Christmas Newsletter 2011

To the visiting tourist, Sri Lanka remains a paradise island with sunkissed beaches, beautiful temples, lush, green landscapes and warm, welcoming people eager to make your holiday truly memorable. All along the holiday routes there is evidence of new development, road improvements and in the south a new seaport. The international airport at Hambantota, which played a large part in the country’s unsuccessful bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2018, is scheduled to be finished in 2012 .

All this is in stark contrast to the scene in the north-east of the country which is still reeling from the effects of the war. Apart from the A9 road linking Colombo to Jaffna, which is under re-construction, there is very little improvement. The only evidence of new buildings appears to be the countless military camps which have sprung up in almost every village. Refugees who were fortunate enough to be released from rehabilitation camps still languish in temporary accommodation. Across the north-east there are 85,000 widows and many thousands of orphaned children. Businesses have been destroyed or taken over by army personnel.

Hope Outreach UK continues its work to reach the unreached. This past year, the Chairman, Canon Julian Reindorp and our General Secretary, Dr Sam Muthuveloe have visited projects right across the country from the nutritional feeding centre in Galle which caters for pre-school children, whose parents would otherwise be unable to work, to the children’s homes and widows’ loan project in the north. Two vision teams held clinics in remote villages in the south, north and hill country.

Medical Block For Orphanage

Since our last newsletter, construction of this building, funded by Hope Outreach, is almost complete with an opening ceremony planned for December. It will serve not only the residents of the home but also the local people.

Child Sponsorship

Our appeal to find sponsors for the 26 destitute children who arrived at the same home in January 2011 received a good response but over the past few months the numbers have increased to 44. Our commitment to help care for these children continues. Individual sponsorship of just £30 per month (£1 per day) will provide food, clothing and school books for a child. The children work hard at their studies and are anxious to succeed. English teachers are in short supply in the north and east and any chance to practise their conversation skills is
welcomed. To this end, two undergraduate volunteers spent time in this orphanages, teaching English and getting to know the girls. The home also cares for 20 mentally handicapped ladies and runs a Montessori school for local children.

Resident Counsellor

A resident counsellor is now working with the girls, the cost of £60 per month being met by Hope Outreach. It is hoped to be able to fund a second such counsellor as soon as possible.

Hope Vision Team

Five volunteers from UK have just returned from a 2-week visit to the north. This was by far the most challenging of all their trips both physically and emotionally. The unmade roads made travelling difficult and short distances took hours to negotiate. Clinics were held in churches which had been badly damaged by shelling, their walls peppered with bullet holes.

In spite of these challenges, 978 people were screened and over 1,000 pairs of spectacles dispensed. We last visited this area in 2005 and were shocked to see for ourselves the destruction of whole villages.

We stayed at the girls’ home and between clinics were able to spend time with the children, teaching them English songs, embroidery and playing games. They, in turn, entertained us with music and dance and very movingly performed a play in which they re-enacted their traumatic experiences of the last days of the war.

Spring Newsletter 2011

Canon Julian Reindorp, Chairman of Hope Outreach UK, and I have just returned after a profitable and packed visit to Sri-Lanka. In a short space of time we were able to meet with all our mission partners and visit all the sites except the Centre in Galle.

I acknowledge with grateful thanks the numerous persons in Sri Lanka who graciously facilitated our travel and lovingly extended their hospitality at several levels. The goodness and mercies of our God were abundant at all times.

The Hope UK Vision Team did extremely well to get to the most interior parts of Sri-Lanka in the deep south and the hill stations to bring restoration of sight. They risked hair-raising road travel to deliver care and to reach the unreached. I give below a summary of our travels and observations.

Update on the Country Situation

The present Rajapakse regime is likely to be in power for some considerable time and has the support of the majority of the people with strong military backing. In the south of the country there is evidence of rapid development. In the President’s home town of Hambantota, the port was completed last year and the international airport is to be ready next year, while Sri-Lanka has applied to host the Commonwealth Games in the same area. The Chinese are silently and speedily building roads and many buildings without any fanfare. There are good roads in the hill country and in the south of the country with rapid improvement of the infra structure.

Travelling further north there is a noticeable deterioration of roads and a lack of development. The scars of war are visible in the north and the east of the country. The buildings look tired, dilapidated and in need of repair. The people too look weary and war worn without hope of development or progress. The Indian Government had agreed to some development projects such as roads, the northern airport, seaport and houses for the displaced about two years ago but these projects are still to commence.

Cricket is the undeclared 5^th religion in the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural resplendent island of exquisite natural beauty, with more adherents to cricket than to one single faith. Bunting, flags and billboards adorn the streets and large TV screens in public places relayed the World Cup event. I was impressed with the surfeit of opinion makers who did not make it to the cricket selection panel!

Hope Vision Clinics

Jacqui Watson and Eileen Weston from Hope Outreach UK were joined in Colombo by Priyanganie, Nirosha, Angela and Rajah the faithful driver, who together with local translators made up the efficient Hope Vision Team.

They travelled on roads not meant for the faint hearted to get to the interior villages to deliver their services of sight for the impaired. They worked in six different locations, seeing more than 800 people over 70 working hours and dispensed 779 spectacles. More than 40 referrals were made to the local hospitals for cataract surgery.

Jaffna

Travelling north on the A9 road to Jaffna one begins to see the evil effects of the decades of civil war. The once fertile land with its rich red soil, referred to in yesteryears as the bread basket of Sri Lanka that produced rice, chillies and vegetables in abundance, lying as wasteland. It was sad to see tops of the stately, multi-functional Palmyrah trees decapitated and burnt out. The school buildings show heavy war damage and students dressed in white carrying on their studies are constantly reminded of the sorrow they have endured in recent past.

The girls’ home that we support in the North received 26 war destitute children aged between 7 and 12. The experienced and caring house mothers and staff are doing a wonderful ministry in restoring these children to a normality of life with hope for the future. Emotional health, education, games and relaxation constitute the present need. They are attending the local schools and are in need of urgent sponsorship of £30 per month per child for food, clothing and school books.

This area is in great need of psycho-social counselling to assist the war traumatised civilians. Without hope or a future, people are despairing and attempting to take their lives as a way out of their misery. The available professional assistance is woefully inadequate to meet the mammoth need. We are exploring engaging two counsellors to enable these people to move on in life. The cost will be £120 per month for the counsellor’s wages. The counselling will take place in the open which is natural for the agricultural and farming community in cabana style simple structures. The girls’ home is in need of a medical block to carry out local clinics for the people of the area and to serve as an isolation unit for the children should the need arise. A BOQ is expected.

The 41 children from the original girls’ home, now resettled in Jaffna, are progressing very well. They have put behind them the trauma of the war, the loss of their home, their harrowing escape, their survival in the welfare camps and are now doing well in their studies at school. Canon Julian and I spent a lovely evening with the children and their staff.

We met with three of the former children from the home who have now entered university. HOUK has supplied bicycles for 8 such students and we provide a financial bursary to 3, enabling them to continue their studies. We were pleased to meet with 2 children who joined the girls’ home post tsunami in 2005 and completed their secondary education with distinction to enter Jaffna University last year. We also facilitated the opening of 12 Minors’ Savings Accounts for children between the ages of 7 to 10, which will be beneficial for them after they reach the age of 18 to assist them through vocational studies, start a small business or indeed settle down in life.

Batticaloa

We visited the two children’s homes that we built post-tsunami. As in Jaffna these children are doing well in their school work and progressing well. The availability of English teachers is lacking in the north and the east of the country. We support the teaching of English through computer technology – Dyned – for around 400 children in this district. We were amazed at the speed at which these children have picked up English and their computer skills.

Colombo

We visited the offices of the YGro and were impressed at the documentation and their ability to wade through the endless governmental red tape to deliver the Micro Loans Programme to the war widows. At present around 200 persons are benefiting from the scheme and being closely monitored. The repayment of the loans received stands at around 100%! This simple help of a “hand up” rather than a “hand down” has made a significant and meaningful difference in the lives of these widows and their families. The programme is now in its third successful year.

Norton Bridge

Nestled within the hills of Sri-Lanka in the lush green tea plantations lies the HOMSA Lanka centre where the Pastors’ Training Centre is situated. We were privileged to participate at their Graduation Service at which Canon Julian Reindorp delivered the charge to 28 graduates and took part in their teaching programme. Since 1989 the centre has continued to function throughout all the uncertain and challenging times in the country with over 350 graduates and has started a second Pastors’ Training Centre on the east coast.

Consultative Meetings

We were fortunate to be able to meet a wide range of people across the country that included the two Catholic Bishops of Batticaloa and Trincomalee, the Bishop elect of the Colombo Diocese, the two Archdeacons of Jaffna and Galle, medical professionals, school teachers, community workers, civic leaders and grass roots workers.

Volunteers

The Vision Team are seeking volunteer optometrists to join them for a 2-week visit at the beginning of November 2011. Those interested should contact Jacqui Watson on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it