OrphanCare completes 10 disbursements

Amana Bank’s OrphanCare has successfully completed its 10th consecutive quarterly fund distribution benefiting over 3,000 orphans from 80+ orphanages across the island representing all ethnicities. Despite the ongoing economic challenges in the country, the OrphanCare Trust continued to distribute funds amongst its beneficiaries, showcasing the Trust’s commitment to grow the balances which will be accessible to the orphans once they reach the age of 18, it said in a media release.

In addition to the periodical fund allocation, OrphanCare has identified and profiled orphans who have reached the age of 18 through a structured qualitative support process. Individual orphan profiling is done taking into consideration their educational levels, language skills and career aspirations and matching their requirements with donors of both individual and institutional capacity.

Sharing his views on the progress of OrphanCare, Trustee Tilak de Zoysa said, “Within 3 years of launch, a period which was marred by challenges ranging from Easter attacks to the COVID-19 pandemic to the current economic crisis, OrphanCare has been successful in completing 10 rounds of fund disbursements to beneficiary accounts of orphans. We are grateful to our valued donors and well-wishers who continue to support our cause both monetarily and with qualitative care, which has resulted in the continued success of OrphanCare.”

OrphanCare was established as an independent trust with Amana Bank PLC as the founding sponsor with the objective of addressing an important yet mostly unattended need of orphan children. The Trust aims to secure the fate of orphans who reach the age of 18, at which age they are compelled to leave institutional care. OrphanCare’s approach seeks to intervene in a vital and decisive aspect of their problem which is funding. To that end, the OrphanCare Trust has been making periodic deposits into orphans’ accounts until they reach the age of 18, at which point the funds will become accessible to them. A unique highlight of the initiative is that Amana Bank ensures every rupee donated would reach the beneficiary since all administrative and operational costs are fully borne by the bank.

In enrolling orphans to the program OrphanCare has honoured Article 2 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child where all enrolments are irrespective of the child’s or their parent’s or legal guardian’s race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or any other status.

The OrphanCare Trust is administered by a team of trustees who have a track record of passionate social service and includes Chairman of the Trust Ruzly Hussain (founder of the Rotaract movement in Sri Lanka), Osman Kassim (Founder & Past Chairman Amãna Bank) K R Ravindran (Chairman, Board of Trustees of Rotary Foundation USA and former President Rotary International ), Jazri Magdon Ismail – Treasurer (Past President AAT), Sharad Amalean (Co-founder MAS Holdings), Tyeab Akbarally (Senior Director Akbar Brothers), Harsha Amarasekera (President’s Counsel), Tilak de Zoysa (Chairman Helpage Sri Lanka) and Mohamed Azmeer (Managing Director/CEO Amãna Bank). The Trustees have instituted a strong governance framework to maintain the highest standards of integrity and ensure the long-term sustainability of the Trust.