shared hope for a better future
UK registered charity 1129751
Giving them their only day out
Every time that Della and Don go to Sri Lanka, one of the highlights is to take all the girls in the orphanage out for the day as it is the only chance they get to leave the confines of their home. Usually, this involves a 3 hour drive to a beach where the girls soon shed any inhibitions and have a great day splashing around in the sea and singing and dancing
Funding arts and crafts
As well as the day out, FODAD has also supported vocational education at the orphanage. We provide money for all the materials so that the girls can learn skills such as dress-making, arts and other handicrafts.
Providing a bandmaster
In Sri Lanka, school bands are very important so FODAD provides the money for a band master to teach the girls four times a month.
The Girls’ Orphanage
We were introduced to the orphanage by chance. Don's niece in Ireland had heard about it through a friend of a friend. We fist visited Fathima Orphanage in Colombo in 2005 when they had just received a new intake of girls from the Tsunami. We have supported it ever since.
The Friends of Della and Don pays for educational support which we hope will enable the girls to support themselves when they leave the orphanage. We support an English teacher, sewing classes and a home economics course. In 2007 we supplied a sewing machine in memory of Don's sister Pattie who had been a brilliant dressmaker.
The girls never leave the orphanage and one of our greatest pleasures has been to take them on outings when we visit. We have been to the zoo, an amusement park and to the beach. The joy on their faces which is also evident in their deafening singing on the bus to and from the locations has been one of the most rewarding experiences.
We are particularly grateful to the children from the Perse School, Cambridge, UK who have, through sponsorship, helped fund 3 of the days out.
