 |
 "Restoring livelihoods in Sri Lanka"
|
|
| Home About us Projects Updates Contact |
CRUF - a summary
Who are we?
CRUF is Non Governmental organisation (NGO) set up by Gospel House Handicrafts, a fair-trade business in Madampe, Sri Lanka in response to the Tsunami which struck Sri Lanka on 26th December 2004. In June 2006 CRUF was accepted as a Non-Governmental Organisation under Sri Lankan law.
CRUF has a management committee of 7 members (3 of whom are non-voting) and a Projects Manager and Textiles Manager who are volunteers. In addition, it also employs a Project Coordinator.
Who is who?
| Management Committee (voting): | Mr Modestus Karunaratne and Mr Shiran Karunaratne (Directors of Gospel House Handicrafts). |
| Dr Ranjan Zoysa (General Practitioner), Mr Angelo Wikramaratne (Insurance Executive). | |
| Projects Manager: | Dr Nigel Kenward. |
| Projects Coordinator: | Mr "A.T." Rantnatilleke. |
| Textiles Manager: | Mrs Rachel Kenward. |
What Does CRUF Do?
In response to the tsunami, CRUF was formed to provide aid to people who had lost family, loved ones and belongings (including their homes). Initially this was by providing short-term aid in the form of food, clothing and resettlement packs but in-keeping with the fair-trade pedigree of Gospel House Handicrafts, this was soon supplemented by starting individuals out on income generation projects. These have included building fishing boats, fishing, the spinning of coconut twine and the manufacture of simple textiles products, all of which CRUF has facilitated by providing seed income, materials and equipment.
CRUF has built a village of 48 new houses, a pre-school and community centre for people who lost their homes. A community-based re-greening project has started where community members are employed to grow 200,000 plants over 2 years to plant their gardens and to re-green the village.
CRUF is rebuilding 150 partially damaged houses working with the beneficiaries and local contractors.
CRUF has started a fair-trade textiles factory and training centre for tsunami victims to train in the manufacture of garments. This project includes a Montessori pre-school for the children of employees and runs within strict fair-trade principles.
Who Does CRUF Work With?
CRUF is an independent NGO, and relies on donations from various different funders (too many to mention). Many of these have been business-associates of Gospel House over a number of years, but some have funded projects as a result of seeing the devastation caused by the tsunami.
We are very grateful to all funders for their support in our work.
Facts and Figures