Our Mission in Sri Lanka
On December 26, 2004, a massive tsunami off the coast of Sumatra devastated several countries bordering the Indian Ocean. Several coastal cities in Thailand, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and even Africa were devastated by the great waves. This tsunami is known to be the worst natural disaster in history.
After about 2 years, some parts of Sri Lanka are still lacking most of the necessities that are needed to live a comfortable life. Sadly, about 168 schools that were destroyed in the tsunami are still in major reconstruction. The main necessities that all the schools need are books and school supplies to innocent children.
Keep Reading Foundation, that fosters educational development; promote reading and the importance of English as a universal language among disadvantaged children in the not only tsunami affected areas but also other rural areas in Sri Lanka.
The true causes of unrest are sometimes difficult to determine. Frequently, there are a mixture of political alliances, economic differences, ethnic feuds, religious differences and others. Our quest is to solve these differences through English language and give good education to rural disadvantage children. Our goal is to promote reading and the importance of English as a universal language among disadvantaged children in the rural world. Not only does Keep Reading Foundation donate books to establish libraries, but also help restore their confidence of achieving a higher education, a dream that every child should have when they grow up. These libraries aim to teach underprivileged students, skills for success in their own futures by specifically introducing them English language at an early age. It also tries to pass important virtues to every child such as peace, tolerance, and respect and hope that had been repeatedly shattered by the civil wars. We use education, and specifically English,
as a link language, as a vehicle for bringing students together from all ethnic backgrounds.
Future Goals
· As the first part of the Keep Reading Foundation, we have selected fifteen schools from Sri Lanka to establish small school libraries and supply teaching materials to preschools.
· We seek your support to officially launch its first-ever national campaign aimed at promoting early childhood literacy among rural families and to declare one month in each year as a “Reading Month” in Sri Lanka. The campaign includes making a parent training video and public service announcements through TV programs featuring television personalities (any well known, educated people from Sri Lanka).
· Get closer relationship between different ethnic groups by having English as link language.
· Create a video presentation to promote English reading and send it to all the developing countries through relevant authorities.
