Dear club members, dear other club supporters,
Another half-year of Rosenkinder is behind us. The successful 20th trip to Sri Lanka, a wonderful 19th general meeting – and we hope to continue in the same vein in 2025.
Elections were held again in Sri Lanka in May. After the president and the central parliament, it was now the turn of the regional parliaments. Once again, the new president and his socialist party won. However, their lead was not as overwhelming as before. This is certainly advantageous in terms of the new president and his party continuing their policy of implementing their political measures against regional resistance. On a positive note, inflation rates have been negative for months and food in particular has become more affordable for the people again. The country also experienced a veritable flood of tourists this year, who brought dollars and euros into the country. All in all, therefore, a positive development when viewed from a distance.
Today, we will take a look at the ‘Rosenkinder activities’ for the current year and present the Sri Lanka trip for 2026. As usual and as required by formal procedure, the minutes of the 19th general meeting on 11 May 2025 are also attached.
But first, here is the status of our projects in 2025. It should be noted that after our return in March 2025 and 30 days of intensive project work combined with intensive contact with our helpers in Sri Lanka, there is ‘always’ a bit of a break and relaxation there. However, some things have happened:
1. Current project “Rosenkinder” Sponsorship in cooperation with the Lions Club Aluthgama/Bentota
The first half of our 2025 sponsorship programme, which currently has 70 sponsorships, will end next month. This means that Chandani and Dooland will contact our children and young people to enquire about the status of their education and their results, and then, in consultation with us, decide on the continuation of the 2025 sponsorship programme. Six of our sponsored children took their A-level exams last February. The results are now available and a decision must be made on how to proceed in light of the results: university studies possible, a second attempt to improve grades, or transition to a professional career. We will know more in a month.
I am happy to report here on the special fates and developments of individual sponsored children. Indulanka’s story is a very special one. The girl is now 18 years old and has been sponsored by us since 2018. Her mother previously worked ‘away’ in Kuwait. The father was supposed to take care of Indulanka and her brother. Instead, he focused on securing a regular supply of alcohol and neglected the siblings. The mother was so desperate about the situation that she took her own life. The siblings were left in the care of their grandmother. This was fortunate for them, as the old lady was very devoted to the children. Through the mediation of our Lions Club, we accepted Indulanka into our support programme. Unfortunately, the grandmother fell ill with cancer and died two years ago. The youth welfare office decided that Indulanka should be taken in by a foster family and her brother should go to a children’s home in Galle. We visited Indulanka last year and found that the care provided by her new family was not ideal. With the help of Dooland and its influence on the youth welfare office, the girl was placed with the family of one of the school teachers and feels very comfortable there, as she told us this year. Unfortunately, this is not an unusual case. At least she is taking her A-level exams in November and we are very excited to see how things develop. It’s nice to be able to alleviate the plight of our Rosenkinder a little.
2. Current project special education at the Anula Wijerama Children Home in Balapitiya in cooperation with the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (ACBC)
In Balapitiya, the highlight for the girls in the children’s home in recent months was undoubtedly another visit from Petra Gerlings. The visit began in April, coinciding with the Sri Lankan New Year celebrations around 14 April. It also provided an opportunity to celebrate the birthday of the guest from Germany in April. However, in addition to the celebrations, there is still a lot to be clarified. Discussions with the girls, coordination with the new committee, clarifications with the youth welfare office and, last but not least, the quarterly ZOOM dialogue for the 10 oldest girls in the home. Woshini – the first student in Balapitiya – is still waiting for the starting signal for the beginning of her studies, which was announced for May. Nadeesha, the second oldest, has now also completed her A-levels. Her dream/wish is to study law. In our opinion, the conditions for this are not yet in place. She would be better suited to teacher training after repeating her A-level exams in November. However, an Australian aid organisation has offered her a scholarship to study at a private university. In this respect, her wish could come true – to become a lawyer. Charuka is due to take her A-level exams in 2026. Our individual support is now focused on this. The next girls are still too young or need to work on their talents and enthusiasm. There is always the alternative of qualified vocational training at our Rosenkinder Hostel in Panadura.
3. Children Home for blind and deaf-mute Children in Mahaweewa in cooperation with the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (ACBC)
We continue to keep a close eye on our relatively ‘young’ Rosenkinder project in Mahaweewa. Thanks to Melanie Bierut, her dedication and her professional expertise, we are making good progress there too. At the beginning of the year, many urgent renovations were carried out. Thanks to a generous donation from the organisation ‘Inklusion muss laut sein’ (Inclusion must be loud), a large number of therapeutic aids can now be used for the benefit of the children there. Through direct contact with Chamodi, the school’s IT teacher, we have now also succeeded in ensuring that all five computer systems are functioning for use by children with disabilities and have a stable WiFi connection. These direct contacts are very important to us. An essential task in the near future will be to find a replacement for Anuththara, one of the school’s teachers, to take over the ongoing communication with Melanie. This is also because Anuththara looks after our ‘Activity Room’ for therapeutic work at the weekends. The young lady got married at the beginning of the year and would like to follow her husband to Japan. However, we are already working on a plan for her replacement. Another new development is the expansion of the garden project, which we are supporting. In addition to the mushroom farm, there is now a greenhouse for gardening at the school. This provides an important change from normal lessons and helps the children to relax at school.
4. Current project “Rosenkinder Hostel” at the Vocational Training Center in Panadura in cooperation with the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (ACBC)
Next month, the first round of 2025 will come to an end in Panadura with 14 girls from various girls’ children’s homes in Sri Lanka. The focus is once again on training in sewing, tailoring and quality control for possible future employment in a sewing factory. This is a very proven model for securing the future of girls in care. Samasri, a girl from our children’s home in Balapitiya, is currently participating. She will be replaced in August by Samadhi from Balapitiya, who also sees her future as a tailor. Well over 200 completed vocational training programmes for girls in children’s homes are a great success for the girls’ start into life after leaving the care of the children’s homes.
5. „planned“ Projekt „Rosenkinder Hostel 2“ beim Boy Children Home in Payagala in Zusammenarbeit mit dem All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (ACBC)Other projects
Work is also set to continue in Payagala. We have been informed and assured that the model used in the first phase of renovation – we pay for the materials and the state provides the workers via the army – will also be continued for the completion of the training centre and boys’ hostel. Our project assistants from ACBC have met with the new decision-makers of the current ruling party and provided us with this information. We are therefore eagerly awaiting the restart of work so that we can hopefully celebrate a ‘grand’ inauguration during our planned next visit to Payagala.
6. other current projects
Care for the unborn Child
We fondly remember 7 March 2025, our penultimate day in Sri Lanka in 2025. It marked the start of the project and the first distribution and meeting with 10 pregnant women aged between 18 and 42 who were in need of support. They are provided with a monthly ‘healthy’ food package at the health centre. In addition, they receive a complete starter kit for mother and child, as well as regular childcare items and on-site medical care and professional support for mother and child at the health centre. At the end of the 15-month support period, there is also a savings account with 25,000 Rs for the baby and necessary special purchases. Last Friday, the fourth meeting with the 10 mothers took place. Two babies have since been born. As it is traditional in Sri Lanka not to photograph newborns during their first three months of life, there are only pictures of the mothers so far. But the campaign continues and baby pictures will follow.
Madyama Lanka Nrutya Mandalaya Dancing School in Amunagma near Kandy
A project at the school for traditional Sri Lankan dance is also back on the agenda. We visited the school again in February 2024 and learned that, in addition to dance, the village children will now also be offered traditional Sri Lankan drumming lessons. This is a wonderful addition for the more than 100 village children who regularly attend the dance school. To finance the project, we organised a charity concert in Uetersen in November 2024 with NOT RELATED and Almut Lenz’s dance troupe. All donations from the charity concert went towards setting up a drumming section. The money was then transferred to those responsible in December 2024. They quickly repaired 30 drums and purchased new ones. Even in Sri Lanka, there are only a few craft businesses that are skilled in the art of building or, in particular, repairing these traditional instruments. What can I say, drumming is now also part of the curriculum in Amunagama.
7. Other information
In addition to today’s project information, here are three dates for your diary:
- 5 and 6 July 2025 – Rose Festival in Uetersen – our association, the ‘Rosenkinder’ , will be there again with information and ‘roses for donations’ for one of our projects in Mahaweewa
- 9 August 2025 – 6 p.m. 19th Rosenkinder birthday, again at Kaske’s garden at Heidredder 3 in Uetersen – separate invitation to follow!
- • 6 September 2025 – ‘Uetersen sind wir’ (We are Uetersen) – a local event and presentation of the voluntary associations in Uetersen. We want to collect used glasses and donations for sunglasses for our ‘Rosenkinder’ in Sri Lanka.
Then a look ahead to the coming year 2026. Of course, there will be another trip to Sri Lanka, on which we will again take some of our association members with us. It is scheduled to start on 15 February 2026 and return on 7 March 2026. As always, places are limited to a group size of 10 to a maximum of 12 people. All details are attached. If you are interested or have any questions, please contact me directly by phone or email.
Attached are the minutes of our 19th general meeting on 11 May 2026.
Thank you for your loyalty, stay healthy and happy throughout the summer, and I look forward to hearing from anyone interested in the 2026 trip to Sri Lanka.
Your
Dieter Kaske