Australian AFL star Brett Kirk features SLU on his blog

AFL is a big sport in Australia (possibly even bigger than cricket, we are told!), and Brett Kirk is a big star in the AFL (Sydney Swans team). In a recent visit to Sri Lanka and India with his family, Sri Lanka Unites had a chance to interact with him and share some of the work we do. He also spoke at an SLU-led seminar on 'Sportsmanship and Non-violence' for rugby and cricket players in two leading state schools in Colombo.

Brett has featured us in an article and a video on his blog - 'Captain Kirk's Odyssey 2011'.

Here's a small extract from his blog:

"Their aim is to empower the youth to be informed decision makers and help to give them a voice to create a future that they have ownership of...."

"Sri Lanka Unites targets schools at grassroots level and works to build interest and awareness by assisting the children to form their own SLU club. The club is then nurtured to create leaders no matter what the students age..."

"The impact they are having is powerful and real. It is working and it is so inspiring to have been able to be apart of even such a tiny snapshot of their great work. I was able to share some of my knowledge of leadership, the importance of values, standing for something and when the time arrives having the courage to stand up for what you believe in."

Click here to read the full article - http://brettkirk.com.au/2011/02/sri-lanka-unites/

And the video is available here - http://brettkirk.com.au/2011/02/sri-lanka-unites-2/

Check out the short film of the AFL Team visit to Sri Lanka a few months ago on their mission to promote 'Reconciliation Through Sport' - http://vimeo.com/17725685

Reflections on her FLC experience by a Canadian-Lankan SLU supporter

Sheyami Jayawardena, a young SLU supporter based in Toronto, Canada, and a participant at the last Future Leaders' Conference for Reconciliation (FLC Season 2), has written about her experience to a Lankan-Canadian website. Here are some extracts from her article.....

"The conference is not just a gathering of students for 5 days. It is a life changing event. You almost have to be the 17 year old boy from Jaffna who has classmates from IDP camps, and after having attended this conference has plans to serve them. You could be the girl from Colombo who has travelled to help her brothers and sisters in other districts after being inspired by the first conference. You could be the Tamil boy who admits he had grown up to hate Sinhalese and Muslims, and explains how the conference has helped him understand and respect other cultures. You could be the student from Polonnaruwa who was inspired by a speech from the first Sri Lankan blind rower, and now believes he can overcome the challenges in his life. You could be the Sinhalese Buddhist boy from Kegalle who decided to fast with his Muslim friends as the conference ran through the holy season of Ramadan"

"Through SLUs integration of meaningful activities, and moreover through their unabiding belief that they CAN make change, I can confidently say that not one of those students left the conference without their lives having been changed in some sort of meaningful way. The conference provided a haven for dialogue and reconciliation, an opportunity to bridge the gaps and create friendships that no other organization, to this day, has been able to provide the youth of our country."

"Sri Lanka Unites has a clearly outlined vision and mission statement, booklets on conferences, and post-conference media material. All of this helps to give us an idea of what these students achieve and continue to achieve. However, I realized how much more it can mean to anyone who is there in person. The enthusiasm and the desire to create change is contagious. If you happen to be in the country at the time of the conference please do visit and see for yourself."

To read the full article visit - http://www.srilankacanada.com/sri_lanka_unites.php

Sri Lanka Unites mobilizes 'Back to School' packs for flood-affected students

SLU's January 2011 Flood Relief Efforts

The last month has seen heavy flooding in several parts of the country due to incessant rains. SLU's Relief and Rebuilding department was keen to respond to the needs of the flood-affected population in the Eastern, North Central and North Eastern regions of Sri Lanka. Our goal was to focus on students who were impacted by the floods and help them get back to their education as soon as possible. As a reconciliation organization we were eager to have students from unaffected areas collect student relief items to help their brothers and sisters in affected areas.

The reports we got from our Sri Lanka Unites student leaders in the affected regions confirmed there were around a total of 1,000 'Back to School' packs needed for students in these regions. So we began a mobilization effort to respond the need of as many students as we could.

SLU selected schools in 4 districts: Batticaloa, Ampara, Polonnaruwa and Mullaitivu, based on the requests that came from our network on the ground in these regions. They identified the need, and the individuals that needed support and made request to us. We followed up from there.

Which schools were assisted?

Back to School packs for flood-affected students in the following schools in the Ampara and Batticaloa have been already handed over:

Kalmunai: Wesley College, Mlck College, Al Mishba College, Zahira College

Saindamarudu: Al hilal College

Nintavur: Al Ashraq College, Al Mazhar College

Sammanthurai: Al Marjan College, Central College

Ampara: Bandaranayaka College, DS College

Addalachena: Central College

Akkaraipattu: Central College, Aysha bal College

Batticaloa: Al Hira (Kattankudy), Thannamunai Tsunami Village)

What was in the 'Back to School' pack?

Stationary items (pen, pencil, ruler, eraser, box of crayons, box of coloured pencils, box of mathematical instruments)

8 exercise books

1kg of Milk Powder

School uniform material

Water bottle (1.5 l )

Laundry Soap

Bath Soap

Support from the 'Rythm Foundation'

The Hong Kong-based charity, the Rythm Foundation - www.rythmfoundation.org - (CSR arm of QI Ltd) was looking for an opportunity to contribute relief towards flood-affected people in Sri Lanka, especially students, and were referred to us by our partner organization Foundation of Goodness. After sharing our plan and reports of the pressing need, the 'Rythm Foundation' graciously agreed to contribute financially towards this effort.

Thank you!

Thank you to the Rythm Foundation and everyone who supported at every stage of this effort. We are now working on delivering the relief items to the remainig areas....

Watch this space for photos of the effort, coming soon