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Smiles of Joy in Tsunami affected Sri Lanka |
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12.03.2005 As Christmas approaches most Sri Lankans living in coastal areas have little to celebrate. Life continues to be a strunggle for many of the survivors of the December 2004 tsunami. Worst affected in this situation are the children. Happiness and the right to play are an essential part of everyone’s childhood. Sri Lanka was therefore especially honoured to welcome three outstanding individuals who expressed their humanity and desire to help those less fortunate in an unusual and imaginative way.
Vlada Pandzic, Jan Strmiska and Matthijs Jongepier from Belgrade, Prague and Amsterdam respectively are volunteer care givers who show their concern by creating joy. Vlada, Jan and Matthijs are clowns, and their mission is to make children happy. They arrived in Sri Lanka on November 22nd as part of the Tsunami relief programme of Oneness Heart Tears and Smiles (OHTS). They visited disabled children, underprivileged slum children and children affected by the tsunami along the Southern course of Sri Lanka from Ratmalana to Matara. The entertainers from Europe had 19 comedy shows. Dressed as clowns their performances included a magic show and had audiences of over a 100 children in some cases. We pay special tribute to them for the conditions under which they often worked, conducting shows in devastated and remote areas in temperatures of over 30°C and without any facilities other than the sandy ground under trees. The MJF Charitable Foundation was honoured to assist Oneness Heart Tears & Smiles and the entertainers during their visit. We thank Namana Nahorst and the Oneness Heart Tears and Smiles humanitarian organization, for expressing their empathy and support for the victims of tsunami and the poor in Sri Lanka in such a tangible manner. The smiles that Vlada, Jan and Matthijs brought to the faces of several hundred underprivileged children will be remembered longer after their departure from Sri Lanka. Images of the Clown Shows are online in the Smiles of Hope section of this website. |
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Dilmah: Empowering the Differently Abled through AIDEX 2009 |
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25.10.2009
The AIDEX (Aid to the Ex-Abled) Annual Sports Festival is organized by the Colombo Friend-in-Need Society which helps supply limbs for artificial limb users throughout ... |
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Ethical Pappadam from our Moneragala Local Hero |
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30.06.2009 In 2007, Dharmadasa and Sumanawathie, his wife, were the proud but exploited owners of a small, mud walled ‘factory’ in which they produced pappadam, ... |
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Charity tea pot sale to rebuild a school |
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In May 2009 Dilmah together with Hilton Colombo launched an innovative charity tea pot programme to raise funds to build a school for a rural village in Sri Lanka. This ... |
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MJF Foundation facilitates Dignified Reintegration for 113 Reformed Prisoners |
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22.04.2009 The ‘Reform and Integrate’ Programme of the MJF Charitable Foundation is the first of its kind in Sri Lanka, and quite likely in ... |
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