FORaMEAL: Shipment of dry goods packs to Sri Lanka

In the Rotary Year 2023-2024, the club was successful in securing a District 9810 Rotary Foundation Grant (DG18 part of DG223654), valued at $3,000 to undertake a shipment of FORaMEAL packs to Sri Lanka. The final club contribution to this successful project was $3,581.69 with unspent funds from the 2021 Rice Meal making up the gap.

This grant afforded us the opportunity to ship to Sri Lanka, 480 cartons of FORaMEAL emergency relief dry food goods. This project drew on the assistance of the Rotary Club of Canterbury(D9800) and Dr Doug Hawley OAM in particular, the Rotary Club of Colombo Regency in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health who facilitated the arrival and distribution of the food packs and Transitainer (WA) who assisted with the shipment of the container and local logistics in Australia.

Thanks also go to the year 11 students at Yarra Valley Grammar who participated in a mass packing day exercise. This was a new experience for them and reinforced that compassion has a practical side, not just something in a though bubble.

Shipment of the container was on 26/3/23 with final delivery into Colombo, via Singapore on 01/6/23.

The distribution and importantly education on how to use the food packs was undertaken by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health. The following comments sum up the effectiveness of this first-of-a-kind project for the club.

“A total of 16,320 packs were distributed to three highly malnourished areas, namely Matara, Matale, and Vavunia. Through the efforts of dedicated medical officers, families in immediate need were identified and a comprehensive plan was implemented to address the issue. The distribution of packs and the number of packs for family was tailored according to thorough research conducted in these areas. Recognizing the economic challenges faced by most families, cooking demonstrations were organized to highlight how to prepare the packs, using locally available nutritional ingredients to enhance flavor and cater to local preferences. Witnessing the joy of children as they enjoyed the prepared porridge firsthand was a memorable experience during my personal involvement in the project”.

Year 11 Students from YVG participating in a packing-day.
Preparing oats for inclusion.
Red lentils for inclusion

Container ready for shipment to Colombo

Wendy Scott & Andrew Brownlie lending a hand.

The FORaMEAL Food packs.
Awaiting education on the use of the packs
Receiving a FORaMEAL pack
Practical Instruction
Members of the Rotary Club of Colombo Regency

The execution of the project faced many challenges, but without the assistance of all those organisations mentioned earlier, this may never have happened. Thank you all for making this project a great success.

Andrew Brownlie – Foundation & International Chair
Rotary Club of Maroondah Inc. D9810, Club No 18382

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