AUTHENTICTIES
Connect Initiative Connecting hearts – lives - futures
AUTHENTICTIES “
Connect Initiative
“
At Authenticities, we see tourism as an opportunity to give something back to the rural communities that we interact with. Our approach is simple: to identify and develop communities through engaging with them, developing their skills and providing job opportunities. We believe that this approach contributes to their social and economic stability.
“Connect”, an initiative of Authenticities, is all about connecting hearts, lives, communities and futures by working with children in particular. The birth of Connect complements the spirit of Authenticities to enrich lives and be true and genuine in everything we do. Connect’s educational projects provide occasions for our clients to touch the hearts of children in rural areas.
Education is an important ingredient in the development of a person. In Sri Lanka, we see great scope for improving the lives of children and impacting their future through educational projects.
We believe that small is big! Smaller initiatives are less bureaucratic, allow for faster response and better follow-up. At Authenticities, we know that the impact of little actions sometimes can be more meaningful. We choose our projects with great care and deliberation, committing ourselves to put a smile on the faces of children.
Connect gives the opportunity to either donate to a fund that will be used to do projects in line with the Connect concept or to be involved in “hands-on” projects while visiting Sri Lanka.
We believe that prioritizing projects is as important as their conceptualization and execution. The regions that are most in need are in the north-central province, the northern province, the hill country and the east coast. The following initiatives that we have highlighted give the opportunity to get involved and make a difference:
Authenticities Sri Lanka
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Scope of Connect The scope “Connect” is to Identify basic educational needs in rural Sri Lanka – helping and supporting children who are less fortunate. Our primary focus is to “identify” such projects prioritise them and execute efforts to see that it gets done and change their life through simple efforts.
Funding for such “identified projects” would come through the following: •
Fund generation through direct contribution from Tour Operator partners and clients
•
Purchase of “bookmarks”
•
Visit identified projects during the tour by clients donate/ contribute (stationary items/ construction projects/ support a child’s education)
This
is
the
“emotional”
aspect
of
our
combined efforts! Following examples will provide us with guidelines: •
Improving sanitation facilities in schools
•
Setting up libraries
•
Constructing classrooms
•
Providing desks and chairs for classrooms
•
Providing books and stationary
•
Repairing roofs in classrooms and doing general repairs
Authenticities Sri Lanka
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On-going Projects The following projects and immediate efforts of Authenticities and our Clients 2013, APRIL LOCATION: MEDIRIGIRIYA DONOR: MR. CHRIS REINIER, UNITED STATES CONTRIBUTION: Rs. 25,000 in Cash to the Trustees of the School MEDIRIGIRIYA is located in the POLONNARUWA district, a location where most clients visit. We identified this rural school where most classrooms required plastering and finishing. Most work was halted due to lack of Govt. funding and parents of children did most of the work. The Donation was to assist the school to renovate the classrooms
LOCATION: PUSSELLAWA DONOR: FRENCH MARATHON GROUP FROM NICE, FRANCE (103 Pax) CONTRIBUTION: 5,000 Books, Pens, Pencils, School Bags At the HELBODA Estate (Up Country Plantation). We identified a rural school Donated 5,000 School Books, Pencils, Pens and School Bags
LOCATION: TRINCOMALEE DONOR: MR. & MR. VOLLAN - OSLO, NORWAY CONTRIBUTION: 50 School Bags & 50 Water Bottles THAMBAPANI KINDERGARDEN is a Montessori School with 50 Children. Most of them need support. We identified some of the basic requirements and our Clients on tour in Trincomalee donated 50 School Bags & 50 Water Bottles to these little children
Our Role The role of Authenticities would be to contribute to such identified projects through financial contribution, total effort from identifying projects, creating awareness, generating funds, executing the projects and finally to ensure that the outcome if satisfactory and enduring.
As a responsible partner, we commit ourselves to this cause through regular checks and balance, site visits by our area coordinators and communicate progress through our website and social media. Through such transparent communication, all participants will be able to review our progress for such projects.
Authenticities Sri Lanka
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