It started with my mother suggesting we give the children of Kakkaiyankulam and Chiraddikulam more than just stationery as end-of-year gifts. I put out a small call for contributions, so casual that I got caught up in grad school apps and didn’t follow up (marketing is not my strong point). But there is something about these small ragamuffins that seems to appeal to everybody, and I received a much bigger response than expected. Which means…these children will get nice FAT giftpacks! Each gift pack will include a pencil, eraser, sharpener, ruler, a pack of clay, a pencil box, a pair of scissors, a box of crayons, a drawing book, a sticker sheet, a bubble blower, and a tea-set for each girl and a car for each boy, all in a really nice teddy-covered gift bag.

This post is to acknowledge all the wonderful people who contributed to the gifts – their contributions have covered all the expenses for the children, an I’m so grateful and humbled by their spontaneous generosity. Although I’m not including amounts on my blog, I will compile a document for ReachOut and CI accordingly. Unfortunately I was unable to conclude the workshops in December because of monsoonal rains, and all the children’s gifts are still stored in suitcases in my house. However, monsoons are drawing to a close, and I hope to conclude the workshops during the first weekend in March, and will post pictures of the children receiving their gifts. Again, thank you all so much for your donations – I’m incredibly grateful!

I would like to acknowledge the gifts of:

Sashini Jayawardane and Pubudu Sachithanandan
Minky Wijenaike
Gayathri Kosgodage
Dineli Gowribalan
Irfadha Muzammil
Mr Jiffry Meeran
Amanthi Wickramasinghe
Bryan Locascio
Mohit Agrawal

I would also like to thank Eshara Silva, whose contribution I will be instead donating towards medical treatment for my brother’s classmate, Harshula Wimalshanthi, who is currently undergoing treatment for a brain tumour. If you would like to donate, either towards the Building Bridges Project, or towards Harshula’s medical expenses (and I would urge you to assist him if you can!) please contact me at nushelle@gmail.com for more information.