Project Successes

Education is the best way to overcome poverty. Hence SLCF gives more importance to any project that is related to education. Education will not only provide a future for the children but also will make them independent and make a living for themselves.

SLCF welcomes any support with regard to education – money, books, digital computer gadgets or even volunteering services to read books and spend time with the children.

According to Nelson Mandela ‘Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world’. Main objective of this project is about creating a shared web unit to provide online education for children by reducing the digital divide and linking all beneficiaries together and creating a platform to access education materials.

These premises will also be used for the locals to make use of the facility after schools and educated children to act as volunteers to have Skype calls and discussions with other disadvantaged children to improve the vocabulary skills. The Educational link will have nursery, primary, secondary education materials loaded in all three languages Tamil, Sinhala, and English with e book platform. A child from any part of Sri Lanka would be able to log into this portal and access course work and exam papers.

This idea is around developing independent entrepreneurs within communities. The idea is based on the concept of Micro Finance. SLCF was inspired by an article released on Mckinsey , titled on ‘Developing entrepreneurship among the world’s poorest’ (McKinsey, 2009). Microfinance is the supply of loans, savings and other financial services to the poor. The focus is often on microcredit – providing small loans for people without collateral to start a small business – to buy a sewing machine for example. This is to increase the sustainability in the community but through a steady change. Getting recognised of becoming an owner will remove any social stigma associated with any individual and will boost their self-esteem and provide a face in the society. Across three years a total of £10,000 have been allocated to this project. Depending on the situation a combination of Gas cooker with Gas supplement, Three-Wheeler and Sewing machine will be provided. There is no interest expected by SLCF in this model.

SLCF aims to do this by:

• Working directly with institutions identify the individuals/ families that have the skills set to become and owner but struggling with insufficient income
• Depending on their conditions and willingness provide investment
• Register owners with SLCF and also with the managers of the institutions in order to monitor activities and money being spent in the right manner
• Supporting local entrepreneurs by identifying potential vendors in the country to make sales.

Due to the recent calamities in certain districts the infra structure has been damaged and in a bad condition to make a living. This made the living conditions hard for both parents and children. This situation has a setback in their education and earning opportunities, as their time was spent in re building the infra structure. SLCF supports projects that requires to rebuild the buildings.