Thushara's Report

To the Empower Team,

I apologise for the delay. I visited Kirigalpotha on the 8th of September. The location is quite remote, the nearest main town is Passara (16 km from Badulla) there on it's another 6kms to Neluwa (another small town). I had to travel another 2kms from Neluwa to reach the village. Therefore accesibility to the village is a problem.

I met with Mr.Mullegama, an elderly gentleman who was very eager to assist me and take me around the village. It was clear that the village primarily consists of paddy farmers. There is an abundance of Jak Fruit as was mentioned, though much of the fruit goes to waste. The main reasons for this wastage was:

1) Problems transporting the fruit (no factories in closest main town Passara)
2) A weak market for unprocessed fruit.
3) A lack of production knowledge to process/preserve the fruit.

On another note, I met with an elderly handicapped gentlemen who lives by himself. He is over 60 and has no means of income, he has to fend for himself. I was saddened by his situation and hope your team can help him somehow when you help this community.

Having visited thevillage, I can say that they are deserving of help. They are eagerly awaiting the prospect of electricity through biogas. I was asked to communicate a reminder of this interest and support to the Energy Forum.

Budhu Saranai
*Traditional greeting (Loosely translated) -May the serenity of the Buddha's be yours

Thushara Pradeep

Marching On

Greetings Readers,

It's September and the team is swamped with work! Though our meetings haven't been as regular as a result, the project is alive and well.

Haaris and I met up with Sue Bennett-Williams of UNSW International last Tuesday (26th August) to discuss the project. She was very supportive of our initiative and gave us a list of avenues to pursue with regard to financial support - most notably contacts to reach the UNSW Alumni.



Since our last update, we have received the Campus Community Grant of $4200 into our account and I am currently waiting for another $1500 which was transferred yesterday by Simple Wisdom. Leesa is currently looking into getting a further $1500 reimbursed by the Australian School of Business.

We are also lodging the paperwork for incorporation as a not-for-profit organisation on Monday. The first step being to register a name.

We are doing well with regard to funding effort. The Energy Forum is also looking into part funding by international NGOs operating in Sri Lanka, this would ease the pressure of solely relying on the Empower Team for funding. The team aims to provide 50-60% of the entire project cost within October in order to allow for a smooth start to the installation process. We have been informed that the Energy Forum has enough working capital to operate the project for at least 3-4 months.

On another note, Thushara of Simple Wisdom will be visiting Kirigalpotha tomorrow and giving our team his account on the location and the scope enterprise that would suit the community.

Over and Out,
Shanil