Project Summary
Objectives
· The primary objective of the project is to publish the book in Tamil and Sinhala and distribute it to children in the tsunami affected areas.
· Using simple language and creative illustrations, the book hopes to reignite the love the children have for the sea and to help them cope with the fear generated by the tsunami.
· The book will encourage children to talk about their feelings and fears.
· The book will also be helpful to those children fortunate enough not to have been directly or indirectly affected by the tsunami, and to understand its implications and consequences for children.
Distribution
The book was distributed through CBOs, Libraries, Schools and small organisations that work with children. Initially, many organisations delayed on giving feedback and imagers of the distribution, however, at present many organisations have since submitted their comments. The book has been given to children throughout the whole country - from the war-torn north to the costal south, and from children still in rehabilitation camps to the children in the capital, Colombo. Most organisations collected the books directly from Perera Hussein Publishing House.
Feedback
Tsunami Relief Foundation, which is the parent organisation of the Ray of Hope project has visited some of the camps where the books have been distributed and found that the book had made big impact on the children while for some children it was just a great story.
Many of the NGOs and other organisations have sent us letters and images of the distribution and programmes where they used “The 3 Friends and the Big Wave”. Some images of the book have been distributed and the children enjoying this can be seen on the pages to follow.
Comments from some organisations:
“The children were eager to read the book and were glad that they finally had received a tsunami related book in the Sinhala and Tamil languages”. - Pahamunne House
“Please convey our gratitude to Petra Nemkova and the Happy Hearts Fund for the generosity that they have shown in providing the grant through Give2Asia for the translation and distribution of this book.” - Samaritan’s Purse
“The books that you have sent have been delivered to students in the southern province. We wish to state that all students who have received these books are really grateful and happy along with their parents. Thanks to the person who wrote this book and sent them to our children free of charge”. –WFP
Words from some children that received the book:
- “I loved the book and the art work, the story was nice too!” - T. Kumaran (6 years old).
- “This book was very well done, thank you for doing in Sinhala and Tamil so more of us could understand the story, Chuty is very sweet and cute. Thank you for the book” – Amali (8 years old).
- “I was not in the tsunami but it did help me see what the kids who went through the tsunami must have been feeling! I liked all the art work and the colours in the book” – Rizam. (9 years old).
- “This book helped me see that friends around me are the most important and that I should not be so afraid of another tsunami” – Ganga. (11 years old).
- "The book was done very well, it was very easy to understand" -Mahean (7 Years old)
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED
The main problem encountered in implementing this programme was concerned with the distribution. The NGOs were slow with picking up and distributing the books, but more importantly, not very helpful in sending images and letters of final distribution of the book. This has been one key factor in the delay of this report.
Special thanks from Ray of Hope and Timothy Senaviratne
- Petra Nemkova and the Happy Hearts Fund for the generosity in funding this translation and printing of this book in Tamil and Sinhala.
- Give2Asia and Sharadha De Saram for all their efforts in making this publication a reality.
- Alix Yule (Give2Asia) without whom this books printing in Tamil and Sinhala would not have seen the light of day.
- Perera Hussein Publishing House – Publishing the book in English . Sam and Amina who have showed great faith in me in implementing this programme.
- The illustrator – Toto- who did such great work that made all the children love this book.
- To Thisula who always encaged me.
- All the children for reading this simple book.
Distribution break-down
(NGOs, other organisations and individuals)
So far the book is translated and published in
- · English
- · Sinhalese
- · Tamil
- · Japanese
The book is one of the most published books in Sri Lanka -24000 books have been published to date.
- Efforts are being made to translate and publish the book in many other languages
- Spanish
- Polish
- Italian
- If you are able to help in translation or publishing this book in any of these or any other language, please contact me as it is my dream to have the book published is as many languages as possible.
- Enter the book in children’s book festivals and compactions
- Conduct children’s work shops using the book as a tool
- Publish the book through other NGO’s and Organizations and use it as a fund raiser.
