Progress update as of March 22, 2006
Dula Amarasinghe and Siri Heenpella meeting with Honorable Rantnasiri Wickramanayake, the Prime Minister
of Sri Lanka in February 2006.(Courtesy of "Lankadeepa" Sri Lanka Newspaper)
- Dula Amarasinghe visited the orphanage with two other directors, Indira Amarasinghe
and Siri Heenpella on Feberuary 6th and 7th respectively. There were seven children at the time of visit. They attend the nearby Amarasinghe Kanista Vidyalaya. They are a happy bunch of kids.
- Dula & Siri visited the proposed construction site of the
Orphanage on February 7th afternoon and encountered
problems with squatters illegally occupying a section of the
land allocated for the Orphanage. Adjoining land belong to
Amarasinghe Brothers were offered as an incentive for the
squatters to vacate the premises. However, they rejected the
offer. Subsequently, on February 9thDula & Siri met with the
Prime Minister Honorable Ratnasiri Wickramanayake and
obtained his support to remove the squatters by legal means.
A civil case was filed in Galle District Court.
- On March 16th , plaintiffs obtained an injunction from the
Civil Court to fence the site to commence construction.
- We expect five to receive additional orphans by Friday, March
24, 2006, bring the total number of orphans to twelve.
- On March 10, 2006 Siri (George) Heenpella, a Senior
Journalist with Sri Lanka newspapers was elected a Director
of the Board and will act as Director of Information and Public
Relations.
Progress update as of January 11, 2006
Lanka Children's Village commenced its operation at an auspicious
time in
the morning hours of January 9, 2006 by taking in 12 orphans. The chief
guest on this occasion was the Honorable Minister of Cultural and
National
Heritage Mr. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena. Approximately 200 people
attended the
function.
Ceremonial opening celiberations are tentative planned for Feberuary
7th
U.S. ambassador Dr. Jeffery Lunstead will be the chief guest for this
event.
End of update
Progress update as of January 2, 2006
Soft opening is scheduled for January 9th 2006. Eight more orphans will
be
taken in on this date.
Tejasiri D. Amarasinghe, Director of Sri Lanka Orphanage Fund will
represent
the Board from New York for this event. Siri Heenpella, Journalist from
New
York will provide the media coverage for momentous event.
At the auspicious time in the early hours of December 29th 2005, first
two
2004 Tsunami Orphans were duly admitted to the Lanka Children's
Village.
This historic event is a landmark in the pursuit of building the
orphanage
for 2004 Tsunami Orphans. Mrs. A.I.K. Amarasiri, our consultant and
Anil
Dias, Manager of the Orphanage carried out this event.
Sri Singhapaya renovations were completed by November 15, 2005. Since
then
the house has been ready for the opening of the Orphanage. Staff was
recruited.
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With the establishment of The Lanka Children Village
Trust in Sri Lanka to oversee the SLOFs Sri Lankan
activities and transfer of $5,000 for the initial
phase of the construction and modification of the main
house to accommodate 16 children had begun on March
15, 2005.
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The Sri Lanka Orphanage Fund, Ltd. opened an operating account with Seylan Bank Ltd. Foreign Currency Banking Unit in Sri Lanka on February 11, 2005.
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Application
for designation as a publicly supported, charitable, tax-exempt
organization, under section 501(c)(3) of the Federal Tax Code was
submitted to the Internal Revenue Service on January 20, 2005, and The Sri
Lanka Orphanage Fund, Ltd. received its designation letter on February 3,
2005.
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The
Sri Lanka Orphanage Fund, Ltd. filed and is registered with the New York
State Attorney General’s Office, Division of Public Advocacy, Charities
Bureau, as of January 27, 2005. Registration # 20-89-83.
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The Sri
Lanka Orphanage Fund, Ltd. opened a corporate checking account to receive
donations and gifts of cash and checks at the Bank of America branch in
Patchogue, New York on January 18, 2005.
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The
Sri Lanka Orphanage Fund, Ltd. was incorporated under New York State Laws
as a “B” type, charitable nonprofit agency, on January 11th,
2005.
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The
Board approved Certificate of Incorporation for the Sri Lanka Orphanage
Fund, Ltd. was submitted for approval on January 10, 2005.
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At a
Board of Directors meeting at the offices of Asean Capital, Inc. on
January 7, 2005, the Board reviewed and approved the Certificate of
Incorporation of the Sri Lanka Orphanage Fund, Ltd. In addition, the Board
approved a preliminary set of By-Laws of the Sri Lanka Orphanage Fund,
Ltd. At the same meeting, the Board approved and adopted a conflict of
interest policy.
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A Board of Directors was
established for The Sri Lanka Orphanage Fund, Ltd. at a meeting held at
the offices of Asean Capital, Inc. on January 6, 2005. The Board approved
the name of the fund, authorized certain directors to incorporate as a
nonprofit organization under section 201 of the Not-for-Profit Corporation
Laws of New York State, and to subsequently pursue designation as a
tax-exempt corporation under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
Code. At the same meeting, Sarath Kumara de Sliva, a civil engineer in Sri
Lanka, was appointed Executive Project Director with responsibilities for
designing the orphanage facilities, preparing the site plan, obtaining all
necessary approvals and permits, interacting with government agencies, and
after a public bidding process, selecting appropriate contractors to
construct the orphanage facilities. In addition, the Board devised a plan
to accept up to sixteen orphans immediately (upon various government
agency’s approvals) to be temporarily housed in a ten-bedroom home owned
by T.D. Amarasinghe. As the cottages are built, the children will be
transferred to their new cottages, and in turn, additional orphans will
take their place until cottages can be built and staffed for them. On
completion of the children’s village, the Sri Lanka Orphanage Fund, Ltd.
will have approximately two hundred children in its care.
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