Dialog’s campaign brings smiles to children

Dialog Telekom joined hands with Sarvodaya to donate school supplies to over 15,000 schoolchildren from across the island.

Launched for the third consecutive year Dialog Telekom’s ‘Share in the Joy a Toy Gives’ campaign was launched with the objective of making a difference in the lives of underprivileged children, assisting them in their studies and encouraging them to perform better.

This year’s project began in December 2007 with an islandwide donation drive which asked people to donate school supplies to the “Share in the joy a toy gives” project. The main highlight of the project was that every gift collected was matched one for one by Dialog Telekom.

This year’s ‘Share in the joy a toy gives’ campaign will enhance the educational status of underprivileged children aged 6-12 across all ethnicities. Children from low-income families and rural areas who have limited access to educational resources are the main beneficiaries of this project.

While promoting education among the disadvantaged the ‘Share in the Joy a Toy Gives’ campaign also aimed at creating awareness among people to take up the initiative to provide assistance to children from low-income families so that every child irrespective of his or her financial background will have an equal opportunity for education.

The school supplies collected were thereafter distributed by Sarvodaya and Dialog Telekom among 258 schools in Anuradhapura, Gampaha, Kalutara, Kandy, Matale, Trincomalee, Moneragala, Mahiyanganya and Ratnapura giving school children from low income families a reason to smile regardless of poverty constraints.

Sarvodaya, Sri Lanka’s biggest charity is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of rural Sri Lankans. Its grassroots movement now reaches 15,000 villages in 34 districts with 1,500 staff throughout Sri Lanka.

Founded by Dr A. T Ariyaratne, a Sri Lankan school teacher in 1958, the organisation follows a Buddhist-Gandhian philosophy, conducting its work across all ethnic and religious communities.