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| Sunday, 8 September 2002 |
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Australian national sets up special project: Here to help poor children of Sri Lanka by Ramani Kangaraarachchi "The 19 years of civil unrest in the country has resulted in many orphans and poor children and there is a lot of work to be done. Fortunately, peace negotiations are now taking place with the representatives of the Norwegian government acting as peace negotiators", Captain Eric Weinman, an Australian national who has come forward to feed and educate poor children of Sri Lanka in memory of his late wife Eve, said. The Feed And Educate Poor Children Of Sri Lanka Project (FAEPCOSL) was launched in Australia on 15 Oct 2001 and the launching of its Sri Lanka Association as a NGO was held on 5 September at Hotel Galadari. Sri Lankan born Weinman had felt that he should extended the benefit of this project to support the poor children in Sri Lanka as well. The committee members have been specially chosen, ensuring at least one representative of all ethnic groups and religions of the Sri Lankan community. Dr. Nellie Fernando retired paediatrician has been appointed to chair the meetings in the absence of Mr. Weinman in Sri Lanka, and Air Vice Marshal Harry Goonatilake, and Mr. K. Lekamwasam have been appointed as secretary and treasurer respectively. Weinman, the Director of the project said, that the project is probably the first charity project of this magnitude in the world to have almost NIL overheads, and has from the embryo stage been called a "Little Of No Overheads Charity" (LONOC). He said that every cent donated will be given to the deserving children and anyone who wants to help is told that they should not only be ready to give their time and expertise free but be ready to spend some of their own money if necessary to be able to have the privilege of getting the opportunity to help the poor children. Eric Weinman has brought a large quantity of second-hand items to Sri Lanka for children to help in implementing EVE Weinman Homes, and he is hoping to send such items to Sri Lanka every 3 to 4 months. He said, that the project will become an Umbrella Project which will not only establish and manage the Eve Weinman Orphanage-Homes but will also help other existing orphanages that are managing with insufficient financial and manpower resources, and may even help to co-ordinate their activities in some type of sharing of resources and operating arrangements. Our mission is to establish a community-type farming project, so as to house, feed and educate poor children in a discrimination-free environment with no regard for caste, creed or physical injury in an environment that will provide opportunities to train them, and give them skills that will promote confidence and help the community to become self sufficient and sustainable while helping individuals to obtain employment outside the farming project to be able to lift their heads with self-pride and happiness Captain Weinman said. He invites those interested to join him to make his valuable project a success. Memberships can be obtained from Dr. Nellie Fernando (Asst. Chairperson) on Tel. 301881. |
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