Building A Future Foundation tested a new fishing craft with sail.

Recently Building A Future Foundation tested a new fishing craft with sail. At the moment huge fuel cost affects negatively the Sri Lankan fishery industry. As the result of high fuel price, fish prices are increasing day by day. Building a Future Foundation installed a sail system on an existing popular type of fishing boat in Sri Lanka of 19 feet long. With this sail BAFF hopes to reduce the fuel consumption of the outboard engine. Furthermore the introduction of sails will also help to protect the environment. BAFF will introduce this fishing craft to the fishing community after completing the testing.

BAF at Sri Lankas Boat Show 2008

From the 8th of June 2008 until the 10th of June 2008 the first Boat Show ever in Sri Lanka was held at the BMICH exhibition hall. Multiple boat builders in Sri Lanka participated at the event and so did Building a Future Foundation with its boatbuilding and sail making unit.

A stall inside displayed the products that our trainees are making and commercializing. Among those are the optimist boat, ideal for children to learn sailing, the racer boat, a type of laser for leisure sailing and the canoe. Outside you could see our 18feet catamaran with sails manufactured by our trainees.

Overall the Boat Show was a success with plenty of interested visitors and Building a Future Foundation is already looking forward to the second Boat Show in Sri Lanka next year!!!

Storm hits the coastal area of Mirissa

April4, 2008 early morning, a powerful storm hit the coastal area of Mirissa, which damaged eight fishing boats.

The Building a Future Foundation assisted the boats owners to lift the boats and engines from the water.

All the boat owners thanked the Building a Future Foundation for this great assistance extended to them.

One of the boat owners is Mr. P.H.Chaminda from Mirissa, he had the following to say: “Actually, we faced a big problem at that time, because we don’t have any equipment or facilities to remove our boats and engines from the water. In this hour of need we requested help from the Building a Future Foundation and they agreed to help us. I am thanking the Building a Future Foundation on behalf of all the other boat owners.”

BAFF stall at the Deyata Kirula exhibition at BMICH

“Deyata Kirula” is Sri Lanka’s major annual exposition that intendeds to showcase the country to the world as a promising destination for investment.

The “Deyata Kirula” exposition was visited by over 4 million visitors and gave a comprehensive insight into the advances made in the fields of health, education, hospitality industry, construction, apparel, industry, agriculture and irrigation, transportation, infrastructure development, environment, food and technology by the private and public sectors. It is also a convenient forum to exchange new ideas, exploring investment opportunities and establishing profitable trading and commercial links.

BAF stall display the products and services of Mirissa Water Sport and the mechanical workshop.

Inaugural Ruhunu Sailing Association Regatta February 3, 2008

The mission of the Ruhunu Sailing Association shall be:

• To introduce the sport of sailing to the Ruhuna province and to encourage all young boys & girls, particularly those less privileged, to take to this sport. • To encourage all forms of competitive sailing, motor yachting, racing and cruising. • To provide a suitable club house for the recreation and use of its members and accommodation and anchorage for their boats. • To protect and foster the environment in every way possible and in all of the activities of the Association

The inaugural Ruhunu Sailing Association Regatta took place February 3, 2008 at club house in Pelana, Weligama. A large crowd participated the inaugural Ruhunu Sailing Association regatta.

Following are the trophies awarded at the inaugural Ruhunu Sailing Association regatta:

• Ruhunu Sailing Association Trophies

Optimist classes – 1st place & 2nd place Best Ruhunu Sailing Association Optimist sailor

Lasers classes – 1st place & 2nd place Best Ruhunu Sailing Association Laser sailor

GP14 classes – 1st place & 2nd place

• RCYC Barker Bowl Trophies

Optimist classes – 1st place, 2nd place & 3rd place

Best Ruhunu Sailing Association Optimist sailor Lasers classes - 1st place, 2nd place & 3rd place Best Ruhunu Sailing Association Laser sailor

GP 14 classes – 1st place & 2nd place

• CMYC Trophies

Optimist classes - 1st place & 2nd place Best Ruhunu Sailing Association Optimist sailor

BAF participates in 11th Inter – Island Tourism Policy Forum – 2007

The Building a Future Foundation participated in the 11th Inter-Island Tourism Policy Forum – 2007 Southern Province – Sri Lanka held November 6, 2007 at Taj Exotica hotel in Bentota.

Main objective of Inter-Island Tourism Policy Forum is promoting the tourism in general and is organised annually. In total 10 island-countries are member of Inter-Island Tourism Policy Forum.

Minister of Tourism, Chairman of Tourist board and Southern Province Governor were present.

Mr. Pradip Jayawardena, BAF trustee, gave a presentation on the activities of the foundation, which it undertakes in the field of tourism and water based leisure.

Sailmaking

While the 13 trainees are being trained at an established sail manufacturing company in Sri Lanka, Aquadynamics, some of them started the modifications of the building in the beginning of July 2007.

On the 22nd of October the special sewing machines arrive in Sri Lanka and the youth are excited to start working on those in their own premise.

Today the building modifications are almost finished and the wooden platform needed to manufacture sails is constructed and installed.

Mirissa Water Sports:

During the low tourists season, the 11 partners and trainees of the MWS, the first spin off of the Building A Future Foundation, know how to occupy their time in a useful and productive manner to get ready for the new season starting in November and to keep generating revenue for themselves. To do that they are currently building a new river boat with 6 seats for rides on the beautiful Polwatta river, 2 canoes for a client and 11 optimists boats for the Ruhuna Sailing Association, which gives sailing classes for young boys and girls. Here you can see the finishing of the riverboat and of the 2 canoes.

For the optimists a new mould needed to be made before starting the actual construction of the boats.

New entity for established workshops

From the 16 youths who followed a training programme of one year and a half in electrical and mechanical engineering, 8 decided to join into a new legal entity, named partnership. The other 8 trainees preferred to extend their training period for 3 months in order to be confident enough to join the partnership or start independently.

For this purpose, new workshops - mechanical, polyurethane and aluminium - have been installed within BAF premises. Machines have already been shifted from the training workshop to the new industrial workshop to allow those 16 skilled trainees to work on orders they receive from the Loadstar factory located in the area. Several new machines will be purchased to allow the skilled youths to perform more specific and higher quality jobs.

The industrial workshops are put in place with the financial support of the Belgian Government.

Opening sail making facility

After one year and a half of training at a sail making factory in Negombo, Aquadynamics, and after the construction of their sail making facility, 14 youth were very happy to celebrate the opening of this sail making unit on the 30^th of October 2007.

Following the tradition, milk was boiled for good luck before starting operations. In order to make a sail different stages have to be gone through; first the cloth needs to be cut according to the patterns, than the different parts are stuck together to facilitate stitching.

After stitching with specific machines, finishing is done by hand, eyelets are placed,… For these actions our sail making facility is equipped with all the necessary machines, tools and materials: 8 sewing machines, 1 cutting table, 1 sticking table, a special wooden floor, punching whole tool, …

During that day, the team of the Building a Future Foundation was happy to welcome 57 Belgians who were in Sri Lanka to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of UTP, a company based in Katunayake. For this occasion, the visitors generously donated some funds to the Foundation for the project “Developing sailing skills at grass root level for young boys and girls of the southern coast affected by the tsunami”.

Sashimi boat completed 1^st testing fishing trip

The Sashimi boat started its 1^st testing fishing trip October 10, 2007 from Tangalle fisheries harbour.

During seven days the crew stayed at sea and caught fish after which they returned to Tangalle fisheries harbour. The Sashimi boat crew consisted of a skipper and four other crew members.

Skipper briefly gave some more details:

"I'm Sujeeth Kumara and 32 years old and I come from Kudawella a fishing village. I have been going out at sea for the last 15 years. The first Sashimi testing trip we were at sea during 7 days and caught some fish as well."

New batch of trainees for workshops:

Following its objective of providing training and employment to 180 youths on a period of three years, the Foundation newly recruited a new mechanical batch of 15 trainees aged between 18 and 25 years old to follow training in electrical and mechanical engineering. After passing an interview they have been selected based on their background, education and motivation.

Before starting the actual training at our premises, in the south of Sri Lanka, they all followed an induction course of 10 days at the company Loadstar. This induction training shows them the advantages of having an employment and wants to motivate them to be eager at learning. Afterwards, September 17 they started the theoretical and practical training at the mechanical and electrical workshop in Building A Future Foundation premises in Palana. After 1 year of training they will be ready to be employed independently or join a partnership.

From the inception of the Foundation onwards, a total of 120 youths already followed training in different areas like boat building, sail making, electrical and mechanical engineering workshops.

12 BAF trainees certified PADI open water divers

12 BAF trainees successfully completed a six month diving training programme conducted by diving instructor Commander Goonatilleka and junior diving instructor Mr. L.L.N.C. Kumara.

After completion of the diving training programme they applied for the open water PADI exam, which they all passed with distinction. The PADI license will guarantee a national and international recognition for BAF diving trainees.

These trainees will receive further training with regard to the underwater works to set up the proposed pontoons for the Mirissa harbour.

The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) is the world’s largest recreational diving membership and diver training organisation founded in 1966 by John Cronin and Ralph Erikson.

PADI operates officers in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Japan, Norway, Sweden the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the United States. The corporate headquarters, PADI worldwide, is located in California, United States of America. PADI officers serve more than 130,000 individual professional members and more than 5300 dive centers and resorts in more than 180 countries and territories.

Business awareness programme for the BAF trainees

Mr. Ruchira Perera (Bsc Accountancy, ACMA, MAAT), Manager strategic planning of Loadstar (Pvt) Ltd., conducted a business awareness programme for BAF trainees. Following topics were discussed:

• Definition of business?
• Business environment: internal environment and external environment.
• Types of business: profit making enterprises ( sole proprietorship , partnership, limited companies and non-profit making entities (clubs and NGOs).
• Aspects of each type of business.
• Advantage of partnerships.
• Need for a partnership agreement.
• Essentials and need for record keeping in the business.
• Importance of retaining by small and medium enterprises.
• Financial management of business: creditor’s management, debtor’s management and inventory management.


This training programme suits in the general development of the BAF trainees in order to open better opportunities on their way to (self) employment.

The Sashimi Boat Prototype was Launched with Success!!!!

On 12th June 2007 the first prototype of the Sashimi project, the Sashimi MK1 “Jayasayura”–Victory of the ocean, was launched successfully first in the bay of Weligama and then officially in the Mirissa harbour. This project has been developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources of the Government of Sri Lanka and Cey–Nor Foundation Ltd and with the financial support of the Government of Belgium.

This innovative, economical and ecological fishing boat prototype designed by the Australian boat designer Jim Wilshire from All Seas is the result of one year intensive work of 15 youths from Mirissa area affected by the tsunami who acquired new skills and abilities under the supervision of the Australian expert boat builder Christopher Bowman. The French Noël Boury also supported the project by sharin its expertise in mast and rigging making.

The Sashimi MK1 was developed with the objective to fight the present over–fishing situation by concentrating on fish reserves more than 200 miles away and by using more ecological sustainable fishing methods. BAFF had the occasion to discuss this specific project with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations that highlighted the problem of over–fishing situation in Sri Lanka few years ago.

Building A Future Foundation was pleased that the Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Hon. Felix Perera and his Ministry, Cey–Nor Foundation Ltd Chairman, Mr. Rohan Jayasinghe and his colleagues and representatives of the Ceylon Fisheries Harbour Corporation actively participated in the event. BAFF also thank representatives of the Deutsche Bank and of the GTZ for being present at the launch.

From this day on, the first Sashimi prototype boat will be thoroughly tested during 3 months, with the support of T Tsunami Trust, before entering the industrialisation phase in collaboration with Cey–Nor Foundation Ltd.

This is a new boat design:
•  with better storing facilities so that the fishermen can go out in the deep sea and   nbsp; return with well preserved fish.
•  with double the speed potential from 6 to 12 knots.
•  with 50% lower energy consumption.
•  suitable for fast trips of 5 to 10 days.
•  reintroducing sails for fishing boats.
•  Better stability
•  Advanced Hull design

The boat specifications are:
•  Length: 13 metres
•  Width: 5 metres
•  Weight: 5 tons
•  Motortype: Inboard, Mitsubishi 85 hp, diesel
•  Three sails
•  Harbor based
•  4 sleeping places, 1toilet, 1 cooking area

A New Beginning: Ruhuna Sailing Association

The first class of the Ruhuna Sailing Association began on 17 February 2007 with one time winner of the Asian Games in enterprises, Mr. W.P.K. Janaka as senior instructor. There are thirty, 12-16 year old boys in this class learning rules of engagement and priorities at sea in regatta sailing. BAFF plans to generate local interest in sailing by training 300 youths on the Southern coast of Sri Lanka within the next two years

Official Creation of The Ruhuna Sailing Association

The inaugural meeting of the Ruhuna Sailing Association was held the 16th of March 2007 with the 1st committee meeting directly following where officers were elected, a constitution was declared, and members were officially affiliated.

The 1st objective of this association is to develop the sailing sport at grass root level to benefit the young boys and girls affected by the tsunami on the south coast of Sri Lanka in order to develop in them a passion for this sport giving them the guidelines, character, and discipline to build their own future in what ever way.

The 2nd objective is to make them aware of the marine treasures of the seas and shores around Sri Lanka and to make them understand and actively participate in the conservation of these resources and the creative development of it and for the youth to transfer this care and concern to their fathers who are mostly fisherman and have not heard about these concepts earlier.

And thirdly to make their fathers aware of the value of reintroducing sail power as a part of an ecological friendly and economical approach for fishing.

The official launch of the Ruhunu Sailing Association was held in the Welligama Bay the third weekend of March 2007 with the active participation of 30 youths. Sail racing and the rules will be taught and regular performance discussions will be held in order to develop skilled sailors capable of participating in international events through the Yachting Association of Sri Lanka (YASL).

BAFF Trainees

The objective of the Building A Future Foundation is to provide training to 180 youths from the Tsunami affected South Coast of Sri Lanka and create employment for all of them on a period of 3 years. To date (April 2007) a total of 71 trainees have joined BAF Foundation.

1. Mirissa Water Sports
The first success of BAFF was achieved through the creation of the MWS on 17th December 2005.
After completing a specific training program of 4 months including first aid, fire fighting, security at sea, swimming, sailing, English, IT and customer care, 11 youths started activities at MWS. They were supported by BAFF who provided the necessary infrastructure and assisted them to organize themselves in cooperatives or partnerships. They offer many activities for local and foreign tourists such as sport fishing, sailing, coastal cruises, snorkeling, canoeing and river trips. At the beginning they were financially supported by BAFF, but one year later it is clear that they will soon become self-sufficient.

Mirissa Water Sports (MWS) appeared in the January/February 2007 issue of the Serendib, The Magazine of SriLankan Airlines. The article displayed colorful pictures and inviting descriptions of the wildlife and boating excursions available at MWS as well as pricing and contact information for interested tourists. The write-up ensuring professionalism and success brought excitement to the 6 partners and 5 trainees of Mirissa Water Sports and to everyone at BAFF.

More information:

Deutsche Bank Visit

Thursday 7th March 2007, the representatives of Building a Future Foundation (BAF) met with Mr. Stephan Mahrdt, Chief Country Officer of Deutsche Bank A.G. and Honorary Representative of the City of Hamburg. Mr. Mahrdt and his assistant Shaaz Mohamed joined BAFF for a tour of the project sites as well as the housing schemes completed by the SLRT.

This visit allowed Mr. Mahrdt to observe the equipment and materials funded by Deutsche Bank, the first of which was a second hand barge purchased in France and shipped to Sri Lanka in several sections. The local engineering trainees are nearing completion on the overall refurbishment and reassembly of this barge, essential for the construction of the fixed timber decked pontoons and 40 mooring spaces planned for Mirissa Harbor.

BAFF is in discussion with the Ceylon Fisheries and Harbor Corporation (CFHC) to define and finalize a Memorandum of Understanding, construction will begin once the proper approvals are obtained.

The Deutsche Bank will also fund a compressor necessary to embed the piles into the sea floor. Rope, masks, fins, and other diving equipment were also purchased thanks to the donations of the Deutsche bank. This diving equipment has been used for the training of 8 boys in underwater works and will be used daily with construction of the pontoon and mooring project beginning soon.

The BAF Foundation would like to thank Deutsche Bank and Mr. Mahrdt for the visit and the contributions necessary for the framework of the new Mirissa Marina to begin.

Beneteau Visit

Wednesday February 28, 2007 the BAF Foundation met with Frenchmen Andre-Patrick Beneteau and Andre Buchou of CNB Groupebeneteau, the largest sailboat and fishing manufacturer in the world. Mr. Beneteau and Mr. Buchou met with expert Australian boat builder Mr. Chris Bowman as well as Belgium Consulate Mr. Pierre Pringiers, Dominique Goybet the Project Coordinator, and Dominique Tanghe the Trade Promotions Officer. This meeting was held in the Weligama area for a tour of the SLRT and BAF Foundation's already completed achievements as well as those currently in progress. Mr. Beneteau and Mr. Buchou offered their expertise on many aspects of the projects, namely the construction of the Sashimi boat.

The fabrication of the Sashimi boat has made tremendous headway since it's beginning in May 2006. This first prototype should be ready in May 2007 for 3 months of testing and training in the water. Mr. Beneteau and Mr. Buchou discuss the particulars with Mr. Bowman, offering their know how on the technicalities of engine mechanics. On the spot hand written drafts, computerized blueprints, and the actual full scale engine were used as visual aides in their discussion of such things as barring placements, cooling systems, common repairs, and replacements. These instructions and suggestions are taken with appreciation and much respect, as they are important for the success of the Sashimi against, the sometimes harsh, forces of nature at sea.

Another key to the success of the Sashimi is its ability to store and keep products fresh for a longer period of time. A thorough discussion took place on the required storage areas and procedures such as oxygen levels, temperature control, and product placement. Precision in engine mechanics and product storage is necessary to ensure optimum freshness for a quality product suitable for high-end markets, both local and foreign. The advice given to the BAF Foundation by Mr. Beneteau and Mr. Buchou will not only benefit the Sashimi and the 15 local boys in training but also the area's fishermen and boat builders to come. The technicalities of these discussions will surely contribute to a profitable future for the area's young fishermen as well as new beginnings for Sri Lanka's fishing industry as a whole. The BAF Foundation would like to thank Mr. Beneteau and Mr. Buchou for their input, concern, and visit to the project sites and the tsunami affected areas.