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INTERNATIONAL FOSTER CHILDREN AND UNIVERSITY STUDENTS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMMEThe “International Foster Children Programme” was the brain child of Lion Pandula Kannangara, a Cabinet Officer of District 306 A. After
designing the programme, the information was submitted to Finland Donor Clubs
under the slogan ‘Help a
deserving poor child for Education in Sri Lanka’. They accepted our
programme. Every
child so sponsored by the Lions club here, was offered the facility of obtaining
the services of a Lion or Lions lady named ‘liaison lion’ for counseling,
supervision and guidance to the child and family, in the needed arrears, and to
be of assistance to the foreign donors for direct correspondance with the
sponsored child. When
more donors, were available from Finland the number of sponsored children rose
year by year. The Hikkaduwa Lions observed that the neighboring Lions Clubs
specially in the South and deep south and the clubs in and around Hikkaduwa too
wished to be in the International Foster Children programme. Each sponsored
student gets US$ 10 per month for planned education. These clubs were offered
this opportunity. Presently under the Finland Foster Children Programme Lions
Clubs of Hikkaduwa, Galupura, Galupura-Central, Baddegama, balapitiya, Wadduwa,
Matara, tangalle, beliatte, Beliatte-Metro, Ambalantota Metro, and Unavatuna are
in this programme and as at todate , the total foster children sponsored by the
Finland Foster Children programme is nearly 1000 school going children and
continue to rise regularly.
It has to be reported that Hikkaduwa or the villages nearby did not have such a facility, then. North Sea Lions selected Lion Pandulas’ report to build the North Sea Lions Hikkaduwa Community Centre at a very central place at Hikkaduwa. The Lions Community Centre was to be built on a land ( 90 perches) leased to Lions Club of Hikkaduwa for this purpose by the Government. The work started by end 1987 and the project was completed with funds from North Sea Lions Alliance and also a grant from LCIF.
This
project which was confined to Finland Lion Donors, was extended to Denmark in
1987. This was with the coordination of Lion Frank Anderson of Lions Club
Middelfart of Denmark. He was the President of the Sri Lanka – Denmark Family
Aid Association at the time. They started to support very deserving 66 ( one
parent or both parents dead) school going children, who were living in and
around Hikkaduwa. When they were curtailing the service projects from the Sri
Lanka- Denmark Family Aid Association they handed over this project to Terra Des
Homes of Denmark and from year 2000 Terra Des Homes sponsors these children.
On
further representations made by Lion Pandula with regards to the new necessity
of sponsoring University Students specially from remote villages, coming from
low income families, whose bread winner is dead or sick for life, the programme
was extended to sponsor University Medical Students, Enginnering Students.
University students now numbering to, 173 out of which are 155 Medical students,
10 Engineering students, 3 Agricultural University Students, 02 University Law
students and 3 University management students. University students are paid
monthly US$ 30 for planned education. These
sponsored University students are from all parts of Sri Lanka some from remote
areas like Bibile, Buttala, Monaragala, Ampara, Nuwara Eliya, Bandarawela,
Badulla, Batticloa, Samanthurai etc..
These students are from different races Sinhalese, Muslims, Tamils etc. too Under
the International Foster childrens programmes todate the following number of
Children and Students are sponsored :
“Lions
Club of Hikkaduwa” Lions
Information Centre 279,
Main Road, Hikkaduwa Sri Lanka. Tel: 9409-77304 Fax
: 94977304
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