Chairman's Review
I have great pleasure to express my sincere
appreciation to the donors for their continuous support towards
providing relief to the civilians affected by the war and natural
disasters in the North and East of Sri Lanka. It's unfortunate that
the victims affected by the civil strife include children who have
lost the breadwinner of the family, deaf, blind, disabled children
and the elderly persons who have either lost their children or faced
with the dilemma where the children have fled the country.
It's heartening that we have had the support of concerned individual
trustees of Manitha Neyam Trusts and other philanthropists in Sri
Lanka, Australia, Canada, USA and UK.
24 Braille machines were donated by philanthropists in UK and USA to
Iniya Valvu Illam at Mullaitivu. Sri Kanaka Durkai Amman Temple in
London donated 5 Braille machines and philanthropists in UK another
5 machines to Valvakam in Jaffna district. Brand new set of toilets
and bathrooms were constructed at the Boys' hostel attached to the
Colombo Hindu College, Ratmalana. In the Batticaloa district
construction of a new Dormitory with Study Hall, Kitchen and Dining
Hall is in progress. We have already incurred the equivalent of £.
27,500. We still need a further amount equivalent to £. 22,500 to
complete this building.
Manitha Neyam Trust Incorporated of Australia together with Tamil
Senior Citizens Benevolent Society (NSW) Inc. and Tamil Senior
Citizens Association (NSW) Inc. contributed generously and we were
able to construct new buildings at the Girls' section of Mahadeva
Ashram.
I would like to mention that Manitha Neyam Trusts in Sri Lanka,
Australia, USA and UK have hardly any administrative expenses and
almost the entire work is being undertaken by volunteers. From time
to time we have DVD presentations and brochures of updates of
projects in progress. All these presentations have enhanced the
image of Manitha Neyam and indicated to the donors the needs of the
affected persons and we have in fact received more donations
resulting from such presentations. Donors are very appreciative of
the information presented and we receive favorable comments from
them.
There is a great demand for humanitarian services of this nature in
Sri Lanka and we hope and pray that we will receive support for our
efforts from more donors.
V.Kailasapillai