Click here for the second edition of the RIPPLES newsletter. In particular check out the upcoming concert (28 June 2009) which is a fundraiser for the Sri Lanka effort this year.

Click here for the first edition of the RIPPLES newsletter. See what you have done and understand how you can still help.

An important part of our work has been aid focused - aiming to alleviate immediate needs. But there has been great scope for us to help establish something sustainable and enduring, helping these people to develop their own income and independence. We were very fortunate to have some funds recently donated which have been used to establish mushroom farms, the products of which are now earning their owners a regular income - along with other vegetables they are able to sell at the front gate of the local school.

The next step is to have them register their little enterprises as Businesses. This will allow them to deliver to the local restaurants and hotels. Very exciting for them. And empowering and liberating.

A few photos here of some of the tsunami widows … getting back on their feet with their gardens.

This year I was really touched by the interest that the big corporates took in our project. And not only did they support this with gifts but some of their people committed days of work as well. How humbling that support is. And how grateful I was for it. They worked so hard and achieved in a few short days what usually takes my older band of volunteers a little bit longer. In this case people from one of the largest banks int he country not only donated gifts but their time and labour as well. The CEO of Macquarie is known for his philanthropy - it clearly rubs off on the organisation and we all appreciated the way the folk from Macquarie threw themselves into the task of turning the donated goods into presents.

When all the gifts are sorted into age groups and whether it is suitable for a boy or girl, they are bundled up into a present and wrapped. And each child has that gift labelled by name - the orphanage sends us a list of names. Any goods that are left over are packaged up and sent anyway - these orphanages waste nothing.

My dear friend Winsome has done an amazing job over many months with her sewing machine. She has turned out more than 400 cloth bags, used by the children for carrying books and, well just about anything they turn their minds to actually. And she stitched up more than 150 cloth bags used as pencil cases. Amazing really. Often while watching television. How she does both at the same time I will never know. And when things got crazy while all of the final planning was coming together, there she was offering a meal or helping with the packing. Or… well, anything really. Some of the reward of doing all this lies in the great community of friends and contacts who join in and support the effort this way. She did not want to show these off by the way but we all wanted to recognise the sterling work she has done in the background.

A week of dawn ’til dusk labour  by all sorts of people see this project come together in the last week before the freight company collects the cartons. It is school holidays here so a few parents who came along to help brought their children with them. Some had sorting and packaging tasks which soon get pretty boring. Others “lucked in” and got the job of sorting sweets and candies to go to the orphans. “One in my mouth, one in the bag, one in my mouth, one in the bag.!” These brothers did a great job - thanks guys.

This year we are sending more packages to the orphanages in Sri Lanka. And this time around we received a remarkable amount of gifts and support from all sorts of folk, including large companies and institutions. At the other end of the scale individuals have been working all year on sewing and creating gifts. A tremendous effort. And over the last week we have had an incredible number of folk focused on sorting the goods, creating gift packs and packaging it all up ready for the freight company. That is a story of generosity in its own right - and one which we will include in a few more posts.

In the meantime here are a couple of photos which show the hall at Frenchs Forest Baptist Church full of goods - spread out like this it is a bit hard to believe most of this was packed in my garage, lounge and dining room!