The Charity that helps poor children In Southern Srilanka
The late Mr D.C.Hewavidana who was the superintendent of Imaduwa Waulagala Tea estate and a famous Buddhist philanthropist in Kamburupitiya and Galle Matara area built schools and temples in the province with his personal wealth. When some parents who were unable to send their children to school due to poverty appealed to give their children some labour work in the tea factory, Mr. Hewavidana sent those children to Mahinda or Sanghamitta schools at his own expense. Mr. Hewavidana, who understood the suffering of the poor children and the daily struggle of the people, always tried to help them . One of the children he sponsored from primary school to university rose to the rank of Government agent of Southern Sri Lanka. Another child he helped became the editor-in-chief of Dinamina newspaper.
Twelve other children who studied with his help are now working as high-ranking doctors and engineers across the country. After the death of Mr. Hewavidana, his elder son Devsiri Hewavidana who lives in London continued with his valuable social activities. Mr. Hewavidana and his wife Mrs. Ruvini joined forces with friends from Britain and started the UK Friends of Galle Foundation . You may not know that Mr. Devsiri, who loves his native country has been doing a yeoman service for the needy children in Imaduwa and Kamburupitiya areas together with his friends in UK for the past twenty one years.
As the first step to save the rural schools that were marked to be closed by the government, the UKFG started a mission to build fully equipped libraries and provide them with books to small schools in Kamburupitiya. Thumbe Junior College, Sapugoda Ratanapala College, , Gatare Junior College, Masmulla Junior College, Akurugoda Ratanajoti College, Kamburupitiya Ullala College, all have received brand new libraries . Ullalala, Sapugadala, Rathanapala , Puhulwellala, Owitigamuwa and Mapalana Schools were each given a badminton court with all sports equipment by philanthropists Mr & Mrs Neil Carson in Cambridge UK> .UKFG has also given books, computers and projectors and various other equipment to many schools in the area . Also, Deshan Shynee and Dinum, the three children of Mr. Devsiri, have donated 30 computers and books to eight schools in Kamburupitiya and Imaduwa. To date, UKFG has provided 2300 children with new shoes and uniforms. Also, UKFG has donated new houses to seven families who lost their children and property in the devastating tsunami in 2004.
Today, 340 talented but poor children are going to school with the help of scholarships of 5000 rupees per month provided by the UKFG. We are very happy that 8 medical students who have received support from the UKFG for five years graduated in 2015 and are now working as skilled doctors in many provinces of the island. At present UKFG supports 5 more medical students throughout their studies . Our largest donation is the fully equipped Helen Carson swimming pool built in Sapugada Ratanapala Vidyalaya at a cost of 110 lakhs. This was donated by philanthropists Mr & Mrs Neil Carson in England was handed over to the students in August 2022. We hope that about ten thousand children from twenty-five schools in Kamburupitiya will learn swimming and gain life-saving skills by using this swimming pool. We also did the valuable charity of providing free lunch to 2400 children and teaching staff of ten schools namely Mapalana, Godawa, Thumbe Sapugodala Iriyathota, Kahagala, Vitiyala South , Gathare , Massmulle and Vitiyala Gunarathana for five months from June 2022. The UKFG was able to do such a great service because of the kind ladies and gentlemen in Britain who are friends of Mr. Devsiri. We hope that through our organization, they would continue to support the needy children at rural schools that do not have much facilities.
If you are a resident of Sri Lanka in UK and would like to offer scholarships to a few needy and bright child, please join us . One scholarship cost £170 a year. Your donation would give a whole new future for a child. Please go to our our website www.ukfgsrilanka.co.uk for more information about the charity work our foundation has done and is doing for the betterment of children in the Southern Srilanka
Sirisena Gamage
Sri Lankan President (UK Friends of Galle)
tlai;a rdcOdksfha ගාලු මිතුරු moku
ගා,af,a buÿj jõ¨ග, jතුhdfha wêldÍ yd lUqremsáh yd ගා,a, ud;r ප්රfoaYfha ප්රසිද්ධ බෞoaO දානපතියෙකුව isá දිවංගත ã’ iS’ fyajdúodk uy;d ;u පුoaග,sl Okfhka m<df;a mdi,a yd mkai,a ගොvkeගීය’ os<s÷ nj ksid ;u orejka mdi,a heùug wfmdyi;a jQ iuyr fouõmsfhda f;a lïyf,a fudkjd yß කු,S jevla ;u orejkag ,nd fok f,i wdhdpkd l, úg fyajdúodk uy;d lf<a ;u úhofuka tu orejka uyskaohg fyda ix>ñ;a;djg heùuh’ මෙබඳු ÿmam;a <uqkaගේ ÿl yd ck;djගේ oyäh iqj`o හැඳිනූQ ienE ñksfiකු jQ fyajdúodk uy;d fõ,l follska දරුවකුගේ පිරිමසා දෙනවා කුසගින්k පිරිමසා දෙනවා fjkqjg ප්රj¾;k ishjfia f,dj ch ගekSu Wfoid oekqfuka msßmqka mqoaග,hka rgg odhdo lsÍug W;aidy lf<ah’ tතුud ප්රාථමිකයේ isg úYaj úoHd,h olajd tfia bගekaùug úhoï l< orejkafගka tla whකු ,xldfõ osidm;s moúh olajd by<g ගිfhah’ ;j;a orejකු oskñK mqj;amf;a ප්රOdk lතුjrhd úh’
එතුudfගේ Woõfjka bfගkග;a ;j;a orejka fodf<dia fofkකු ;ju;a ඉහළ පෙළේ ffjoHjre yd bxðfkarejreka jYfhka රට පුරා fiajh lr;s’ fyajdúodk මහතගේa wNdjfhka miq tතුudගේ අගkd iudc lghqතු bosßhg fග්k hdug tතුudfග්a දෙටුmqතු ,kavka kqjr foõisß mS’ fyajdúodk uy;d yd එතුමාගේ බිරිද රුවිනි මහත්මිය úiska බ්රි;dkHfha ñතුrka iuÕ tla ù tlai;a rdcOdksfha ගා¨ ñතුre moku wrUk ,os’ Wmka rgg ගug wdorh lrk foõisß ue;sතුමා පසුගිsh jir විසිඑක ;siafia Tjqka iuග tlaj bu¥j yd lUqremsáh ප්රfoaYj, wirK orejka i|yd wප්රisoaêfha úYd, fiajhla lrñka isák nj Tn iuyr úg fkdokakjd úh yelsh’
rcfhka jid oeóug ,කුKq fldg ;snq ග්රාóh mdie,a fírd ගekSfï uq,a mshjr jYfhka ගා¨ ñතුre moku úiska lUqremsáfha කුvd mdie,aj,g wxග iïmq¾K mqia;ld, idod fmd;am;a iuග ප්රodkh lsÍfï fufyjrla wdrïN lrk ,os’ තුfò lKsIaG úoHd,hg ã’ iS’ fyajdúodk wkqiaurK mqia;ld,h, imqfගdv r;kmd, úÿy,g kS,a ldika mqia;ld,h, ග;df¾ lKsIaG úoHd,hg we,ka yÉika mqia;ld,h, udiauq,a, lKsIaG úoHd,hg kslS ෆ්efrda mqia;ld,h yd mßගKl ඒකකය, wකුreගොv r;kfcda;s úÿy,g pd¾,aia flk,s mqia;ld,h, lUqremsáfha W,a,, uyd úoHd,fha orejkag w¨;a fmd;am;a iuග wxග iïmq¾K kS,a ld¾ika mqia;ld,h o wms msßkeuqfjuq’ tfiau kගrfha <uqkag muKlau iSud jQ neâñkagka ක්රීvdj ;u ගfï ¥ orejkag mqreÿ mqyqKq lsÍu i`oyd W,a,,, imqfගdv, r;kmd, ,lsßkao mqyq,aje,a,, ´úáගuqj yd udm,dk hk úÿy,a myg;a ක්ර්Svd WmlrK weතු`M neâñkagka ක්රිSvdmsáh neගska msßkukq ,enQy’ by; mdi,aj,g wu;rj foõisß uy;d uq,skau bfගkqu ,enQ bu¥fõ yõfma uyd úÿy,, mqiaje,alv úÿy,, nfÜuq,a, cd;sl úÿy,, j;jk ප්රාථමික úÿy, yd lyග, iqග;md, úÿy,g fmd;am;a mßගKl yd ප්රොfclag¾ weතු`M úúO WmlrK wm úiska msßkud ;sfí’ tfiau එංග,ka;fha mdie,a hk ගා¨ ñතුre mokfï odkm;shkaගේa ldreKsl ÿ mqතුka yd foõisß uy;dගේ ore ;sfokd foaYdන්, Yhsks yd oskqï úiska lUqremsáh yd buÿj mdi,a wglg fï olajd mßගKl 30la yd fmd;am;a o orejka 2300lg w¨;au im;aතු yd ks, we÷ï o msßkud ;sfí’ tfiau iqkdñfhka ගෙj,a fodrj,a yd ¥ mqතුka wysñ jq mjq,a y;lg ගා¨ ñතුre moku uගska kj ksjdi ;kd mß;Hdග fldg we;.
iqkdñfhka fouõmshka wysñjq fyda fjk;a wdmodj,ska wirKjq olaI ÿගී <uqka 340la wo tlai;a rdcOdksfha ගා¨ ñතුre moku uÕska uilg remsh,a 5000 neගska msßkuk YsIH;aj msysfgka mdi,a h;s’ ගා¨ ñතුre mokfuka wjqreÿ myla ;siafia wdOdr ,enq ffjoH isiqka yd isiqúhka 8fofkකු 2015 jif¾ Wmdê ,nd msg ù oeka osjhsfka fkdfhla m<d;aj, olaI ffjoHjre jYfhka fiajh lsÍu wmg n,j;a iතුgls. fï ,shk 2024 jif¾ wirK ffjoH isiq isiqúhka mia fofkකු wmfගka wdOdr Wmldr ,nk w;r ;j jir follska Tjqkq;a rgg jevodhS ffjoHjreka jkjd ±lSu wmfගේ f,dකුu wNsප්රdhhs’ wmfගේ úYd,;u jHdma;sh jq re’ ,laI 110l úhoñka imqfගdv úoHd,fha bos කෙරුණු wxග iïmq¾K fy,ka ldika msyskqï ;gdlh 2022 වසරේ wfගdaiaතු udifha oS isiq whs;shg mjrk ,oS’ lUqremsáh m<df;a mdie,a úis myl orejka oyodylg fuu msyskqï ;gdlh mdúÉÑ කොට පිහිනීම හා ජීවිතාරක්ෂා ක්රම ඉගෙනීමට හැකියාව ලබාදීම wfma n,dfmdfrd;aතුjhs’ 2022 ජුනි මාසයේ සිට මාස පහක් තිස්සේ මාපලාන, ගෝදාව, තුඹේ හා සපුගොඩ, ගතාර, ඊරියතොට, කහගල, විටියල දකුණ හා විටියල ගුනරතන යන පාසල් දහයේ දරුවන් 2400කට හා ආචාර්ය මණ්ඩලයට දිවා ආහාරය නොමිලේ ලබා දීමේ වටිනා පුණ්යකර්මය ද අප විසින් සිදු කරන ලදී’ tlai;a rdcOdksfha ගා¨ ñතුre mokug fu;rï iqúYd, fiajhla lsÍug yelsjqfha ÿmam;dගේ ÿlg msysgjk දෙව්සිරි මහතාගේ මිතුරන් වූ බ්රි;dkHfha ldreKsl ue;s ue;skshka ksidh’ bosßhg;a oකුfKa wirK orejkg yd myiqlï ke;s ගïno mdi,aj,g wmfගේ ixúOdkh yryd yels wkaoug Tjqka msysgjkq we;ehs wms n,dfmdfrd;aතු fjuq’
,xldfõ fjfik Tn;a wirK yd oSma;su;a orefjකුg YsIH;ajhla msßkeóug leu;s kï lreKdlr wm moku fï olajd oකුfKa orejkaගේ wNsjDoaêh i|yd lrk ලද හා කරමින් සිටින iudc jev lghqතු ms,sn| jeä úia;r www.ukfgsrilanka.co.uk fjí wvúfhka n,d wm yd tlajkak’
මෙhg isßfiak ගuගේa,
ගා¨ ñතුre mokමේ ,xld iNdm;s
“ගාñණී”‚ fldaÜfÜj;a;, háhk, ud;r’