Showing posts with label Project Home Owl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Project Home Owl. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Donation of eight (08) tablet devices for needy medical students at University of Peradeniya


Thanks to the generous support we have received from well-wishers, this year we were able to continue helping the needy students of the Faculty of Medicine, university of Peradeniya.

At a simple ceremony held at the student common room of the medical faculty on 5 March, 2023, eight (08) Samsung Galaxy Tablets were handed over to Professor Vasanthi Pinto, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and student representatives.

These Samsung tablets were purchased at a net (purchase price minus the tax rebate) cost of Aus$ 1,665.45 in Australia.

These tablet devices will be distributed to students with significant financial difficulties as identified by the scholarship committee of the faculty.

My sincere appreciation goes to Professor Vasanthi Pinto, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and to Professor Shamali Abeygunawardene, Chairperson of the scholarship committee.

This donation was made possible through the generous contributions made to the “Project Home Owl” fund by well wishers and those who purchased copies of the second print of my novel “Lost in Floral Rain”. My sincere thanks to each and every one of you!

The second print was released in October 2022 in Sydney, Australia at the 7th PeMSAA Australasia Conference.

I would thank the executive committee of Peradeniya Medical School Alumni Association (PeMSAA) Australasia for allowing me to have a stall at the conference and the members of PeMSAA who generously supported “Project Home Owl” by making generous contributions. I would also like to greatly value the generosity and support of Dr Nimmi Athuraliya, esteemed lecturer at the faculty during my time there and a conjoint lecturer at University of Newcastle.

Please contribute to this project through purchasing a copy of the novel "Lost in Floral Rain".

Copies from the second print are available for sale in Australia. Those who are willing to purchase a copy are kindly requested to refer to information given in the following location: https://lostinfloralrain.blogspot.com/2023/05/how-to-buy-copy-of-lost-in-floral-rain.html

All revenue raised from the sale of "Lost in Floral rain" will be used for the charity named "Project Home Owl". For details of "Project Home Owl" charity please visit: https://lostinfloralrain.blogspot.com/2019/05/introducing-project-home-owl-charity.html

For details contact: pushpa.suriyaarachchi@yahoo.com.au.

Thanking you.

- Pushpa Suriyaarachchi

P/S:
Previous donations made using the funds raised for “Project Home Owl” by selling the copies of the novel “Lost in Floral Rain” are given in the posts below.

  1. In 2019/20: Donation of ten sets of text books for students (with financial difficulties) of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya and English readers for school aged-kids.
    For details please see: https://lostinfloralrain.blogspot.com/2020/03/project-home-owl-update.html

  2. In April 2021: Donation ten (10) Samsung Galaxy tablets for the students (with financial difficulties) of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya in April 2021. The total value of this donation was Rs. 329,900.
    For details please see: https://lostinfloralrain.blogspot.com/2021/09/project-home-owl-update-2021.html

As the world is emerging through the covid pandemic, the aftereffects of the financial downturn is felt throughout the globe. In Australia we have seen the inflationary pressure fuelling the rental prices and its effect on goods and services.

In Sri Lanka, the financial downturn had devastating effects with the day day-to-day living expenses skyrocketing.

I had a discussion with Professor Shamali Abeygunawardene, the chairperson of the scholarship committee of Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya, who is tremendously passionate about student welfare. She provided feedback received from the previous donations and how the students have valued receiving tablet devises as they can access multitude of learning material and resources using them without having to carry heavy textbooks.

Sunday, September 12, 2021

Project Home Owl – Update - 2021

Good day from Sydney!

The world has experienced the devastation of Covid-19 since my last update. No country was spared by this pandemic and the lengthy lock downs have resulted in closure of schools and universities for indefinite periods of time. There has been a great transformation to remote teaching and home learning to maintain the education for primary, secondary, and tertiary educational institutions.

This year we have acknowledged this change in our "Project Home Owl" donations.

Our donation to University of Peradeniya consisted of ten (10) Samsung Galaxy tablets for the students to access the necessary textbooks and to facilitate home learning.

This donation was made at the start of the new academic year at University of Peradeniya, Faculty of Medicine in May 2021. My sincere appreciation goes to the Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Professor Asiri Abeygunawardena and to the chairman of the scholarship committee, Professor Sanjaya Adikari. The ten Samsung Galaxy tablets were distributed to the students with greatest financial difficulties.

The total outlay of this donation was Rs. 329,900.


I would like to acknowledge the generous contributions, donations at the book launches and your contributions to this project by purchasing my novel “Lost in Floral Rain”. Your contributions have made this project a success. A big thank you to each and everyone of you for your kind generosity.

-Pushpa Suriyaarachchi, Author of “Lost in Floral Rain”



Copies from the second print of the novel "Lost in Floral Rain" are available for sale in Australia. Those who are willing to purchase a copy are kindly requested to refer to information given in the following location: https://lostinfloralrain.blogspot.com/2023/05/how-to-buy-copy-of-lost-in-floral-rain.html

All revenue raised from the sale of "Lost in Floral rain" will be used for the charity named "Project Home Owl". For details of "Project Home Owl" charity please visit: https://lostinfloralrain.blogspot.com/2019/05/introducing-project-home-owl-charity.html

For details contact: pushpa.suriyaarachchi@yahoo.com.au.

Saturday, March 21, 2020

Project Home Owl – Update


Good day! Best wishes from Sydney, Australia.

Firstly, I would like to offer my heartfelt gratitude to all who contributed to my “Project Home Owl” in numerous ways.

As you all know, I made a firm commitment to use all proceedings from the sale of my first novel “Lost in Floral Rain” (Sarasavi, 2019, ISBN: 978-955-31-1451-8) to “Project Home Owl” initiative. “Project Home Owl” is a charity project with two main objectives, ie, to donate prescribed text books to first year medical students at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya and to donate English language readers for primary school children in government schools in under-privileged areas in Sri Lanka.

I would like to acknowledge the generous contributions/ donations towards “Project Home Owl” by those who attended the book launch events held in Sri Lanka and in Sydney Australia (Hawkesbury Hospital, Minchinbury Community Hospital, Beaumont Hills Community Centre and Nepean Hospital) and those who purchased books online.
I would now like to outline what we have achieved through “Project Home Owl” so far.

Books donated to Peradeniya Medical Students

The new academic year at University of Peradeniya started in October 2019. Fourteen first year students with financial difficulties were selected by the academic staff of Faculty of Medicine to receive the textbooks. My sincere appreciation to Dr Sulochana Wijetunge and Prof Asiri Abeygunawardena, for making this project a success.
Ten copies each of the following three prescribed textbooks were donated.
  • Last's Anatomy
  • Ganong's Review of Medical Physiology
  • Lippincott Illustrated review in Biochemistry

Books were purchased from Sarasavi Bookshop (Anatomy and Biochemistry) and from Jeya Bookshop (Medical Physiology). The total cost of the above donation was Rs 114,500 (including courier charges).


    A letter sent by Professor Asiri Abeyagunawardena, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya.

We are planning to make a similar donation this year as well.

Books donated to school children
  • A collection of about 40 English readers for children were donated to Rajasinghe Primary School, Bope, Ingiriya. The total cost of the donation (including delivery) was Rs 5,750.
  • A collection of about 50 English readers for children were donated to Hobariyawa Primary School in Girandurukotte. The total cost of the donation (including delivery) was Rs 11,651.50. This donation was facilitated by award winning author Nissanka Wijemanna.
  • A collection of about 35 English readers for children were donated to Paramankada Primary School, Madolsima, Passara via Hands for Hope organisation in Sri Lanka (contact person: Madhawa Wijesinghe). The total cost of the donation (including delivery) was Rs 6,190. The organiser later informed us that the donation will go to a different school in Mahiyanganaya area.
  • A sum of $100 was donated to provide school bags for under-privileged primary school children in Badulla district. This donation was facilitated by Nini Seneviratne, a schoolteacher from Bandarawela.
  • We have also made arrangements to donate 37 English readers to the library of Siyapatha Children’s Club in Negombo area. The total cost of this donation was Rs 7,276.70.

Thank you.

-Pushpa Suriyaarachchi


Copies from the second print of the novel "Lost in Floral Rain" are available for sale in Australia. Those who are willing to purchase a copy are kindly requested to refer to information given in the following location: https://lostinfloralrain.blogspot.com/2023/05/how-to-buy-copy-of-lost-in-floral-rain.html

All revenue raised from the sale of "Lost in Floral rain" will be used for the charity named "Project Home Owl". For details of "Project Home Owl" charity please visit: https://lostinfloralrain.blogspot.com/2019/05/introducing-project-home-owl-charity.html

For details contact: pushpa.suriyaarachchi@yahoo.com.au.

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Introducing "Project Home Owl" - A charity


"Project Home Owl" is a charity project aligned with the publication of “Lost in Floral Rain”.

All revenue raised from the sale of this novel and all donations received will be used to fund two literacy initiatives under "Project Home Owl". These initiatives will be implemented with the support of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka and a few selected government primary schools in Sri Lanka.

The two initiatives are as follows.

1. Medical student book grants:
A limited number of book grants will be provided to first year students of Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka to purchase prescribed text books. Students with financial hardship will be selected for these grants. This project will be managed through close collaboration with PeMSAA (Peradeniya Medical School Alumni Association) and the Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

2. English home readers for primary school children:
A weekly easy reader English book will be provided to all year three students of a few schools as reading material through this program with the aim of cultivating an lifelong habit of reading English books. This project will be managed through close collaboration with school principals and teachers of selected primary schools in Sri Lanka.

Your support will be most appreciated to make this project a success.

You can support the Project Home Owl by purchasing a copy of “Lost in Floral Rain” novel and/or by making a donation.

There are a number of ways for you to purchase a copy of "Lost in Floral Rain" as given below.
https://lostinfloralrain.blogspot.com/2019/05/how-to-buy-copy-of-lost-in-floral-rain.html

You can make a donation by transferring money to one of the the following accounts:

In Australia:
BSB: 06 2692
Account: 3749 9876
Name: Pushpa Suriyaarachchi

In Sri Lanka:
Bank: Sampath Bank
Account: 1003 5500 6454
Name: Rasika Suriyaarachchi

Once you transfer money, please send an eMail to: pushpa.suriyaarachchi@yahoo.com.au

Many thanks.

- Pushpa Suryaarachchi



Copies from the second print of the novel "Lost in Floral Rain" are available for sale in Australia. Those who are willing to purchase a copy are kindly requested to refer to information given in the following location: https://lostinfloralrain.blogspot.com/2023/05/how-to-buy-copy-of-lost-in-floral-rain.html

All revenue raised from the sale of "Lost in Floral rain" will be used for the charity named "Project Home Owl". For details of "Project Home Owl" charity please visit: https://lostinfloralrain.blogspot.com/2019/05/introducing-project-home-owl-charity.html

For details contact: pushpa.suriyaarachchi@yahoo.com.au.