Serendip Children’s Home (UK) and the Sappani Foundation (Canada) are joining efforts to provide eight schools with special needs units in Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka. Our aim is to help children with developmental disabilities, such as autism, and physical disabilities affecting their daily life to have the educational environment that best supports their needs.
With the special need units for each school costing £1300 GBP, we need £12000 (approximately $20000 CAD) to upgrade eight schools and support efforts to train specialist teachers. To help us reach this target, for every £1 raised, the Sappani Foundation will match £1 to meet our total goal. Please support today with your donations at https://gofund.me/3f2f269b!
This partnership is made even more special by the fact that it was brought together by the combined effort of Smile for Sri Lanka and Tamil Culture. Smile for Sri Lanka (UK), held a Christmas shoebox appeal in December 2020, which was shared on TC’s site and social media pages. Not only did the shoebox appeal raise more than £2000 (approximately $3500 CAD) for Serendip Children’s Home (see the close out video below), but TC’s social media shares also caught the eye of Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist Vijay Sappani, chair of the Sappani Foundation, who wanted to help further. Despite the thousands of miles between us, the TC network brought together this latest collaboration to cause positive change in our home country.
Will you join the partnership too and help us reach our target? Please donate today through https://gofund.me/3f2f269b. Every donation will help give a better chance for the future of a child with special needs in Sri Lanka.
Vijay Sappani, Chair of Sappani Foundation: At Sappani Foundation, we believe education has the single largest impact in our ability to transform lives of people from impoverished communities. Through this project we wish to support the children and bring the best of their ability.
Trisha Williamson, Chair of Serendip Children’s Home: Serendip has been at the forefront of raising awareness of the distinct lack of support for special needs children in the North & East of Sri Lanka. We are delighted therefore in collaborating with the Sappani Foundation to turn awareness into action with the provision of these special need units.
For more information about the project, please visit the Serendip website.
Background
In North and East Sri Lanka, the necessary facilities to support children living with developmental and physical disabilities is lacking or non-existent. Furthermore, there is limited understanding of the needs of these children by teachers of standard schools as well as parents. Often these children are either kept at home or sent to standard schools. As a result, these children do not receive the support for their needs, limiting their opportunities to have an independent future.
Special needs units
We will set-up a dedicated special need unit at each school with:
· Group work tables and 1-to-1 workstations to allow group and individual teaching.
· Sensory support equipment to stimulate and develop sensory attributes like pressure, weight, sound, colour, and tactile.
· Occupational therapy products and resources to help older children develop fine motor/gross motor skills and writing skills to build essential life skills.
