Hi All,
I have returned home safely and thought I would give you an update since you all have been a part of the endless emails I sent to my husband! As most of you can imagine my trip to Sri Lanka was hardly the holiday it has been in past years and has been quite an emotional journey. The thing that has impacted the most is the difference in opportunities and quality of life that exists between most of our children and so many of the children in Sri Lanka whether affected by the Tsunami or not. We are hoping we can make a difference to a handful of those children.

On arrival in Sri Lanka I spent the first week working at a community relief centre and got involved in various projects that focused on trying to get life back to normal as much as the situation allowed. I was mainly working with approx 3000 children who were displaced and some had lost one or both parents, spread throughout 15 shelters. Most had family or friends of family to support them, but it was so tragic to experience the loss they were all suffering. I felt so sorry that they had lost all they owned, which compared to what we have is so small to start with, but I realized that our expectations of ownership and material possessions are so different to theirs and felt guilty for living the way we do and giving our children all that we give them.

During this week, as Julian was forwarding all my emails to our friends, a group of them (Julie-Ann Kerin, Emma Slade, Maz Creagh, Amy Swartz, Daniela Brown) were inspired to form a committee here to respond to the requirements for registering a charity fund and assessing how we operate and maintain this fund.

As a result my second week in Sri Lanka consisted of visiting and meeting as many people as I could to educate myself on the needs and requirements of non government organizations (ngo's) and children's homes in Sri Lanka. I met some amazing and truly inspiring people who have committed their lives to helping people less fortunate than themselves and gained a good insight into the fact that so many children's homes are much more institutions rather than homes.
Dr Nithia Jayawickremay (the owner of the orphanage mentioned in my past emails) is very keen to resurrect the home and is working with his lawyer there to gather the necessary documentation. This could take a few weeks to get together as the relevant government departments usually involve a fair degree of red tape. We have also identified various well respected individuals in Sri Lanka to run the committee from that end in order to ensure transparency and legitimacy. Some of these people include Ranjit Fernando (ex Sri Lankan cricket team manager and now respected cricket commentator), Nihal Fernandopulle (my father) and Dr Nithia Jayawickremay.

From this end (Australia) we are in the process of establishing a tax deductible fund. Once this is done we are able to start collecting donations, which we are hoping will be operational in a few weeks. We have also established a website. The site has still to be designed and we have secured the site hosting fees and web design, both as donations. The name of the website is www.lightoflanka.org - ' Light of Lanka Foundation' being the name of the fund. This website will also act as a source for all donors to check the progress of the fund as we plan to display photos of the construction phase and on a long term profiles of the children so our donors can get to know about them and their ongoing progress.

We aim to build a safe and nurturing home environment for the children affected in Galle and create an atmosphere where the values of their traditional culture are maintained whilst giving them opportunities for education and some of the simple things our own children enjoy everyday. We also plan to hold a number of fundraising events over the next 12 months so will advise all of you as we get our calendar in place - any excuse to get together is a good one! Post building the children's orphanage we would like to continue our support with an annual fundraising event in NSW, VIC and QLD.

One of the great things that has risen out of this whole disaster is the number of our friends who have never met each other and have now got together through the tool of email and found a common cause to commit their time and passion to try and make a small difference to children who have been affected. All of us being mothers and parents ourselves have been so touched and affected by the destruction caused to so many young lives, that we have now been given the opportunity to step out of our comfort zones and do something to make a difference for some of the children over the next few years.

Getting on the flight to Sri Lanka to do something whatever it was, was one of the best decisions of my life and has had a huge impact on my outlook on life. The extremes of being in Galle, Sri Lanka to being in East Malvern, Melbourne are so confronting that is seems like the last 2 weeks have been a big dream to me. I have been very emotional which I am sure is combined with symptoms of jet lag, but can't help think of the blank lost faces of so many people I saw during my travels along the west coast of Sri Lanka. I only hope that the funds that have been pledged and donated to the international Aid Agencies are efficiently and honestly used to return all the displaced people back into a comfortable environment in which they can move on with their lives as quickly as possible. The most comforting thing about rebuilding the orphanage in Sri Lanka is the knowledge that the people involved are committed to the cause and I know that our funds will be directed exactly to the children's orphanage they have been raised for.

I have given you my insight into my experience of the Tsunami tragedy in Sri Lanka and hope you all have found something enlightening and interesting from my story. Please pass this message on to anyone you may think is interested in involving themselves in the 'Light of Lanka Foundation' - any help is good help for this type of cause. Once the charity has been registered I will forward the details to all of you to pass on to anyone interested.

Thank you for all being such wonderful supportive friends.
Cheers
Needra