Our mission

Children’s Hope believes in children regardless of their circumstances, gender, race, disability or behaviour.

We believe in the abused, vulnerable, forgotten and neglected. We support them and stand up for them, to bring out the best in every child.

We believe every child deserves the best start in life and the chance to fulfil their potential.

With the right help, committed support and belief, even the most vulnerable children can turn their lives around.

Every Children’s Hope project is different – but each believes in the potential in every child and young person, no matter who they are, what they have done or what they have been through.

Our commitment

100% of funds raised by Children’s Hope go directly to running our projects.

As a small local organisation, we don’t pay:•Rent or property fees•For marketing or ads•To be part of a wider organisations•Any commissions.

We rely on our existing assets, volunteers, friends and connections.

Why is Children’s Hope so special?

•We are independent, non-political and non-religious – although greatly respect and observe the Buddhist culture of Sri Lanka.

•We consult everyone in our community to find out what they need, not what we think they need – including parents, teachers, doctors, community leaders, local government, NGOs and the children themselves.

•We run our own projects independently, with on-the-ground local staff and volunteers.

•We empower all young people to create a better life for themselves, including the disabled, abused, sick, poor and vulnerable.

•We provide valuable education at all levels – preschool, school and vocational training.

•We build, equip and help maintain schools, hospitals and local housing. •We are a community hub for local children, women and young men.

Our Founder

English artist Carla Browne first visited Sri Lanka in 2003, on recommendation of friend Sir Christopher Ondaatje.

Falling in love with the country, Carla bought property and visited regularly.

When the Boxing Day Tsunami hit in 2004, Carla returned to Sri Lanka, moved to begin programmes in 2005 to rebuild schools by twinning them with schools in England.

Carla then moved to Sri Lanka permanently in 2006, selling her home in the UK to rebuild specialist school Neth Savan Sarana.

The number of projects Carla managed continued to grow, until she registered Children’s Hope as a formal charity in 2008.

Kumar Sangakkara

player and former captain of the Sri Lankan Cricket Team is Patron of Children’s Hope.

Our projects

Located in Habaraduwa, 20 minutes drive from Galle and 2.5 hours from Colombo, Volunteer Village is:

•Children’s Hope HQ

•Seafront accommodation for up to 16 volunteers

•A vibrant community hub.

Volunteers can get involved in projects on the following pages.

English and IT lessons for local children and adults

Pre-school – We run a kindergarten in the Village grounds, educating the children in Sinhala and English, also allowing local mothers an opportunity to socialise.

Professional cookery and hotel training is offered to vulnerable unemployed local young men, as a way out of a life of drinking and street walking.

Following the three month course, which includes English and culinary language training, all have found employment in the Galle area, including some at leading hotels and restaurants.

Children’s Hope also give experience by:•Offering cooking classes for tourists•Selling street food in a stall outside Volunteers Village•Catering for local private schools•Hiring out the picturesque Volunteers Village as a catering-inclusive wedding venue.

Sewing classes are offered, which can also lead to vocational industrial sewing machinery training.

Jewellery and homewares making skills are also taught, with the proceeds sold to sustain the project.

Sex and life skills education for men and women, including budgeting lessons to reduce the local cycle of debt.

Children’s Hope also run Taekwondo classes for local young people.

Neth Sawan Sarana

Translated in English as ‘Eye Hear Help’, NSS is located in nearby Ahangama, the only specialist school for children with hearing, sight and learning difficulties in the Galle district.

Many children with disabilities are stigmatised in Sri Lanka, with little to no assistance to educate them or help them lead a productive life.

The ones who go to schools like NSS, although far away from their families, are the lucky ones.

Since our first visit in 2007, Children’s Hope have renovated the dilapidated old buildings and built new ones, including dormitory blocks for 60 children aged from five to 20, a dining room and kitchen, and art & craft room.

While the school is staffed by Government-funded teachers, volunteers also work with the children to help teach sign language, Braille, IT, art, craft and cooking.

Once they leave school, young adults go to Volunteers Village to learn skills like industrial sewing machinery, jewellery and homewares making, and hotel and housekeeping.

While the school’s facilities are among the best of their kind Sri Lanka, it is still severely under-privileged.

Classrooms are tiny and cramped – while we have land, we have no money to extend.

Basic equipment from chalk, pencils, books, computers, even bed sheets are in urgent need.

Karapitiya Hospital Galle

This hospital is one of only three general hospitals in Sri Lanka, alongside Colombo and Kandy.

When Children’s Hope visited Karapitiya’s paediatric wards we found it dark and dank, with rats, cats and dogs roaming throughout. Mould grew all over on the walls and ceilings, due to exposure to the elements, even above premature babies’ cots.

Medicine rooms were found in unhygienic conditions. Families, visitors, nurses, doctors and other staff had nowhere to eat or rest.

Since then, Children’s Hope have renovated Paediatric Ward 2 and constructed a new Premature Baby Unit.

A child activity room, playground and rest areas have also been built and equipped.

Staff are being better trained to look after medicines in a more tidy and sterile way.

However more needs to be done on other wards, and the Sri Lankan weather conditions mean our work needs regular maintenance.

Community housing

We often hear stories of families in need, who need assistance with permanent housing.

Children’s Hope fund and build new homes as and when we can, for homeless or soon-to-be-homeless families:

•With ill or elderly parents and grandparents•Affected by mental illness and alcoholism•With abandoned mothers and children•Ostracised by their communities•Living in temporary or mud houses which will wash away during the monsoon season.

So, what can you do to help us?

Donate your time

Who can help:•Anyone of any age, we’ve had 12 to 80 year-olds all love their time with Children’s Hope. Children under 16 must be accompanied by their parents.•All skills are valued – English teaching, IT, childcare, communications, sports, art and crafts, disability care, cooking and pure enthusiasm.

What you get:•Airport transfer to Volunteers Village•Single or double ensuite rooms•Three delicious meals a day, cooked by in-house chefs•Laundry facilities•Wifi and computer facilities available•Beach, restaurants, local shops nearby•Endless opportunities to positively change the lives of local children, women and young men.

What we ask:•To work a minimum of four hours a day, Monday to Friday. •To stay at least four weeks, to bond with the community and ensure you see and feel the impact you have created.

What you pay:•£500/US$800 per person, per month.•All money goes directly towards your food, accommodation and transport costs, building running costs, and funding Children’s Hope projects.

Donate your money

Currently, it costs just £36,000 / US$57,000 per year to cover the basic running costs of Children’s Hope.

In the years after the Tsunami, international attention has moved away from Sri Lanka and we are struggling to make ends meet.

Staff volunteer extra hours, and often use their salaries to pay for projects.

All donations are gratefully received.

Regular and major donors become a Friend of Children’s Hope and will receive a regular newsletter.

Where your money goes

All money raised by Children’s Hope goes to running and resourcing our projects, giving our staff a basic living allowance and urgent items.

We have 16 paid staff who all come from the local Galle community, including project and centre managers, teachers, carers and admin staff.

Urgent items

If you’d like to make a specific donation, we desperately need:

•Hospital mattresses for children at Galle Hospital x 240 – £16/US$25 each

•Bed sheets for children at Galle Hospital x 480 – £6.50/US$10 each

•Oxygen masks (nebulizer kits) for children – £6.50/$10 each

•Washbasins with taps – £38/US$60 each

•Hand dryers for improved sanitation x 2 – £95/US$150 each

•Antibacterial soap dispensers – £13/US$20

•Water filters for clean drinking water – £50/US$80

•Mosquito nets for safe sleeping x 120 – £9.50/US$15 each

•Braille writer (typewriter to help blind children) – £79/US£125 each

•Musical instruments – £32/ US$50

•Children’s books, sports equipment, shoes and milk powder – from £16-

£6.50/US$25-$10 each

Donate brand new goods

While most items are cheaper to buy in Sri Lanka, some items can be donated brand new. Items currently welcome and appreciated include:

•Laptops to teach the children and young adults computer skills•Toys and picture books for pre-school aged children•A camera so we can document our events and successes

If you’d like to hear more or help us, please get in touch:

Websites www.childrenshope.lk and www.volunteersvillage.comFacebook www.facebook.com/childrenshopesrilankaEmail info@childrenshope.lkPhone +94 912 283 875

All prices and currency conversions are correct as at March 21, 2012.

The peacock is the mascot of Children’s Hope – a symbol of southern Sri Lanka.

Culturally, peacocks are associated with openness, as they display all their feathers when spreading their tail.

Peacocks can also eat poisonous plants and snakes, a symbol that good things can thrive in the face of suffering.