Dear friends, colleagues, supporters, and collaborative partners, Greetings to you, your families, loved ones, and colleagues from all of us at VACD. VACD Sri Lanka Tour Highlights & Notes in Brief:  After months of careful planning, Yasmin and I embarked on our self-funded official VACD tour of Sri Lanka in late September of which here are some of the key highlights: Meeting with Mr. Himendra Ranaweera – Deputy Chairman, Ms Jayanga Wegodapola – Legal Officer and Mr. Subramanian...

Dear friends, colleagues, supporters, and collaborative partners, Greetings to you, your families, loved ones, and colleagues from all of us at VACD. Sorrowful News.  The passing away of Merrill Joseph Fernando brings back fond memories of our warm friendship that has lasted many decades and was refreshed when we last met in person on 26th March 2018.  Above: Malik Fernando, Yasmin Stephen, Merrill Fernando, Felix Stephen & Himendra Ranaweera at the MJF Board room (Lunch) on 26th...

Dear friends, colleagues, supporters, and collaborative partners, Greetings to you, your families, loved ones, and colleagues from all of us at VACD. Uplifting News!!!  Parents, VACD staff and the local community joined hands at a working bee on Monday, 5th May to prepare our new VACD centre premises in Ambagasdowa for its official opening. Local community support, local legislative endorsement and local government cooperation are of critical importance for missions such as ours to...

Dear friends, colleagues, supporters, and collaborative partners, Greetings to you, your families, loved ones, and colleagues from all of us at VACD. Sorrowful News; It is with deep sorrow and heavy hearts that we inform you that Chamika Uthpala aged 12, from our VACD Bandarawela centre passed away earlier this month due to complications resulting from his disabilities. While it is acknowledged that children in developing countries suffering from specific types of congenital disabilities have...

Dear friends, colleagues, supporters, and collaborative partners, Greetings to you, your families, loved ones, and colleagues from all of us at VACD. Update on VACD’s new centre: The new VACD centre “Teardrop CARE Centre for Children with Disabilities” in Ambagasdowa sponsored by Teardrop Hotels ( https://www.treardrop-hotels.com) is scheduled to be operational by late April this year. Our Sri Lankan VACD leadership team have located an ideal premises for the centre to be located on a...

Dear friends, colleagues, supporters, and collaborative partners, We wish you, your families, loved ones, and colleagues the absolute best in 2023, over the coming years and thank you for your support and guidance given to us over 11+ past years. Delightful News!!!: We are thrilled to inform you that after almost 6+ years of many stops and starts, we are finally ready to establish the much-awaited Welimada centre, thanks to the tireless efforts and  dedication of our VACD Sri Lanka...

Dear friends, colleagues, supporters, and collaborative partners, Greetings to you, your families, loved ones, and colleagues from all of us at VACD. Delightful News!!!: A leadership succession plan spanning over the next two to three years was initiated by us following a VACD Australia Board decision. We are delighted to share with you that the following have since joined our mission:  Ms. Adrika Sri Bavan – Head of Marketing Adrika is a lawyer and banker who graduated from the...

Dear friends, colleagues, supporters, and collaborative partners, Greetings to you, your families, loved ones, and colleagues from all of us at VACD. Delightful and Inspiring News!!!: We are delighted that our children, their families, and our staff have been successful in launching a home gardening program at our VACD Bandarawela centre as seen in the photographs below: VACD Sri Lanka Outreach Program: The VACD Sri Lanka outreach program to expand our services to children with disabilities...

Dear friends, colleagues, supporters, and collaborative partners, Greetings to you, your families, loved ones, and colleagues from all of us at VACD. VACD Australia FY 2021/22 Annual Report: Please read my annual report to the VACD Australia Board covering the period FY 2021/22 at your leisure via the following hyperlink: Thank you. https://www.vacd.org.au/2022/08/01/vacd-annual-report-for-fy-2021-22/ Specially designed/manufactured furniture for our VACD Centres: We are delighted that our...

Dear friends, colleagues, supporters, and collaborative partners, Greetings to you, your families, loved ones, and colleagues from all of us at VACD. Food Aid Relief for our VACD Families: In response to an urgent appeal from our VACD Sri colleagues for food aid relief for our VACD families, we facilitated donations of approximately 15 kilograms of food items in two packs that included  5-kilos of rice and other essential dry and fresh food to each family that had a child attending our...