I've raised £1600 to Scooters against hate: support the parishioners of the Church of Zion, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka
Organised by Jonathan Spencer
Story
Two days ago I received an email from my friend Darshan Ambalavanar, who is a social worker attached to the Church of the American Ceylon Mission in Batticaloa. Darshan reported on a conversation he had had with the pastor of the Zion Church, where 29 congregants, many of them children, were killed in a bomb blast on Easter Sunday. This is what he said:
Over the last few days, Rev. Rohaan, and I have met the pastor of Zion Church and also a person helping them to coordinate support for families. This is the feed back we have received.
1. Long term help: they are about to finalize identifying families who are going to require long term support, and recommend the level of support needed. This will vary from those who have lost their primary income earner, to those needing medical care, to families whose children require support for education. Once we hear the details of this we will share it with you.
2. One Off Help: Members of the church lost 27 motorbikes in the explosion. This is the most common form of transport for many families here. So the church is appealing for help to provide a new bike for those who have lost their bikes in the explosion. The cost per bike is set at $2000. If any of you are interested in helping with this please do let me know.
Raising funds for just one scooter should be well within the capacity of the South Asian Studies community in Edinburgh. I've discussed this with Darshan, and the need is the same as in his original message. Funds will be directly transferred to his Church for distribution to the Church of Zion.
