MISSION STATEMENT, PARTNERSHIP PRINCIPLE

 

	Mission Statement: ‘To improve the lives of people living in southern Sri Lanka.’ ‘Improving lives’ is, broadly speaking, what we aim to achieve. Many NGO’s have a narrower focus. However we wanted to be able to support projects and local charities that we felt would make a valuable contribution to improving people’s lives, in whatever form. In particular projects and bodies that were not getting the support of regular charitable giving or help from larger NGO’s and INGO’s. Improving livelihood has become a particular focus, via helping strengthen small business and enterprise and encouraging employment. In this way families are able to make their own economic decisions and improve their livelihoods as they see best. Our other principle focus has been children, particularly education, helping to ensure a better future for them and their families. ‘Southern Sri Lanka’ is our target area as we are all from near Galle in the Southern Province. Before the tsunami we had either supported or were conducting due diligence on projects from Ambalangoda to Hambantota. After the proliferation of aid bodies post-tsunami we narrowed our focus closer to home where our local contact network was most able to help us channel funds to deserving causes. Our focus remains Galle-centric, but we still support projects some distance down the coast in both directions. Partnership Principle: Our main way of operating is to support local charities and other bodies that can carry out sound, transparent projects for the betterment of the local community. We usually design the projects together. An early partner was Help-O, a local NGO working in the human rights and community empowerment area. They introduced us to a variety of small local groups, working at grass roots level, and mostly in the field of community livelihood. We subsequently supported some of these, such as the Sri Nyanwimala Association for schools and livelihood. After the tsunami we partnered with a variety of new and longer-established bodies. Sometimes we funded other groups carrying out good work, sometimes we co-invested in projects with other NGO’s as partners. We are currently looking at further new partnerships. Bodies who we have partnered with include: Help-O; Sri Nyanawimala; Project Galle 2005; Unawatuna Cultural and Environmental Conservation Society; Hands on Sri Lanka; Swim Lanka; Katugoda Jamath Association; Adopt Sri Lanka. The Southern Tsunami Trust is our biggest single partner. See later section on ‘Sponsor-a-Child’. A particularly valuable partner has been the UK charity, ‘The Web of Hope’, to whom we are indebted for all its fundraising on our  behalf.