News July 2014
July 01, 2014

Dear All,

Trust this finds all of you, your families, loved ones and colleagues well.

It gives all of us at VACD, great joy and immense happiness to inform you of the meaningful progress that is being made by our charity through your love and generosity and the passion and dedication of our volunteers:

ONGOING:

The consignment of used hospital beds along with equipment for the VACD centre in Bandarawela were finally cleared with the beds being  distributed to maternity wards in rural hospitals (where there are no hospital beds) in the Uva province and “sick bays” at three schools and the Bandarawela Municipal Council. 

Specialist equipment donated by Ms Mary  Thomson from the Western Autistic School, Laverton Victoria and other similar donations are being put to good use at the VACD centre.

We have secured the services of a specialist teacher and have commenced daily classes for the children at the centre. The teacher while conducting classes is also compiling detailed reports on the children in order to identify and develop individual programs for each child as recommended by Ms Gabriella Vascotto – Course Coordinator – Western Autistic School, Laverton Victoria in her report that can be found on : http://www.vacd.org.au/ under the “Project & Reports” tab, “Past Reports” and “Training Program for Teachers”

ABOUT TO COMMENCE:

The two week training course on batik making for mothers of children with disabilities under the ‘Family Economy’ program will commence no sooner the outdoor facility for this program that is presently being constructed is ready. Training will be done in groups at the VACD centre where small industries training will also be conducted by Mr Ajith Dissanayake – Director Department of Industries Development – Uva Provincial Council, Badulla.

We have secured the services of a volunteer dancing instructor to conduct traditional dancing classes for children on one day of the weekend.

At the request and the support of Mr Chaminda Wijesiri – Mayor  – Bandarawela Municipal Council, free Eye/Nose/Throat & Dental Clinics will be held once a month with volunteer medical staff assistance at the Bandarawela Municipal Council premises.

IN PROGRESS:

We are presently in communication with a commercial bank in Sri Lanka to partner us to open “Special Savings Accounts” for our children, provide “Micro Financing” for parents and open “Savings Accounts” to facilitate an “Education Assistance Program” for our children.

The attached “Application for education assistance” document will be used by our leadership team to identify children who exhibit sufficient potential to advance their academic skills and then provide them with vital support and assistance.   

Thanks to the assistance of Dr Chris Roberts – CEO/President Cochlear Australia Limited, Yasmin and I met with Mr Ravin Nand – Commercial Director – Asia Growth Markets at Cochlear Limited. Mr Nand is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka in late September, meet with our leadership team and the medical authorities from the Uva Province, liaise with the Cochlear agent in Sri Lanka, arrange a program to have VACD children with hearing impairments medically assessed and prepare a draft plan for Cochlear, VACD and the Medical authorities to collectively map out ways and means to assist our children with hearing impairments.

IN THE PIPELINE:

A “Credit Card” donation facility that is linked to our web page should be available by around mid August. We will notify you via a “Flash Report” no sooner this is ready to be used.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT:

We intend implementing the “Education Assistance Program” around December this year, prior to the commencement of the new school year 2015. We do not need any funds now but would deeply appreciate a “pledge” by you to sponsor a child where we estimate the monthly cost to be around Australian Dollars Twenty (A$ 20). Once we have complied all the information in respect of the number of children requiring assistance and have your pledges, we then can work towards linking each eligible “child” with a “sponsor”. Please email us with your details if you wish to partner us in this program to fstephen@bigpond.net.au
 

As we draw closer to the end of this calendar year and since quite a few business entities and individuals now send out traditional and seasonal greetings in a soft copy format for environmental and cost efficiency reasons and then use these savings to support charities such as ours, please do give a thought or recommend to your organisation, colleagues, and families to consider sharing some of the savings with us because although our administrative and overhead expenses are minute, we have many more programs in mind to help these children and their families for whom we are the only hope.

Given that a significant number of children with disabilities registered with us come from families where the sole breadwinner is a low skilled wage earner or a subsistence farmer, the financial position of these families are extremely stretched and difficult. Our mission is to help the children and their families overcome discrimination, financial difficulties, social stigma and health issues etc. This is why we continuously strive to work on multiple fronts to help these children and their families have a better tomorrow.

Many thanks for your continued support, assistance and guidance. Please visit our webpage: http://www.vacd.org.au/ for more information.

With all our fond love, best wishes and warm regards….Felix & Yasmin   

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