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SCAW Blog: Sri Lanka, 2023: November 10

Oh what a fabulous day!

Our distribution was held at a Tamil school high in the hills near Kandy.  Children from the surrounding area came to that school to get their bedkits.  

The school was very well kept and included grades 1 - 13.  We were offered tea in the Home Sciences classroom where boys and girls are taught to sew and to cook.

They were very proud of their library that contained books in both Tamil and English and there were plenty of inspirational signs scattered around the school.

The small children needed help carrying their bedkits and we had lots of volunteers in the 8th and 9th grades to help us with that.

These older children were an absolute delight to work with and whenever we had a spare moment we had no end of fun entertaining each other.  Most wonderful of all was having them sing their national anthem to us and at the close of the day, they all wanted hugs which we were only too happy to provide! There could not have been any better way to end the day!

Team Sri Lanka 2023

Rotary Club of Kelaniya 🇱🇰 and SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Sri Lanka, 2023: November 11

Sunshine and rain . . . laughter and tears.

Each day is like no other; the joy of being there and the sorrow of leaving.

Sri Lanka is a very unique and beautiful country and today we arrived at Ududumbara where we were greeted by young people who put on an amazing traditional dance for us.

They train for many years to become so flexible and their costumes were exquisitely decorated with hand- sewn beadwork.

We were also delighted to discover that they had a girls’ soccer team as well as a boys’ cricket team.

The monsoon season has started early which is an extra challenge. We cannot spend as much time with the children as we would have liked . . . the clouds roll in rapidly and it feels like someone dumped a bucket of water over us. The rain started very quickly, about lunch time, but luckily we were able to finish the distribution in time; and it was a warm rain.

This photo is of terracing for growing various  vegetables .This is done by stacking coconut shells to hold the soil in place, and to retain a certain amount of water.

I should mention, along with the overseas partners who do an incredible amount of background work, we had an amazing amount of help from the older students at the site. They were exceptional and so very eager to help in any way they could. Chris spent some time talking to many of them.

Team Sri Lanka 2023

Rotary Club of Kelaniya 🇱🇰 and SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Sri Lanka, 2023: November 9

Today is a travel day as we traverse the vast greenery of the Sri Lankan rainforest/jungle. The floral life is everywhere, only interrupted by rice fields. 

Rice, a food staple, is cooked in a large variety of ways and blended with amazing spices. Add an array of fruits that are available for breakfast, lunch and dinner and you have dishes that all the team have enjoyed. 

We fit in some cultural learning with visits to a spice garden and a tea factory. At the spice garden we were introduced to a wide variety of herbal remedies based on the plant ingredients. The tea factory tour covered all the steps of processing various types of tea in varying quality. This was a well established facility with equipment from the 1930’s. 

Being a travel day we all missed the interaction with the children whose wide smiles warm the heart. However, tomorrow is a brand new day with bedkits waiting and ready to be distributed.  

 Team Sri Lanka 2023

Rotary Club of Kelaniya 🇱🇰 and SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Sri Lanka, 2023: November 8

This was another wonderful day spent with lovely children and great new friends here in Sri Lanka. We left our hotel in our bus at 8 am to go to our third distribution site which was about an hour away.  Today 7000 bedkits were given out to children who live in an area where their families tend to be subsistence farmers.
Hundreds of children as well as many moms and dads greeted us, fiercely clapping when we arrived. We were also given a variety of beautiful flowers.

Today’s distribution was at a Buddhist Temple where a young monk and a school girl bid us welcome. After we got set up for the day we were able to start moving the children through. Later we watched their happy smiles as they walked away carrying their bedkits.


The  children today came from  visually poor circumstances.  Many wore school uniforms that were missing parts and some were not wearing uniforms at all. Uniforms are no longer given free to children, but now have to be purchased.


Just as we were almost done, a rainstorm passed through delaying the finish.  However, the rain made the heat less oppressive but still our faces remained glazed with sweat.


After handed out the last bedkit, we were served lunch before we drove away, having thus successfully ended our third distribution in Sri Lanka 2023.

Team Sri Lanka 2023

Rotary Club of Kelaniya 🇱🇰 and SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Sri Lanka, 2023: November 7

Our day starts out with a warm greeting from the parents, teachers and children in the community. 

The organization and distribution of anywhere from 500 to 1,100 bedkits per day is a smooth operation, thanks to the collaboration of the Rotary Club of Kelaniya and the SCAW team.  

There are several jobs that SCAW volunteers are responsible for. My assigned responsibility for the day was to place the gift of a bedkit in the hands of each beautiful child. These are quickly and efficiently lifted into the hands of a friendly volunteer from the Rotary Club to pass on to the child’s parent who is waiting patiently to help, as there are many useful items given to the child. 

 Having the opportunity to look into each child’s eyes is amazing. I’m unable to put into words how special the sight of each smiling face is.  There are many pairs of beautiful eyes, looking sometimes with shy apprehension, but most often with wonder, excitement and joy. l imagine my expression mirrors theirs as I smile with pure joy at every child. 

 It takes donors, organizers, and hours of work from the volunteers to prepare for each day’s distribution but those smiles make it worthwhile. 

 Later in the day the rain pours non-stop until we are finished giving the children their bedkits.

 Knowing about SCAW for over 20 years and wanting to volunteer for this wonderful charity for many of those years, I am finally living my dream and it is so much more than I could have ever imagined. I go to sleep tired but am looking forward eagerly to my next day.

Team Sri Lanka 2023

Rotary Club of Kelaniya 🇱🇰 and SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Sri Lanka, 2023: November 6

Today we traveled to Udupilla for our first day of distribution of over 450 bedkits. We were presented with Bo leaves from the children and greeted with a marching student band which led us down to the school. 

As we entered the school we were met by a room filled with  smiling faces of students dressed in their school uniforms.  After the candle lighting  ceremony to welcome us, we began our distribution.

The day was very hot and humid but the distribution went smoothly with the help of the Rotary Club of Kelaniya and volunteers.

The children were as delighted to receive the bedkits as we were to distribute them. This is my first trip with SCAW and what an amazing experience it is.

At the end of the day, we enjoy a refreshing drink of coconut water.

 Team Sri Lanka 2023

Rotary Club of Kelaniya 🇱🇰 and SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Sri Lanka, 2023: November 5

The Canadian team has arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka and are excited to be working alongside our partner, the Rotary Club of Kelaniya.

Thanks to our donors’ gifts of bedkits, together we will be helping 7000 children get a better night's sleep. This is the first time since 2019 that our Canadian team has been able to participate in the Sri Lanka distribution and we are honoured to be back with this amazing Rotary Club! 

Team Sri Lanka

Rotary Club of Kelaniya 🇱🇰 and SCAW 🇨🇦

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Sri Lanka, November, 2022, Blog #2

Here is the second update from Sri Lanka, written by our partners, the Rotary Club of Kelaniya. “Sleeping made comfortable to a group of Children in Sri Lanka – Day 2”.

“A good night’s sleep is a luxury today and facilitating same for a child is a noble gesture that gathers merit. On 26th Saturday 500 children from Pamunugama area, in Sri Lanka got the opportunity of experiencing the warmth and concern of the well-wishers, when they received bedkits donated by individuals and institutions in Canada, under the internationally acclaimed programme, spearheaded by Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW), thus ensuring themselves of a comfortable night’s sleep.  

In this distribution were two Rotary Clubs in Sri Lanka, The Rotary Club of Kelaniya partnering with the Rotary club of Pamunugama, distributing 500 bedkits to children drawn from five schools in Pamunugama area including a group of children from a differently abled home. All the children were seen overwhelmed with joy in receiving their colorful bedkits along with some school items.

The magnanimous gesture of generous donors, funding bedkits, organised by SCAW has been carried out in Sri Lanka for over 25 years and is seen as a unique programme that connects donors and recipients. The great moment, with kids receiving their kits, is captured through the lens of photographers, and presented to donors, which creates much valued satisfaction and long memories to the generous donors. Long Live SCAW!!”.

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Sri Lanka, November, 2022

Here is the update from Sri Lanka, written by our partners, the Rotary Club of Kelaniya. “In an initiative to ensure one additional child in the world sleeps in comfort, the internationally acclaimed programme, spearheaded by Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW) in collaboration with their overseas volunteer partner, the Rotary Club of Kelaniya in Sri Lanka, successfully accomplished its first phase of distribution on 19th November, 2022”. 

Entrance to the distribution site in Sri Lanka

From our partners: “This was possible, thanks to the magnanimous gesture of generous donors in Canada funding for bedkits, organised by Sleeping Children Around the World. Deserving children between ages 6 and 12, from six schools in the area of Wattala received 300 valuable gifts of a bedkit (sleeping kit with school items) at this distribution. The local distribution was organized by Rotary Club of Kelaniya together with the Inner Wheel Club of Wattala on behalf of SCAW. It was very satisfying to see the under privileged children receiving this gift, post the Covid pandemic, especially at a point where Sri Lanka is experiencing a severe economic down turn.

Rotarians, Inner Wheelers and their immediate families grouped together, mingling with a multi-ethnic group of children from all communities, assembled in a temple to add a smile on the faces of these children. The children graciously accepted their gifts whilst sharing words of appreciation and gratitude with Thank You cards and songs”.

Children heading home with their bedkits - ready for a good night’s sleep.

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