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

Funding Progress

Dear Team Members and Readers,

It's been a while since we've posted an update on the project. Primarily due to most of the team being busy with coursework, work and of course, the project itself.

The Empower Team participated in the Procter and Gamble "Pitch a Grant" competition on the 6th of August. The prize being a $1000 grant for the team with the best presentation. Our team came in third out of over 12 clubs that participated. Though it was unfortunate that we were unable to win, given the difficulty of summarizing our project in 10mins, I felt we did rather well.

We also had a stall at Foundation Day on the 7th of August thanks to ARC facilitating all arrangements. The day was a moderate success, we were able to create some awareness about our project and talk to a few potential volunteers.



Meanwhile we've been able to secure some good media coverage with a full page article in the Southern Courier and a write up in The Sri Lankan Society magazine.

The Sri Lankan Society
http://www.mediafire.com/?bvklssmemk0

The Southern Courier
http://www.mediafire.com/?4pq1dvdhhau

We are currently looking in to how we can raise another 10,000 , this would cover the entire installation cost and essentially guarantee the projects completion as approximately 85% of the cost comes from the installation phase. We have submitted our proposal to Randwick Council and we're currently awaiting a response from them.

We are also looking into the possibility of a Raffle Draw or a function targeted towards the Sri Lankan community that may facilitate larger donations.

Haaris and myself will meet with UNSW International on Tuesday to discuss what form of support them could offer the project. The team will also be looking to finalize the Not For Profit Registration process and approach a new list of NGOs.


That's all for now,
Shanil

Progress Report - June

Dear Team Members and Readers,

June has been a good month for the Empower Project with many exciting developments to report.Most pertinent amongst our announcements from the Australian end pertain to funding commitments.

First, let me publish our accounts for the month of June.


The Funding Front

- The project has received as recommendation of AUD $ 4200 as a grant from the ARC Student Development Committee. Upon University approval (within the next two weeks i'm told), this sum will be transfered to our account.

- The Australian School of Business (ASB) has offered AUD $1500 through reimbursement. The ASB also did a media release on the project which subsequently made the front page of the University website.

- The team is also awaiting word from Simple Wisdom with regard to it's contribution to the project, AUD $1000-2000 depending on how its on-going projects in Sri Lanka fare.

- I am also in the midst of making stronger attempts rally the Sri Lankan community behind this effort.

- Leesa and Dev are in the process of developing a specialized funding application for the Randwick City Council who have demonstrated interest in our project.


News from Sri Lanka

We also received the results of the initial survey conducted by Energy Forum trained mobilizers (villagers trained to conduct surveys). The results offer a good initial overview of the socio-demographic structure of the village and some of the opportunities that lie ahead.

"The Asvadduma and Pitawala village hamlets were selected for establishing the first two biogas units."

Each hamlet consists of 9 (35 people) and 6 households (33 people) respectively (Total is 68). Participation in the biogas pilot was strictly voluntary and the majority of the households gave their consent. Research into the specific reasons cited by those who opted out, is under way. The moderate sample size for the pilot project (under 100 people) is ideal as it allows for a greater capacity of electricity to be used for income-generation activities.

Apart from Rice, Bananas were found to be the most popular agricultural crop. As mentioned in the previous update, Jak Fruit is in abundance and is currently our main focus with regard to income generation (over 600 trees reported in the area). Ownership issues are yet to be clarified with the Energy Forum.

Thushara, a colleague of mine from my time working for the NGO Simple Wisdom in Sri Lanka, has been enlisted to assist us. He has agreed to visit the village and provide an added layer of context to the ground situation in Kirigalpotha. Furhermore he will be researching the the demand for Jak fruit amongst local food processing firms. Or any other interested firms.


End of Semester Get Together

It was time to unwind after a hectic semester. Unfortunately the whole team could not make it, sadly we all have rather hectic personal lives. But it was nice to meet up and just enjoy each others company....free of serious business.


Looking Ahead

Recent developments in terms of funding and research results are very encouraging. We are still aggressively striving towards securing 50-60% of the project cost by August. We look on course to achieve this if we continue at this rate.

A donation drive is in the works as well as greater contact with the Sri Lankan community.

Furthermore, Haaris is looking into securing Empower's registration as a not for profit organisation. That could greatly help us when applying for grants (as it is a key criterion) and give an added incentive for corporates to contribute to our cause (tax deductibility).

Thank you all for your continued support! That is all for now.

Over and Out,
Shanil

Village Survey : Project Update

Dear Readers,

It has been a while since the last update. Most of the team has been busy with assignments and exam preparation but have been committed to attending meetings and undertaking project tasks. Thank you all!

Accounts - April/May

(Click for a better read)

Registration

We are currently awaiting word from ARC with regard to the status of our Off Campus Community Grant. I was told last week that the amount to be granted was still being discussed and that we'd be contacted when it is confirmed.

Beyond this, our attempts to get corporates on board has been rather disappointing. The topic of recent meetings has been the registration of "Empower" as a not for profit organisation in Australia. This would make donations to the project tax deductible and also make us eligible for formal grants. We made a call to the Australian Tax Office on Thursday and Haaris is following up the legal requirements with Fair Trade.

Kirigalpotha Survey

(Questionnaire)

Asoka emailed me on Friday regarding progress at their end with the survey process. They held a village meeting and a core group of 9 villagers (in picture) were chosen to lead the mobilization process. What this means is that these 9 villagers are trained with respect to certain tasks (interviewing and filling questionnaires in this case) so that they conduct these activities themselves. This is a more participatory approach and allows for a greater deal of comfort.



The Energy Forum has been notified that the 9 mobilizers have completed the task of doing a preliminary survey of the selected sites. Asoka also informed of the fact that women's social status in the community is strong, as indicated by the fact that they compose the majority of the core group. An excerpt from his email;

Villagers decided to initially establish two biogas plants (one each) in village hamlets [Kiriglpotta Asvadduma (15 households) and Pitapola (9 households)] under this proposed project. The mobilization program should be done by stages. We trained the selected core group to do the survey and yesterday they informed that they have completed the household level data survey. The filled forms will reach us early next week. Then only we will be able to analyze the data.

Asoka highlighted that there are over 700 Jak Fruit trees in the area that are currently underutilized due to the lack of a market for the fruit. He suggests that we focus on this as a form of income generation. Sounds very interesting!

I was sent a copy of the survey (in Sinhala) and it does a good job of covering the basics like demographics, primary forms of energy used as well as future intended uses.

Well that's all for now.

Shanil

First Footage

I'm glad to announce that we've received our first batch of video footage from Kirigalpotha in Sri Lanka. The footage is brief but it is all very encouraging as it gives us our first look at the village while also getting some much needed feedback from the village itself.

Meanwhile the Sponsorship effort continues. We're working on a list of Sri Lankan corporates, Sri Lankan owned organisations in Australia and local city councils at this point of time.

New Developments

As usual there are quite a few developments to announce with regard to progress with Empower.


Media Footage from Sri Lanka

First and foremost we've been able to discuss the need for photographs and video interviews from the Kirigalpotta site. The Energy Forum was agreeable to this and they will be arranging a visit to the site for this purpose within the next two weeks.

This footage will give us a distinctive edge when it comes to pitching our project to all types of donor organisations.




Magazine Coverage

I was contacted by an upcoming Sri Lankan magazine that has secured a reader base (primarily the Sri Lankan community in Melbourne) and wishes to do a profile on me and the project. The intent, I was made to understand, is to cover students and their initiatives.

This too should give us some much needed awareness amongst the Sri Lankan expatriate community over here in Australia. I have already articulated to Angie (the writer who contacted me) that the primary intent would be for the project to receive attention and thereby boost interest towards funding.

Fundraiser

Leesa, Jessica, Olivia and Johnson have been looking towards organising a fundraiser for the project. Such an event would have the twin purpose of raising awareness and securing some funding for the project.

While an information booth would educate passers by with regard to the nature of our project, the intent is to sell something of value in order to raise money. The team is currently reviewing a slate of ideas in this regard. A Trivia Night is a possibility that was discussed with some enthusiasm. We'd like to host this event before the end of May in order to secure strong student participation.


Proposal Adjustment and Corporate Financing

The proposal has undergone some revision since last month, particularly with regard to the depth of the background, details of the location, the time line and the roles of partners.

We've also decided to increase our focus on Sri Lankan corporates for funding. We've compiled a list with over a dozen firms, mainly banks and conglomerates that we thought would have an interest in such a project. Dev would be organizing the mail outs while Leesa and I would be managing the relationship there on with follow up calls and emails.


Well that's it for now.


Over and Out,
Shanil