Vantharumoolai School Furniture Project
- Coming in 2010!
- Location: Vantharumoolai, Sri Lanka
- Recipients:250 students
- Objective:Furnish classrooms
- Estimated cost:$1,100 US
Vantharumoolai (Van-TAH-roo-moo-lie) is a village about 18 miles north of Batticaloa, site of last year’s computer lab.. The town is mostly made up of rice farmers, a handful of small shopkeepers and craftsmen (mechanics and such), and a few employees of Eastern University, which is some 5 miles south. The school at Vatharumoolai serves the entire village, starting with kindergarten.
The school was used to house refugees fleeing from the 2007 military offensive in the east. The place took quite a beating, physically, and neither the government nor the organizations caring for the refugees has offered to make any repairs or replace destroyed property. This has left the school with a whole list of repair and replacement needed just to bring the place up to pre-2007 status, which to be honest, wasn’t at that high of a level to begin with.
Perhaps most vital is the replacing of destroy chairs and desks. The school is littered with piles of broken school furniture that is beyond repair. The total comes to about 100 destroyed chairs and 150 demolished desks. With a total student population of about 1,500, and an average class size of 40 students, this means that some students have to sit on the concrete floor during class time.
A chair costs 300 rupees and a desk 600, for a total of 120,000 rupees for everything, or just under $1,100. There will be an added, albeit small, cost for transporting of the new furniture, and hauling the old away.
Education is the surest way to ensure the development of a country. However, without the basic infrastructure a school needs, delivering a meaningful education to the kids becomes that much more difficult. Desks and chairs are one of the most basic necessities. ABDF is very eager too assist with this project.
The American-Batticaloa Development Fund
PO Box 5548
Santa Monica, CA 90409-5548
323-939-5639
Batticaloa
Sri Lanka
+94-77-217-4685







