Feeds in the Members' Diary of Development Network
Sri Lanka - Canada Scholarship Foundation (SLCSF) is a non-profit, volunteer
organization registered in British Columbia, Canada. Since 2008, Canada Revenue
Agency has approved it as a charitable organization, making donations to SLCSF
tax-deductible. Its main objective is to advance education by providing
scholarships and educational material to financially disadvantaged students in
Sri Lanka and Canada, who continually demonstrate academic excellence.
The Foundation has been established in 1998. Since then, over 700 students have
received financial assistance through scholarships up to 2008. Currently, 290
students in grades 12 and 13 are receiving financial assistance.
* Sponsor a Scholarship
Pre-authorized Donation Form
Instructions for completing Pre-authorized Donation Form
* Financial Information
How can you be a part of realizing a child's dreams?
Just by donating Canadian $12.50 (or, an equivalent amount in other currencies)
a month, you can become the sponsor of a needy student, who will thank you from
his/her heart for helping them to realize their dreams and help their families
in turn. While 42 cents a day may not be a big amount for you, it makes a world
of difference for many students in Sri Lanka - and it also gives tremendous
satisfaction to you by realizing that you have really made a child's dream come
true!!
The current focus is on students in Sri Lanka who are studying in grades 12 and
13. The Foundation annually selects a number of students (the number depending
on the level of contributions received from sponsors) and provides Sri Lankan
Rupees 1000 per student per month for a total of 24 months (i.e., two years).
Any additional savings resulting from increased Canadian $/Sri Lankan Rupee
exchange rate are pooled and used to provide additional scholarships.
With the exception of direct expenses such as bank service charges, postage,
stationary and annual registration fees of the Foundation, all donations go
directly to the students. There are no paid staff in the Foundation. All
advertising costs and other miscellaneous costs are not paid from the sponsor
donations, but are borne by other general donations from supporters of the
Foundation.
* Sponsor a Scholarship
Pre-authorized Donation Form
Instructions for completing Pre-authorized Donation Form
Sponsoring a Memorial Scholarship
With the Memorial Scholarship Program, you can sponsor one or more scholarships
in loving memory of deceased family members, relatives, friends or anyone close
to your heart.
The scholarship(s) will be specifically named as �Name-provided-by-you Memorial
Scholarship(s)� and will be awarded to the recipient student(s) indicating as
such. We will also separately list these memorial scholarships and their
recipients in our annual newsletter. We believe this is an excellent way to
ensure that the name of your deceased family member or anyone close to your
heart continues to live on, while you are paving the path for a needy student
to become successful in life!
The same selection criteria of regular scholarships will apply to these
scholarships as well. The sponsor financial commitment is still $150 per year
for a total of $300 for 2 years. The recipient student will get SL Rs:1000.00
per month for a period of 2 years.
* Sponsor a Memorial Scholarship
Pre-authorized Donation Form
Instructions for completing Pre-authorized DonationForm
How do you know whether your donations really go to the students?
Students periodically write to their sponsors, appreciating their kindness,
generosity and how the donations make their dreams come true. You may directly
write to them if you wish. All the names of sponsors, students and the
Foundation's annual financial statements are published in a newsletter annually
(see current and past newsletters) and sent to the sponsors and other
supporters of the Foundation.
How are the students selected?
By advertising in Sri Lankan newspapers, applications are invited from students
who satisfy the following criteria:
* An academic achievement of a minimum of eight (8) 'A' passes (out of 9
subjects) in the most recent GCE O/L (General Certificate of Education -
Ordinary Level) examination.
* A certified copy of the GCE (O/L) examination results by the school
principal.
* A letter from the Grama Officer (the Government Representative for the area
of residence of the student) attesting to the suitability of the student for
financial support for education, based on the economic standing of the
family.Out of the applications received that satisfy the above criteria, the
Board of Directors select the most deserving children based on a priority
ranking of academic excellence, economic hardships and other factors such as
family handicaps (eg: deceased parents), for the award of the scholarships.
After the scholarship has been awarded, the student's suitability for continued
assistance is evaluated, based on their performance in the examinations
conducted by the schools.
Board of Directors
President
Don L. Perera, P.Eng.
Vice President
Sudu Vatagodakumbura, M.Sc., P.Eng.
Secretary
Bandula Abeysundara, M.Sc., Ph.D., P.Eng.
Treasurer
Sisira Hewa Bandula
Sri Lankan Coordinator
Gunadya Bandarage, Ph.D.
Canadian Projects Coordinator
Pradeep Perera
Additional Sri Lankan Coordinator
Praneeth Abhayasundere, Ph.D.
Newsletter Editor & Webmaster
Gayan Abeysundara, B.C.S.
Links to Other Organizations
Sri Lanka Humanitarian Foundation of Canada (SLHFC)
The SLHFC is a non-religious, non-communal, non-political and non-profit
organization incorporated in the Province of Alberta. It is formed primarily to
address the needs of newcomers to Edmonton from Sri Lanka and to assist them by
providing education, counseling and other support services.
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UNICEF - UNICEF People - Goodwill Ambassadors & Advocates
You have received this WWW.UNICEF.ORG email from:
nerworkfordevelopment@gmail.com
http://www.unicef.org/emailarticle/people/people_ambassadors.rhtml
Your e-mail address was used only to send this article.
India's central bank last month raised interest rates for the seventh time in
less than a year and more rate hikes are on the card to curb stubbornly high
inflation.
State-run lenders Indian Overseas Bank, IDBI Bank and Rural Electrification
Corp (REC) are raising cheaper funds abroad, but most are turning to the
low-cost current account savings account (CASA) deposits.
"Foreign rates are at historical low levels, while domestic rates are high," HD
Khunteta, director of finance at REC, said, explaining the rationale.
Loan growth for most banks have been strong so far in FY11 ending March,
leading to higher proportion of wholesale funding, partly from refinancing
institutions.
"Rather than focusing on balance sheet growth, we focus on churn and fee
income," said Jaideep Iyer, president, financial management at Yes Bank
"We focus on non-interest income such as trade, forex, advisory services with
the same clients. We are chasing more customers so that gives more granularity
to our balance sheet."
Others like IDBI Bank are exploring options to refinance loans and deposits,
shed high-cost bulk deposits and look to overseas borrowing.
IDBI plans to raise $1 billion by September as also Indian Overseas Bank, which
plans to raise a similar amount, half before end-March.
"If refinancing gives us a lower cost, or foreign currency borrowing gives us a
lower cost, we will access those sources rather than deposit sources," said
Melwyn Rego, executive director, IDBI Bank.
LOW-COST DEPOSITS
The focus on low-cost current account savings account (CASA) deposits has also
been rewarding for lenders.
"Cost of deposits is going up but we have been able to bring that down... we
have been able to substitute high cost deposits with lower costs CASA and with
refinancing," said S. Shridhar, chairman and managing director, Central Bank of
India.
CASA share of its deposits increased to 34.9 percent in Oct-Dec from 29.9
percent a year-ago, while its cost of deposits dropped to 5.7 percent from 6.1
percent.
For all articles and information: http://www.developmentnetwork.co.nr/
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--We offer expertise across the entire fundraising spectrum, with specialization
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He has been declared the person who produces the most excrement in Sleng, a
rural village in Kandal province, central Cambodia.
Amid much laughter, all eyes turn to the middle-aged farmer sitting
cross-legged in front of the village hall.
Not cracking a smile, he does a little victory dance without getting to his
feet.
"I'm not ashamed," he says. But his face suggests otherwise. Poor sanitation
This is precisely the impact that the yellow-shirted sanitation marketing team
from International Development Enterprises (IDE) were hoping they would have.
Cambodians' toilet habits are causing serious problems - and gently suggesting
changes has not worked.
Most of this small south-east Asian country's people live in rural areas - and
only one in five of them have access to a toilet.
In fact, people are twice as likely to have a mobile phone.
The consequences are predictable. Poor sanitation causes illnesses that kill
more than ten thousand Cambodians every year - most of them young children.
The economic costs are high as well. 'Lack of appreciation'
Days off sick and time searching for somewhere to go to the toilet reduce
earnings and productivity - and families spend hard-earned income on healthcare
which is frequently of dubious quality.
The Asian Development Bank says that 7% of Cambodia's GDP is lost due to its
lack of sanitation.
Poor sanitation causes illnesses that kill Cambodians
Well-meaning development organizations have tried giving toilets away.
They frequently come back a few months later to find them being used as storage
rooms or animal shelters, with the family defecating in the open as before.
"When you give something to someone, there's a lack of appreciation," says
IDE's sanitation programme manager, Cordell Jacks.
"If you haven't mentally bought in to the concept of sanitation it's not likely
that you're going to use it properly or maintain it properly. So the whole
health benefit is moot."
IDE - which is itself funded by donors including the World Bank - developed a
fresh approach, using disgust and shame to make people want a toilet enough to
buy one at full price. Rush to buy
The young facilitator at the presentation in Sleng is half stand-up comedian,
half sanitation ideologue.
Chhun Dina tells villagers they are surrounded by their own excrement
As she moves between her audience and the whiteboard, Chhun Dina manages to
elicit hearty laughter and rueful smiles even as she tells the villagers in no
uncertain terms that they are living among their own filth.
She scribbles down the numbers volunteered by the audience and adds them up.
"That's more than a hundred tonnes a year," she says.
"It's like a mountain. Imagine if it rained and that mountain fell into the
river. You'd be washing and bathing in your own excrement."
Before the presentation, only two of more than 40 houses in Sleng had a toilet.
But when Chhun Dina finished, there was a rush to sign up to buy one. 'Private
enterprise'
This is where the second part of IDE's plan comes in.
It commissioned a design for a low-cost "easy latrine" which, with a little
training, local businesses could make and sell.
The price to the newly-enlightened villagers is around $30 - and the easy
latrine can be installed and ready to use on the same day that someone decides
they no longer want to live without a toilet.
The overall idea is to move away from the traditional model of aid - and
towards a solution which brings both economic and health benefits.
"People aren't going to want to purchase a latrine if they think an NGO is
going to come along a week later and give one to them.
In which case you don't supply a sustainable demand for private enterprise to
flourish," said Mr Jacks.
IDE were hoping that ten thousand easy latrines would be sold within 18 months.
They passed that target with several months to spare - suggesting that it may
indeed be possible to reposition the toilet as a status symbol to match the
mobile phone and motorbike. Shame marketing
And success breeds success.
Observing the burgeoning rural demand for toilets, copycat businesses have set
up.
Some of them have even reverse-engineered the easy latrine so they can sell
something similar.
Far from being affronted, IDE is delighted.
As well as the benefits to entrepreneurs, it reasons that if people can see a
business opportunity in selling low-cost toilets, they should be able to spread
sanitation far more efficiently than aid organisations ever could.
With this approach showing such promise in Cambodia, other countries are
already showing an interest.
Shame marketing may soon become a global phenomenon.
For all articles and information: http://www.developmentnetwork.co.nr/
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The fund was established in 2006 with an initial contribution of $1.5 million
from Luxembourg, and is designed to build up and improve national and regional
financial systems in Asia and the Pacific. It supports technical assistance
operations, components of investment projects, and stand-alone grant-financed
activities in the financial sector. ADB's developing member countries are
eligible for assistance.
For more information and articles: http://www.developmentnetwork.co.nr/
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The Hrant Dink Foundation is accepting nominations for the the International
Hrant Dink Award 2011.
The Award will be presented to people who work for a world free of
discrimination, racism and violence, take personal risks for their ideals, use
the language of peace and by doing so, inspire and encourage others.
The award also helps in giving recognition to such people by making their work
visible and making them realize that they are not along in their struggle. It
also encourages others to fight for their ideals.
The Award will be presented to the winners on 15 September, which is the
birthday of Hrant Dink after whom the award has been named.
Nominations can be submitted online or by mail. The last date for submission is
15 April 2011. For more information, visit this link:
http://www.hrantdinkodulu.org/
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