Wednesday, February 17, 2010

pictures of our ashram during the rain

Dear friends, here are some pictures which where long over due.They where mostly made during the heavy rains in October and November last year. We also started to post more pictures on Picasa, some are a bit older,and we think it will give you some idear about our daily live and works. Further more; it are realy very beautyfull pics so I'm quite sure that you will enjoy them!

The Picasa adres is: http://picasaweb.google.com/h.s.devamitta

please check out this site regurarely, we will update it nearly daily because Rev. Ariyadhamma is going to do this work. The remarks we had on some of this pictures on Facebook where so great that we decided to up load them, so you will be able to see more of us :-). I must say they are verry ilustrative. The pictures are made by Mr. George Höfer, Rev. Ariyadhamma, some by me (the lesser once's :-) ), and by some other people (their names might sometimes be given sometimes on request only because they want it so). So enjoy them.
Devamitta Thera.

happy that it is dry again

 
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kolibri nest on the lightswitch

 
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between kitchen and bathroom young fish where swimming lol

 
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rex even catched a fish on the "backland":-))

 
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Friday, February 12, 2010

contact

If you are interested to get more information about how to help with our work true donations or volunteer work please contact us true devamitta@yahoo.com or h.s.devamitta@gmail.com (this mail is not used much thoug) and by telephone: 0094-91-4922772 or 0094-77-6958796.
with loving-kindness and friendly greetings
yours in the Dhamma
Devamitta Thera.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

short up date

Dear friends

Just a Short Update on the list of our proposed projects.

Due to the donation of SRS. 90.000.= which we received true Miss. Elles Mol we where able to give the paralyzed carpenter his toilet chair and have we started building the bathroom for the young lady who lost here leg!!!!!

Elles is not only a very hard working volunteer here in the arrear but also a very modest young lady, and she stressed many times that we should realize that the donations came from here friends and their friends and not from here. OK, we know that but she is here and I'm happy to thank here for collecting this funds! We would like to acknowledge that here and send our thanks to each and every one of you who has been donating for this purpose!!!!! Thank You All Very Much in deed!

HARTELIJK DANK ALLEMAAL VOOR DE GEWELDIGE HULP DIE UW DONATIES ONS GEVEN. HIERDOOR KUNNEN WE DIE MENSEN HELPEN DIE DEZE HULP O ZO NODIG HEBBEN!

Hier zeggen we; SADHU, SADHU, SAAAAA! Wat zoveel als “Heilig”of “Gezegend” wil zeggen. En gebruikt wordt als bevestiging van een uitzonderlijke daad. En het is uitzonderlijk als iemand een echte gift doet, zeker zonder er iets voor terug te kunnen verwachten of zelfs de ontvanger (s) te kennen! Dat is wat wij als Buddhisten zien als ware “Dana” – generositeit.

Ik Dank U Allen uit de grond van mijn hart!

So dear friends for this purposes we don’t need donations any more, but the carpenter still needs a motor and there are many more programs and poor individuals who need help. There for take this great gift as an example and please help us to realise our other programs or help those poor individuals.

Yours with loving-kindness, in the Dhamma!

A Happy;

Ven. Devamitta Maha Sthavira.
Telwatta – Sri Lanka.


PS. PLEASE LOOK AT THE SO CALLED OLDER POST WHICH IS ALSO FROM TODAY AND IS FOR US SOOOOOOO IMPORTANT!!!!!!!

proposed programs for 2010

Dear friends and supporters;

With the beginning of this New Year we like to ask your attention for the projects which are proposed for 2010. We have great hopes that with your help; anyhow a part of them will be realized. We don’t ask you for help for ourselves even though we urgently need help to build some facilities at our place. In first instance we ask you here to help us realise this programs which are much needed for the poor in our society!


PROJECTS PROPOSED FOR 2010

1. ACTION AND VOLONTEER HOUSE AKURALA.
2. Year of Awareness of the Blind.
3. Self employment from blind people.
4. English, English and Singhalese Braille for the blind.
5. Paralysed Carpenter from Mayuana.
6. Montesory School at Sinigama.
7. Deaf mute girl scholarship.
8. Amputee young woman needs a bathroom and artificial leg.


1. Here we hope to have a centre where volunteers can be lodged and where we can organize small group training and teaching programs.

The house is quite big (4 rooms, a big “living room”, kitchen and a very big garden). We will be able to get the house on a 10 year lease contract for free, but there will have to be some repairs done; the roof is partially broken, the kitchen should be repaired and a bit modernized some plumbing has to be done, there is the need to build a small bathroom and the whole lot has to be painted. There is the need for furniture; beds, tables and some cupboards, cooking utensils, a gas cooker, plates and a fridge etc.

The garden has to be cleaned and fenced so that we can use it and finally set up a good test garden here to introduce chemical free (carbonic or green) gardening, introduce different new crops and spices and start to have the training of local woman for this purpose there, this way they can earn some “needle money” to support themselves.

Here we can also start training young people in different subjects as; Social skills (much needed), communication and a computer class. We have then also the possibility to finally start the Art collective and training.

Here we can organize our small group children activities and continue our special woman and girl groups.

We will share this accommodation with other small groups who are working for the benefit of the poor and handicapped in this arrear.

A centre like this is very much needed because we have no place to do these activities now and the need for it is rising daily!

There is a small room which we can use as an office and to receive people so that does not have to happen in our little residence anymore.

The whole set up including furniture etc. will cost about €3000.-
For that price we have a free of rent place for 10 years!

If we can get enough help we hope to build here a small shop where the products made by the blind and other handicapped people can be sold. (The cost for this will be about €1500. =).

We do need your help for this much needed project.
We hope to start it as soon as possible.

2. Together with the Galle district group of the National Assoc. For the Blind we are planning to have a Year for the Awareness of the Blind. The preparations of this program are being made and we will be able to inform you later about the details but there is a great need to make the general public aware of the problems of blind people like; education, employment and self employment problems, mobility problems, difficulty’s concerning legal matters, housing, communication, health, entry to public services and buildings etc. etc.

All those things which are in the western society seen as normal facilities for the blind and are here lacking. We are forming a committee in which the members of the Ass. For the Blind are participating and among others a member of the Provincial Council, a Retired French Teacher from a school for the blind in Paris and one of the leading eye-specialist of the district and country.

There are 150 blind people in our district who need white canes. The cost of this is SRS 52.500. =. We will be able to give them these canes already because Mrs. Helene van Beuzekom of Unawattuna has donated them. They will be handed out in February next during their Annual General Meeting. Thank you Helene!

3. We have been asked (and we started to prepare) a program for self employment for the blind, the big problem is not only to help them to start some activities (a big number of them are trained already), but to sell their products.
So we need help to give them a start, and we need help to set up a system true which we can help them to sell their products. The help to start a self employment program is different for each individual because the cost involved are different we will later give a list on our weblog.

4. We received an appeal for help from the National Assoc. For the Blind about a program for the blind in our district. This is a program for them to learn English and the Braille writing in English and Singhalese. See the letter at the end of this blog entry.

5. This is a “small” project, but it’s surely not a small thing for the persons involved! It’s all about a carpenter who fell from the roof in 2004 and is now paralysed because of a broken spine. He’s a very brave person and never the less the handicap he has, he’s still working and taking care of the livelihood of his family! He has a multi functional machine and with this he is able to make wooden frames, frames which are used for making the hood of 3wheelers, small furniture items etc. and he’s producing sound boxes, TV antenna’s and some other items. The problem is that the motor from his machine is broken. He rents one now but that cost too much for it takes a big part of his earnings. He really needs a new motor for this machine and the costs for that are SRS 17.000. = (this is about €110.=)

Further more he’s partly incontinent (loosing urine without knowing) but has to go to the toilet for the rest. That is a problem because the house has a traditional toilet with a squatting pan. It’s degrading for him to use that because he cant hold himself up and has to sit in his own excrement’s. To give him a chance to use the toilet with human dignity and hygiene he needs to be supplied with a “western style” Toilet seat made of stainless steal. The costs for this are about SRS.65000. =. That includes a small hand shower for washing after using the toilet.

This is a one time investment which gives this 36 year old man a change to take care of his wife and 2 children, and use the bathroom in a way with human dignity!

6. This small Montesory School (a pre-school or in Dutch a “kleuterschool”) is a school where the children of the poorest in that village are tending lessons.
The lady who teaches there is really doing a great job with the minimum of means! The 25 children who are in the school are well educated and happy to be there. The problem is that even tough they have chairs, they have no desks.
In fact what is needed are 25 small desks and 2 round tables on which they can do some work in groups.

They even had no toys, but we where able to give them some toys (donated by the daughters of Jaap and Karla Plugge from their own toys, which is a great thing!) The play instruments in the little garden are broken and have to be repaired. The garden should be re-done. The whole place has a definite need for some painting. For this project in the Montesory we will need a total of about SRS 75.000. = (+/- €500. =).

7. A deaf mute girl of 18 years old who is totally neglected by here family is still trying to learn as much as possible and we would like to find a sponsor who will supply the bus fair for here and a labouring woman to go once a week to a school for the deaf to learn sign langue and lip reading. The cost for this all will be about SRS 8000.= a year. ( €50.=).

8. This is a very sad case; A young (26 years old) Montessori teacher from Baddegama, who was just married, had a motor bike accident with here husband. Because of this accident one of here legs had to be amputated at the thigh. To make things worst here sorry excuse of a man left here after 4 days!
Now she’s left an invalided young woman with here old parents at home. The story is about the same as that of the carpenter; it’s not humane to have here use the squatting pan as locally is the habit. In this case it’s even worst here elderly parents have to carry here quite a distance to the outdoor toilet, and there is no bathroom. She can’t take a bath at the well as before.

For this poor, unlucky young woman we have to try and build a bathroom with “western style” toilet which should be attached to the house so she can use the toilet and take a bath in a decent way. The costs for this are estimated at about SRS 90.000.= (€600.=)

Here leg is still abnormally swollen and we are seeking treatment for here, as soon as the swelling is gone she would need to appeal for an artificial leg.
If anyone is interested to help this poor young woman with this please contact us. If she will later on have a moveable artificial leg she would be able to start here work as a teacher again and take care of here own upkeep. The costs of this we will announce later.

There are some other programs which are in a different stage of development.
About these programs we will inform you as soon as possible they are; the continuing of our inter-religious dialogue program, the start of a dialogue between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhist Schools, the continuing of our Telwatta Photo Kids program, and the information programs about food and diets and the danger of marriage within the family. We have a program proposal which is nearly finished to give free education to about 200 children who need this to prepare for a very important examination at the 5th grade. We hope to have the documentation of this other programs ready and will publish that on the blog soon.

Any help with our work for the poorest of the poor is welcome!
We, and those who will benefit of it, are very grateful for your help to succeed in our aim to give them Care and Education!

With loving kindness and friendly greeting;
Yours in the Dhamma,
Ven. Holland Sri Devamitta Maha Sthavira and
All the other young monks of;

“Sri Metta-Ashrama”
Telwatta
Sri Lanka.


Here follows a copy of the request for support we recieved as mentioned before:


Letter from the Association of the Visually Handicapped.

29 December 2009

Dear Devamitta Thera,

PROJECT REPORT TO TEACH ENGLISH AND SINHALA BRAILLE FOR
VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSONS


The Galle District Branch of the Sri Lanka Federation of the Visually Handicapped has 152 visually impaired members. Conducting the Annual General Meeting, celebrating the International White Cane Day, providing self employment assistance, annual outing, Sinhala New Year celebrations for the members, creating awareness programmes are some of the events organized by the Galle branch.

Apart from the above events we are planning to conduct a training programme to teach English and Sinhala Braille for 40 members of our organization. Therefore, I wish to forward the project report for the above course for your kind consideration.

Time duration – 6 months for each group
Total number of groups – 4
Total time duration 2 years

Number of lessons – 24 for each group
Number of students for a group – 10
Number of resource persons – 2

Resource persons fee per lesson – Rs. 1000
Resource persons fee for 24 lessons – Rs. 24,000

Transport allowance for 10 students – Rs. 1000
Total transport allowance for 24 lessons – Rs. 24,000

Total cost for a course – Rs. 48,000

Total number of students – 40
Therefore, total number of courses – 4
Total cost for each group – Rs. 48,000

Total cost for the 4 groups – Rs. 192,000


Training materials such as Braille slates, stylus and Braille paper will be provided by the Galle Branch of the Sri Lanka Federation of the Visually Handicapped

Your kind assistance in this regard would be much appreciated.
Thank you,

Yours faithfully,
Mr. Saman Karunasiri
President
Galle Branch
Sri Lanka Federation of the Visually Handicapped
Kalupe, Hikkaduwa.


*Note from Devamitta Thera;

They hope to start the 1st group in June 2010 therefore they need the funds for the 1st bat of 10 students (SRS 48.000. =) in May next. If one of you (or some of you) can contribute to this program please contact us. After this 1st bat they will need the same amount every 6 months till all 4 groups have followed the training in 2 years time. I would like you to consider that this training means that the participants after finishing have a better chance on a job. They can be employed in call centres etc. already there a number of blind people doing this kind of jobs and companies are willing to except them for this kind of work.
SRS. 48.000. = is about €300.= to €320. = (differs with the exchange rate.)

We hope they will be helped in this case because education is the key for this group of people just as for the poor youngsters we try to help.