Education Sri Lanka Project #56392

Support a Student, Strengthen a Community

by Tea Leaf Trust

Project Report | Mar 7, 2023
You're helping Sri Lankan youth to learn & grow!

By Tim Pare | Project Leader

Graduate Reflections - Yogeshwaran Rishanthini

Vanakum, Ayubowan and Hello!

I hope you are doing well wherever you are in the world.

I’m popping into your inbox today with an update on our Support a Student, Strengthen a Community fundraising campaign which took place from July 13 - August 31 2022.

The campaign was in response to the devastating economic crisis that continues to ravage Sri Lanka and allowed us to raise essential funds for our students, so they could complete their Diploma in 2022 without causing additional financial stress for their families.

Thanks to your support and generosity, 198 of our students completed their studies and graduated from the Main Diploma in December 2022.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is still suffering from the economic crisis, and the road to recovery is long. As a result we are seeing a continued need amongst many of our students for additional financial help and future funds to this page will be used to provide that support.

2023 brings a new school year, new students, new teachers and even new Tea Leaf Centres because our professional development and vocational training is in hot demand!

Here’s a couple of highlights from the year so far:

All of our 2022 graduates were asked to reflect on their year with Tea Leaf, and their reflections made our hearts sing! We’ve included a few in this update.
On 20th Jan 2023 we officially opened our 4th Tea Leaf Centre in Bogawantalawa in partnership with Maha Foundation. This Centre will support 50 full time students, who will teach 500 young children basic English, and deliver community service projects for over 15,000 community members!
Tea Leaf Trust is a Sri Lankan youth led charity, so we are proud to share that our staff team now totals 50, the biggest it’s ever been, and 47 out of these 50 are former Tea Leaf students!
Every year we run an Intensive English Programme (IEP) specifically for tea estate youth who want to do our Main Diploma, but need a little preparation to be ready for the level of study. During IEP the young people gain confidence to learn in an English-speaking environment through team building, ice breaking activities and basic English classes. This is the first time these different ethnic groups have studied together, so IEP becomes a foundation for them to build new friendships and embark on this new journey with hope!

Tea Leaf Trust creates opportunities through education, empowering young people to learn, grow and lead. An educated young person has an incredible positive ripple effect in their tea estate community and beyond!

Your support makes our work possible - thank you!

Please stay connected with us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn for the latest news and updates.

With very best wishes,

Tim on behalf of Tea Leaf Trust

Graduate Reflections - Ramajeyam Gobinath

TLT 2022 Graduation Ceremony

New Tea Leaf Centre in Bogawantalawa

Maha Foundation opening new Centre

TLT 2023 Staff Team

IEP Activity Day 2023

Links:

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Nov 8, 2022
Your support is giving our Tea Leaf students hope!

By Anusha Bhana | Project Support

Rehearsing for the annual speech competition

Vanakum, Ayubowan and Hello!

I hope you are keeping well!

I'm getting in touch today with a little update on our recent Support a Student, Strengthen a Community fundraising campaign (July 13 - August 31).

The campaign was in response to the devastating economic crisis that continues to ravage Sri Lanka and is adversely affecting people who are already living in extreme poverty in the tea estate communities. Our Tea Leaf students have been impacted greatly by the economic situation, with many being forced to choose between going to school and having food to eat. Our campaign allowed us to raise essential funds for our students, so they could complete their Diploma without causing additional financial stress for their families.

Thanks to your support and generosity, all 206 of our students were matched with a financial supporter and will be able to complete their Diploma this year.

Our campaign also raised an additional $20,000 USD in one-off emergency donations, to be used wherever the need is greatest. Here are some of the ways we’ve used those funds so far:

Basic living expenses for some of our students and their families who are in critical situations, and have no income at all.
Elders Home where 8 residents were living off crackers as their usual donors did not have enough money to help them. We’re now providing food for them on a monthly basis until Dec 2022.
We repaired windows and bought mattresses for a preschool facility in remote tea estates where the windows were broken due to heavy monsoon rain and the children did not have any small mattresses or other resources.
We bought roof sheets for some of the families of our students. Many families have lost roof sheets in the extreme monsoon rain and estate management did not respond to their requests for repair - despite their legal obligation to maintain properties.
A block of line rooms was destroyed by fire so we provided necessities as well as emergency rations to those families.

An educated young person has an incredible ripple effect on the rest of the tea estate community! Graduates gain employment off the tea estates, double their income, help to lift their family out of financial hardship and start working towards becoming leaders in their communities to drive positive change. This is especially important now as Sri Lanka struggles with record high inflation and shortages of basic necessities.

Education gives these young people hope - we are so grateful for your support!

Please stay connected with us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn for the latest news and updates.

With very best wishes,

Anusha on behalf of Tea Leaf Trust

Having a quick break in between classes

Rehearsing for the annual speech competition

On the way to school

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