The 樱桃视频Humanity Village Project held its annual general meeting Wednesday night (May 24) with a look back at success in the past and a hope for continued success in the future.
The group began out of the Dec. 26, 2004 earthquake and resulting tsunami that decimated villages along the shores of the Indian Ocean, taking the lives of more than 150,000 people. The project is partnered with Wanduruppa, Sri Lanka, which was greatly affected by the disaster and has been working with Linea Aqua, a Wanduruppa-based textile manufacturer, to help rebuild and restructure this area.
Looking back on the year, the group identified the handing over ceremony in Wanduruppa where improvements made to schools, hospitals, as well as a monks' residence and temple, as being something that stood out in terms of accomplishments.
"It was nice seeing the things we have raised money for," said Vaughn Hoy, the current chair of the organization. "We also had an amazing fundraising dinner in September and it was incredible to see the community comeback and support us."
The 樱桃视频Humanity Village Project Celebrate Sri Lanka Fundraising dinner raised $10,000 for the area and Macdonald Realty also presented $85,000 to the organization at the event.
"We would really like to thank Mac Realty they have been a huge corporate sponsor," said Hoy.
This year the project also obtained CRA non-profit society status.
"That has put us in the league of NGOs," said Hoy. "It is very difficult to do, but it has made it possible for us to continue."
In December 2005, the CBC interviewed the group on the tsunami's one-year anniversary for its continue success.
"A lot of grassroots projects were started after the tsunami but ours has been one that has been able to keep going," said Hoy. "We had a number of things go in our favour that kept us sustainable. We have had huge community support and a diverse community here with a lot of families and individuals from Sri Lanka or who are connected to Sri Lanka and then have helped us connect with people there."
Hoy said the strength of the executive board as also helped to keep the project going.
"Even when public interest and press interest began to decline we had a core group of people to keep it going," said Hoy. "This group put a lot of work into it."
Linea Aqua has partnered with the 樱桃视频Humanity Village Project and has recently appointed a full-time staff member dedicated to the relief work.
"Having a full-time project co-ordinator dedicated to the project will help us a lot in terms of moving the work forward faster. [Linea Aqua] has been our feet on the ground," said Hoy.
Looking to the future the group will be trying to re-establish their connection to the community as well as continuing to work on improving the infrastructure in Wanduruppa.
"We are working with a hospital to improve the equipment and we will also be looking agriculture, water supply, and school improvements," said Hoy.
"The board would also like to work towards updating the local community. We have gone through a transition in what we thought we would be and what our role has become. We will be looking to the community again for hands-on support."
The board welcomed three new members to add to the existing 11 and their specific positions will be elected at their next meeting which is held the second Wednesday of every month. The group is actively seeking members and registration forms can be found on their website at www.humanityvillage.org.
