodlands will not only raise their spirits, but will also promote mental and physical well-being for the students.

It must also be mentioned that the Foundation receives numerous requests from schools for assistance on a regular basis, and our choice of projects is dictated to a large extent on the condition of the facilities currently available at the school. However, we also place a great emphasis on the leadership and perseverance of the school principal, and the principals of these two schools have demonstrated this without any doubt. We are therefore confident that our assistance will be put to good use for the benefit of the students.

The start of the school year in January 2005 was fraught with despair as the students struggled to come to terms with the chaos around them resulting from the Boxing Day Tsunami. In contrast, the start of the new school year in January 2006 will no doubt create a sense of gladness and hope in the students of these two schools as they utilize the new facilities available at their schools through the graciousness of friends who cared from far across the globe. We at the Foundation of Goodness are grateful to the ASL and Kings School, Ely for their contribution in bringing this hope into the hearts of these underprivileged children.