Children's Hope is a Sri Lankan not-for-profit charity, established by English artist Carla Browne in 2005 after the Boxing Day Tsunami.
100% of funds raised by Children's Hope go to our projects, which support underprivileged, disabled and vulnerable children, women and young men in the Galle region.
Children’s Hope extensively consult all members of the local community to determine where the need is greatest – not what we think we should do – including parents, teachers, doctors, community leaders, local government, NGOs and the children themselves.
People of all ages and skills are welcome to volunteer with us on all our projects - we run a Volunteers Village in Habaraduwa, 20 minutes outside Galle.
Volunteer Village has seafront accommodation for up to 16 volunteers, and is also Children's Hope HQ and a vibrant community hub.
Children's Hope projects include:
- Supporting Neth Saran Sawana, a local school for children with hearing, vision and learning difficulties
- Vocational training for the deaf, blind and unemployed, including professional cooking, hotel training, sewing, jewellery and homewares making skills
- Renovating and maintaining paediatric units at Karapithiya Galle Hospital
- Building community housing
- Sex education, life and financial skills
- English and IT teaching
- Taekwondo classes for local children
- Running a kindergarten.
Alongside donating your time, donations of money and brand new goods are always welcome. A list of urgent items can be found in this presentation.
Children's Hope is independent, non-political and non-religious – although we greatly respect the Buddhist culture of Sri Lanka.
For more information, please contact us:
Websites: www.childrenshope.lk and www.volunteersvillage.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Childrens-Hope/85727922803
Email: info@childrenshope.lk
Phone: +94 912 283 875
Thank you.
Children's Hope - An independent Sri Lankan not-for-profit charity
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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.
21. 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.
22. 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.
23. 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.
24. 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.
25. 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
26. 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
27. If you’d like to hear more or help us, please get in touch:
Websites www.childrenshope.lk and www.volunteersvillage.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/childrenshopesrilanka
Email info@childrenshope.lk
Phone +94 912 283 875
All prices and currency conversions are correct as at March 21, 2012.
28. 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.