Clubs in Action

The following places received goods distributed on our behalf from our Colombo 'warehouse' during the last two days:

Matara [south]: rice, dhal, sugar, chillie powder, noodles, sprats, tumeric powder, potatoes, onions, salmon, salt, chick peas. Mattresses and pillows dispatched previously.

Batticaloa [east] and Hambantota [south]: rice, noodles, dhal, sugar, sprats, potatoes, onions, salmon, chillie powder, chick peas.

Innovative action to locate missing children:

Downtown has been mentoring the Students of the Science Faculty of the University of Colombo for the last three years and thought of using their services to help parents locate their missing children. The club also sponsors full page advertisements in the Sinhala Sunday papers and supports a project of the Science Faculty of the University of Colombo to assist parents in the disaster stricken areas to publish photographs of their children who have gone missing. We also provide traveling costs to the students and a family member of missing persons to travel to the areas once positive identification is made. This service has already attracted quite a lot of queries.

Moratuwa:
Distributed Dry rations to the value of Rs 35,000/- to the people at the Talarukkarama Temple, Egoda Uyana, Moratuwa.

Kosgoda:
Donated dry rations for two weeks and basic kitchen utensils and equipment to 65 families at Kosgoda. These families were identified for us by friends at Jinasena Ltd which is in the area and has undertaken to rehabilitate these families and also restore the damaged school.

The Club has a link with the Jinasena Group. Loadstar its subsidiary magnanimously donated a water pump and built a water tank and supplied water on tap (and will maintain this for life) at the Neth Savan Sarana School for the otherwise able children in Dikkumbura, Ahangama.
Total value - Rs 275,000/-

Kalutara:
The Club has also undertaken to build toilets in the Kalutara District to help those who are now housed in Temples, churches and schools. Each toilet will cost about Rs 25,000/-
This project is in response to a request by our member PDG Ranjith’s who is the District Co-ordinator for Kalutara. Total cost of toilets - Rs 375,000/-

Wadduwa:
We will also donate shoes to 287 school children in the Wadduwa area. These are the children of fishermen who lived along the coast and whose families have been worst hit. The Hirdramani Group has given them uniforms and school books. The value of the shoes is about Rs 125,000

Bursaries for University students:
Downtown will also provide bursaries of Rs 2,500/- each to 11 students of the Science Faculty of the Colombo Campus for 12 months and continue relief for another 6 – 12 months after review. These students lived along the coast and have been badly affected by the disaster. They were screened by the Faculty of the Science and are considered most deserving as they do not even have a place to live.

Uptowners moved swiftly to add their weight to the large Humanitarian Relief effort mounted by Rotary. Within a matter of days after the tragic event we were able to send lorries of emergency relief to Hambantota, Ampara and Galle. We worked together with Oxfam in Ampara and Hambantota and with the Catholic Church in Galle.

Community Service Director Raj and Club Service Director Sulochana were the livewires behind our contributions which consisted of Bread and other cooked food, Drinking Water, Dry Rations, Milk Powder, Antiseptics, Sanitary Pads, Toiletries, Mats & other bedding, Clothes, Cooking utensils and medicines. Supplies to the value of Rs 250,000 were sent to these areas.

Uptown members are also involved in the District Task Force set up for this purpose and we have been working closely with the district towards providing cohesive long-term assistance to the victims.

Uptown has also sent medicines and tents to Batticaloa through the District Co-ordinators.
Three of our members Krish, Neetu and Dion traveled to Galle with the relief supplies and got a first hand picture of the devastation and the huge task ahead.