News Archive
News 22.06.10
ECSATs Board strengthens further
ECSAT welcomes two new members to the Board. Lilani Perera is a lawyer and businesswoman whose professional input will certainly help our development. The second new Board member is Julia Frankl whose background is in communications and marketing and will be a much needed boost to ECSAT on these fronts.
News 26.05.10
Rotary Colombo West and Vision Care Bring hearing to children
This May, ECSAT teamed up with the Rotary Club of Colombo West and Vision Care to bring hearing to 19 children in Galle. Rotary donated hearing aids, and Vision Care agreed to donate their time and equipment to fit them to children selected by ECSAT alongside Social Services. Thanks to all for a great team effort. Read more here.
News 09.04.10
Happy Sinhala Tamil New Year to you all
ECSAT would like to wish all our friends and supportersa very happy Sinhala and Tamil New Year. We celebrated at ECSAT Galle on 6th April with children and their families, young people and staff - all of whom enjoyed games such as pin the eye on the elephant and blindfolded smashing the clay pot, and of course home made new year delicacies provided by the mothers and consumed by all!
News 01.04.10
ECSATs 5th Anniversary - no April Fool!
ECSAT today turned 5 years old. We have worked our way through the trauma of post tsunami work, through financial difficulties as funders pulled out of the south, and are now in the most stable and effective condition we have ever been in as an organisation, reaching more excluded and isolated disabled people in Galle than ever before. Thanks to all of you for your contributions to making this a reality... and heres to the next 5 years!
News 24.03.10
ECSAT Batik Range Launch 5.30pm tonight at Dwellings, Colombo
Tonight a new range of products made by disabled and non-disabled people in Galle will be launched at Dwellings, 52 Green Path Colombo. ECSAT has supported a group of batik producers to develop new, more contemporary designs and products to be sold to people from Colombo and overseas. Come along and take a look!
News 25.12.09
Merry Christmas to all our friends and supporters!
ECSAT would like to wish all of our friends across the world a very Merry Christmas. Its a very special year for all of us in Sri Lanka this year because we are experiencing our first peaceful Christmas for many years. Seasons greetings to all of you and THANK YOU for your support.
News 30.11.09
Friends of ECSAT Registered as Charity in UK!
Excellent news from the UK where 'Friends of ECSAT' Trust has been registered with the UK Charity Commision! This means that donations from UK can be made with Gift Aid - increasing the value of your contribution because ECSAT can claim back the tax! Our charity registration number is 1132881.
News 26.10.09
Exciting New Project Starting 1st November
ECSAT is happy to announce a new livelihoods project which will be supported by a partnership with United Way! This new project will support 29 tsunami-affected communities in the southern province of Galle to form livelihood committees and drive changes in their own communities that will lead to a stable income and inclusion of disabled people. ECSAT would like to thank United Way for their great support!
News 05.10.09
ECSAT Provides Training for Sarvodaya in Galle
ECSAT is now providing ongoing training for Sarvodaya in Galle to enable them to work with children in a more creative and child-centred way, both in community activities and in institutions. ECSAT is dedicated to providing training services to NGOs and INGOs in Sri Lanka to improve services for vulnerable children.
News 30.09.09
ECSAT Presentation at Bryanston School UK
ECSAT Founder Catherine Liyanage visited Bryanston School in Dorset England in September to give a presentation to over 600 students and teachers on the current situation of disabled children in Galle. Bryanston are a long term supporter of ECSAT and we thank them - and especially Sarah Stacpoole - for their ongoing advice and contributions. Special thanks to the chaplain Andrew Haviland, who handed over a cheque for more that 600 pounds for activities in Sri Lanka! We look forward to many more years of collaboration!
News 15.09.09
New Partnership with Kiwanis Colombo City
ECSAT has agreed an ongoing partnership with Kiwanis Colombo City Chapter to support the development of outreach services for disabled children in Galle.
Kiwanis have kindly agreed that from this month onwards they will fund one outreach worker to carry out this vital work of identifying, supporting and referring disabled children isolated in their communities. Thank you to everyone at Kiwanis!
News 31.07.09
Donation from the 'Aromatherapy Case Studies' - Reading UK
Many thanks to Dez Hopley's Aromatherapy Case Studies who generously made donations to ECSAT totalling 60GBP, which are being used to fix the van that transports disabled children from their homes to afternoon classes! Many thanks to all of you - its really made a difference!
News 28.05.09
Volunteer Employment Alert!
ECSAT is looking for a volunteer special education trainer with a post graduate qualification and over 20 years experience in the field to work four days a week at our Galle centre. Please see our staff page.
News 18.05.09
Upcoming events at ECSAT!
The early summer months are going to be exciting times at ECSAT.The 5th June is International Environment Day and in honour of this ECSAT will organise a huge 'Shramadana' (cleaning) campaign in Galle to be attended by the Mayor and by other special guests alongside children, families and disabled people fromour partner communities. If you are in Galle come and join us!
On 24th and 25th June our founder Mrs Catherine Liyanage will run a training in Colombo to enable organisations working in the north in the post conflict situation to mainstream disabled people into their programmes. For more information or to attend the training please call CARM on (011)2507115 and speak to Jamila.
News 30.04.09
HAPPY SINHALA NEW YEAR!
Everyone in the Walahanduwa area joined in the Katupolwatta New Year Festival on 25th April 2009. See our report of the event for more on all the fun in this community of people displaced by the tsunami.
News 03.03.09
Sign Language Introduced to Kids Club!
At a recent meeting in Katupolwatta attended by 51 parents of children in one inclusive kids club, the parents were very happy that all of their children would learn sign language as an additional activity. Once the children learn basic sign langauge they will be able to talk to their deaf peers and encourage more friendship and communication than ever.
News 01.01.09
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Everyone at ECSAT would like to wish our friends, supporters, colleagues and beneficiaries a wonderful 2009. For more information on our plans for the new year please take a look at our projects section.
News 30.10.08
Celebrations and a successful training!
So many events and activities have been happening over the past month, and we would like to share a few with you. On 1st October we celebrated the International Day of the Child in Galle! Later in the month, we carried out Community Training in Chilaw to raise awareness about the rights of children with disabilities.Click on each event to see what happened!
Apologies for the lack of pictures in these reports... they will come soon!
News 09.10.08
Introducing ECSATs new partner - Deaf Child Worldwide!
Excellent news today from the UK where Deaf Child Worldwide have approved a project with ECSAT that will run for two years from January 2009 bringing deaf children and young people a better quality of life through better communications. For more on this groundbreaking project please click here.
News 06.10.08
International Christmas Charity Bazaar Supports ECSAT!
The organisers of the International Christmas Charity Bazaar in Colombo have decided that in 2008, ECSAT will be the main beneficiary of the proceeds from this huge annual event. Everyone at ECSAT would like to thank the committee and all the contributors for their faith on our work. If you would like to attend the Bazaar (where we will also be selling ECSART Handicrafts) join us from 5-8pm on 28th November at the BMICH. Tickets are only 400 rupees, and there are stalls with food and gift items from all over the world!
News 26.09.08
ECSAT Training a huge success!
During September, ten parents and their children all came together to take part in 'Life Skills Training for children with intellectual disability and their parents'. In October we will be running a training on 'How to include disabled people in the community' for Caritas. Congratulations to the training team and to Gina for all her advice, and if you are interested in ECSAT training please see our new training page.
News 06.08.08
Strong Families Campaign - Urgent help needed!
The state of the Sri Lankan economy means that in poor communities we are seeing more and more children eating only two meals a day. Parents find it hard to provide for their children and dont have money for basics like schooling, meals and healthcare. Read our appeal and help us to address these issues in Galle in what is a very difficult time for many.
News 01.08.08
Waiting for Wednesday - Rumindu's Story
Read all about three and a half year old Rumindu, who has recently been able to leave his house once a week to mix with his peers in preschool classes. Written by Gina Graham - a current volunteer - it is the first personal account in a new section where you can read about what volunteers and visitors experience and feel at ECSAT.
News 19.07.08
ECSAT Facebook Group Launched!
ECSAT has at last hit Facebook with its very own group entitled 'Friends of ECSAT - helping poor and disabled people in Sri Lanka'! Please log on and join the group, which already boasts 50 members (as at 28th July) and is growing fast. We want to make it as fun and interactive as possible...
News 06.07.08
Head Girl of Bryanston School Coming to Visit ECSAT
Everyone is looking forward to welcoming Charlotte - the head girl of Bryanston School in UK - to ECSAT in August to come and spend some time with us. We look forward to meeting her in Galle soon!
News 19.06.08
ECSAT Annual Report 2007-2008
Online at last with lots of news and stories about ECSAT in the past year. Click here and enjoy reading about what has happened in Galle thanks to you - our supporters!
News 10.06.08
Ethical Giving Comes to ECSAT
Finally we have launched our Ethical Giving Programme on the website! This means you can now buy birthday, anniversary or even just friendship gifts for your friends and family that make them feel something amazing is happening in the world on their behalf. Just log in and say goodbye to present-buying worries!
News 19.05.08
Thanks to Bryanston School UK
A great boost to our work came today from Bryanston School in UK! A 4000 GBP donation towards ensuring we can maintain our current work with children and adults with disabilities which is currently unfunded. Huge thanks to everyone at Bryanston.
News 19.05.08
HAPPY WESAK!
This long weekend has been Wesak for everyone in Sri Lanka - marking the birth, death and enlightenment of the Buddha. Look out for details of the Wesak celebrations organised by our Galle Parents Support Group coming soon.
News 07.05.08
Parents organise New Year Celebration!
While Sri Lanka celebrates the New Year, many people with disabilities are excluded from traditional activities due to prejudice and inaccessibility. This year the Parent Support Group in Galle organised a memorable day of fun for their children to celebrate the New Year with their friends. Take a look at what happened!