“Their Future in Our Hands”
VACD Australia & Sri Lanka July & August 2024 Newsletter
“When we give alms with our hearts, we give well”
Dear friends, colleagues, supporters, and collaborative partners,
Greetings to you, your families, loved ones, and colleagues from all of us at VACD.
Annual Report: My Annual Report for FY 2023/24 to the VACD Australia Board and Fellows can be found on the following hyperlink:
VACD Australia Board’s Tour of VACD Sri Lanka in July 2024:
For the very first time in the history of VACD Australia, members of our leadership team: Deputy Chairman- Greg Fendler, his wife Jenny and children Ella, Sam, Abby, and Hanna, Treasurer – James Meighan and his wife Nicole, Director Legal, Governance, Compliance & Coordinator with VACD Sri Lanka – Shanthi Manamperi and her husband Palitha, Director & Visiting Consultant to VACD Cantres in Sri Lanka Gabriella Vascotto, Head of Digital Communication – Aloyna (Pinky) Taylor, joined Yasmin Stephen – Administration & Communications Secretary and myself on our recently concluded annual tour of our VACD centres in Sri Lanka.
As always, and in keeping with our strict governance and compliance framework since inception, all expenses incurred by each one of us during this extensive tour were paid for with our own personal funds.
Key Notes in brief from VACD Sri Lanka 2024 Tour:
- Meeting with: Manique Gunaratne – Manager Specialized Training & Disability Resource Centre – Employer’s Federation of Ceylon. Manique commended VACD’s early childhood supported playgroup program initiated by our VACD Director Gabriella Vascotto as there are very few such programs in Sri Lanka. She very kindly offered to find suitable employment opportunities for young adults at VACD through her island wide employer network.
- Meeting with: Anoushka Boralessa – Head of Business Development & Sustainability at Teardrop Hotels who sponsor our Ambagasdowa centre. They were working towards installing a water tank at this centre funded through a grant they had received and introducing income generating and skills training for our children and their parents.
- VACD Australia & Sri Lanka – Joint Board meeting: Discussions were around ongoing and upcoming projects & programs, vocational training for young adults & parents, provision of exercise equipment at our centres, the early childhood supported playgroup program and the possibility of extending travel assistance to children and parents attending our centres and creating income generating opportunities for parents at our centres
- More hands-on practical and theoretical training to be provided for our special educators on a regular basis given the significant number of children that now attend our centres for rehabilitation and other facilities.
- Meeting with Dr. Janita Tennakoon – Director Health Services Ministry of Health Uva and her team to discuss VACD’s ongoing projects, programs and new initiatives. Our VACD Sri Lanka Director – Mr. Ranathunge was appointed to liaise and coordinate with the Health Ministry.
- The team visited all three VACD centres and spent quality time with our children, their parents, families, staff and directors.
- Director & Visiting Consultant to VACD Centre’s in Sri Lanka Gabriella Vascotto conducted a special training session at our Bandarawela centre for our teaching staff across all three centres to equip them to be ready to be trained via regular video/teleconferences to implement our planned Early Childhood Supported Playgroups Program.
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https://mygoodness.benevity.org/community/search?query=vacd&country=036
Regular updates on our VACD Facebook Page:
Ms. Aloyna (Pinky) Taylor, VACD’s Head of Digital Communication, posts regular news and updates on a range of VACD activities on our Facebook page. I would encourage you to please follow us on
https://www.facebook.com/vacdlk
or timely news about our mission. Please also support us by following, liking, commenting, and sharing VACD posts with your family, friends, loved ones, colleagues etc. so that your help will enable us, via the algorithms built into this electronic social networking & communication platform, to extend our outreach to many more who, like you, share in our vision and mission for disabled children in Sri Lanka. Thank you.
Children with disabilities and their families in the region
A big “Thank You” to all of you…
Our journey is bound to be long and challenging. The official and unofficial number of children and their families who need our love, support, compassion, and care are sizeable and increasing steadily. We look forward to your continued generosity, active support for our undertaking and you being partners with us in this most fulfilling and worthwhile 12+ year journey that we traverse together.
Please visit us at:
and reach out to us at: fstephen@bigpond.net.au should you choose to support our mission. Please share this newsletter with your network so that together we certainly can make a difference in the lives of children with disabilities, one by one!!!
Many thanks, best wishes, and warmest regards…. Felix
Felix Stephen
Chairman of the Board of Directors – VACD Ltd. Sydney – Australia –
Member of the Advisory Board – Two Leaves Foundation Sri Lanka
Senior Associate – Cognoscenti Group – Sydney – Australia-
http://www.cognoscenti.global/
Member of Investment Committee – Arrive Wealth Management – Brisbane – Australia –
https://www.arrivewealthmanagement.com.au/
