Introduction
A large tropical island just twenty miles off the southern tip of India, Sri Lanka is home to 20 million people. Its palm-fringed beaches and breath-taking beauty belie the challenging history of Sri Lanka. Numerous attempts at colonization culminated in the establishment of a British colony known as Ceylon until the mid-twentieth century when the country achieved independence. Years later in 1972, the government adopted the name Sri Lanka, "Resplendent Island." In the 1980's, all-out civil war erupted between the Tamil in the north and east and the Sinhalese majority, resulting in the deaths of more than 60,000 people. A ceasefire eased the violence in 2002; however, recently talks have stalled as the Tamil Tigers seek to establish their own state.
Such a difficult history has translated into suffering for many Sri Lankans. Almost one third of the children under five years are underweight. (1) Twenty-two percent of the people are undernourished and have no sustainable access to improved water sources. (2) The tsunami of December 2004 dealt another devastating blow to Sri Lanka, displacing a million citizens, killing more than 40,000, and demolishing much of the country's fragile infrastructure. Rebuilding Sri Lanka has proven to be a long and arduous task. Sri Lankans value their ethnic and religious identity, loyalty to one's group, and respect for others, yet ethnic divisions run deep and have caused social and political fissures. Unfortunately, as a result, the children of Sri Lanka do not receive the education they deserve.
Educational Challenges
Education is highly regarded in Sri Lanka. Parents sacrifice all their lives to provide their children with an education that will enhance their position in society. Teachers and college graduates are highly respected. Because education is free and compulsory in both primary and secondary schools, 90% of students complete secondary school resulting in a corresponding adult literacy rate, among the highest in Asia. (3)
Despite the successes, the educational system in Sri Lanka suffered shortcomings prior to 2004, including: a lack of quality infrastructure, unequal access for all students through secondary school, and a lack of supplementary educational materials such as children's books. When the waves of December 24, 2004 swept over the Sri Lankan coast, they destroyed hundreds of schools, drastically disrupted the lives of thousands of young children, and escalated the islands' educational shortcomings into a state of emergency. Shortly after the tsunami, Ted Chaiban, the UNICEF Fund Representative in Sri Lanka, summarized the situation, "Getting children back to school represents perhaps the single most effective remedy in helping them cope with the enormity of the catastrophe that has so radically altered their lives." (4)
Other areas of Sri Lanka which were not hit by the catastrophic waves suffer many of the same educational issues. Many Sri Lankan communities in the central highlands remain largely neglected and lag far behind the rest of the population. The estate population in Nuwara Eliya is one such area, where female literacy rates (76%) are much lower than male literacy rates (87%). (5) In many of these communities, poverty is high and the education level is very low. There are very few schools, and those that exist are very poor. It is not uncommon for girls to work long hours for low wages instead of going to school.
While literacy rates in Sri Lanka are the highest in the South Asian region, the overall socio-economic environment in the country remains quite low. According to the UNDP's Human Development Index (1990-2003), 45% of Sri Lanka's population lives on less than US$2 per day. Thus, access to good quality reading materials is essentially out of the question for most people. In the schools where libraries do exist, they are typically filled with old, dusty, books that have little or no relevance for children. The Room to Read team realized a great need for children's literature that is varied and engaging, including local stories that encourage children to be creative and use their imagination.
Room to Read's Role
In a bold move only days after the December 24, 2004 tsunami, Room to Read decided to expedite its expansion into Sri Lanka, which had been discussed for 2006 or 2007, and instead immediately launched operations in January 2005. With Founder John Wood appearing on CNN in the days after the waves struck, Room to Read kicked off a powerful campaign to raise US$200,000 to rebuild schools in tsunami impacted areas and to raise money for longer-term efforts to improve educational infrastructure there.
Under the leadership of our local team, rebuilding efforts began in the Ampara District of Sri Lanka on the eastern coast, one of the areas most devastated by the tsunami. The first school project was located in the village of Karaitivu (45 km south of Batticaloa), a coastal town mostly populated by Tamils who rely on fishing as their main source of income. According to locals, only 25 of Karaitivu's 78 fishing boats survived the impact of the tsunami.
Our Room to Read team quickly discovered that one of the most effective contributions we could make to the Sri Lankan educational system was through the construction of preschools. Educational studies have proven that access to preschool makes a significant and positive impact in the educational development of young students. In addition, preschools offer an organized learning environment where small children can be nurtured. Pre-schools free up the time of parents, grandparents and siblings (especially older sisters) who would otherwise need to provide twenty-four hour care. In tsunami-impacted areas, getting young children, many of whom lost family and friends, into a safe environment where they could resume some sense of normalcy was of tantamount importance. Despite these known benefits and the urgency of the situation, preschool education is not funded by the Sri Lankan government.
Since our arrival, Room to Read Sri Lanka has partnered with local volunteers and NGOs to provide materials, construction labor, and matching funds to re-build the schools that were lost. In order to further address a lack of educational resources, Room to Read has expanded our efforts to establish libraries, develop new local language children's books, and fund long-term girls' scholarships to students who would not otherwise be able to attend school.
Programs & Results
Our Sri Lanka team is heavily focused on constructing schools and establishing libraries to get children into school and provide them with materials that will enhance their education. To this end, we have also begun publishing local language children's books in Sinhalese and Tamil. In the spring of 2006, we also began our Room to Grow Girls' Scholarship Program and selected our first 50 girls on scholarship (see Q2 2006 Newsletter for more on the beginning of this program).
The following table highlights our Sri Lanka team's success to date and goals for 2008:
| Program | Total Thru 2007 | 2008 (Projected) |
|---|---|---|
| Libraries Established | 245 | 210 |
| New Local Language Titles | 17 | 12 |
| Schools Constructed | 115 | 43 |
| Girls on Scholarship | 300 | 500 |
| Computer & Language Labs Established | - | - |
How You Can Help
"Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love."
- Lao-tzu
Forever altering the lives of the children of the world by providing them with an education is an essential and attainable goal. Every human being deserves the right to the knowledge and self-determination provided by the ability to read and write. World change starts with educated children. You can make the difference by getting involved in one of the following ways:
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Donate to Room to Read Sri Lanka. |
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Sponsor the construction of a school, help establish one or more libraries, sponsor a local language children's book title, or fund a long-term girls' scholarship in Sri Lanka. |
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Learn about volunteer opportunities with Room to Read. |
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Sign up for our email newsletter to get regular updates on the organization, our programs, and more. |
Room to Read Sri Lanka - In Detail
| Established | May, 2005 |
| Country Director | Mr. Glenfrey De Mel |
| Number of Employees (as of 12/31/2006) |
9 |
| Office Location(s) | Colombo |
| Regional Presence | Ambalangoda, Ampara, Anuradhapura, Galle, Hambantota, Hikkaduwa, Jaffna, Kalmunai, Matara, Nuwara Eliya, Trincomalee, Welligama |
| Key Partners | The Asia Foundation (TAF), Centre for the Study of Human Rights (CSHR), Janatharana Padanama (JTP), Lanka Sakthi, Plantation Rural Education and Development Organization (PREDO), Reachout, Rotary Club, Saviya Development Foundation (SDF), Social Education Language and Development Association (SELDA), Social Institute for Development of Plantation (SIDP), Social Network Development Organization (SOND), Society for Welfare, Educational and Awareness Training (SWEAT), Sri Lanka Educational, Cultural and Welfare Foundation (SECWF), Up-Country Social Action Committee (UPSAC) |
(1) UNWFP World Hunger Sri Lanka (2003)
(2) Food and Agriculture Organization of UN (2003)
(3) UNICEF Sri Lanka Statistics
(4) BBC News January 1, 2005
(5) Nuwara Eliya Census of Population and Housing (2001)
