All Projects/Year/2014

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Improvement of e-Learning Facilities and Soft Skills of the Students of Children’s Home

Project Number NF/PG/2014/0008 Grant Agency / Donors Ratnam Foundation, UK,Hindu Board Children Home Project Owner Seran Sivananthamoorthy
Project Mentor Seran Sivananthamoorthy Project Locations Jaffna Project Period 2014 April – 2014 December
Stakeholders Various Stakeholders, Volunteers of the Noolaham Foundation

TheImprovement of e-Learning Facilities and Soft Skills of the Students of Children’s Home project is to increase the capacity of 50 school going children in Hindu Board Children Home on their soft skills, general knowledge, and leadership. Other objective of the project is to introduce and help them familiarize to Moodle based interactive virtual learning system and digitize, archive education related document and conducting promotion activities for improving the learning facilities for the children home’s students. Noolaham Foundation implemented this project in collaboration with Hindu Board Children Home (HBCH), Thirunelvely, Jaffna.

During the project period twenty three training sessions were conducted. Each training session lasted for about three hours. Forty six students and six resource persons participated in these training sessions. The training series included the following: personality traits, social graces, communication, language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that characterize relationships with other people. Soft skills complement hard skills which children are required to develop in order to increase their employability in the future. They are related to feelings, emotions, insights and IQ.

Further NF’s virtual learning environment program which is called “Pallikoodam" and digital library (noolaham.org) were introduced. Information Literacy training was provided so that they can search, evaluate, obtain and use study materials and other information sources from Noolaham Digital Library, Epallikoodam and the internet.

Unwritten Laws and its influence on community and Human Rights in Jaffna

Project Number NF/PG/2014/0007 Grant Agency / Donors Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust Project Owner Shaseevan Ganeshananthan
Project Mentor Shaseevan Ganeshananthan Project Locations Jaffna Project Period 2014 March - 2014 November
Stakeholders Sector experts, various stakeholders, consortiums, children, youths, women, men and Community Based Organizations(CBOs)

The Unwritten Laws and Practices, their influence on the community and Human Rights in Jaffna project was carried out by Noolaham Foundation with the support of Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust in Jaffna. This project aimed to research on the status of Unwritten Laws and practices among the Jaffna community and to identify their influence on Human Rights at present. Other objectives of the project are to create awareness on this topic among the public, to preserve and document project related materials and to make them available to the wider public.

Almost hundred and twenty unwritten laws, practices and trends were identified, and produced as a research paper in the project period. These unwritten Laws and practices were identified through interactive discussions with experts in the field, community based organizations, consortiums, and beneficiaries, video footages, audio recordings, books, flyers, news from local media, and related photos 30audio recordings and videos from interactive discussions were also documented and preserved. The recorded documents were transcribed. Noolaham Foundation also conducted five factual presentation on the status and influence of unwritten Laws and practices on Human Rights in the targeted community. The targeted community gets clear understanding on the matter and provides a conducive environment for self-resilience. The presentations and discussions created a good avenue for self-understanding and positive social dynamics toward international standards.

Further twenty three project-related books were collected and digitized from repositories and various scholars. The research book and all digitized documents are made available online through Noolaham Foundation’s digital library at www.noolaham.org to multiple users through this project. This digitization has increased the breadth of access that was provided. Use of a digital surrogate may decrease the need to use the original – which may be difficult to access. This project collectively promotes peace, reconciliation and human rights by increasing access to this valuable information and provides an opportunity towards the mission of Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust as well.

Documentation and Information Sharing of Community Medicine Resources

Project Number NF/PG/2014/0006 Grant Agency / Donors Noolaham Foundation Project Owner Shaseevan Ganeshananthan
Project Mentor Shaseevan Ganeshananthan Project Locations Jaffna Project Period 2014 February - 2014 November
Stakeholders Department of Community & Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna. (DCM), Volunteers of Noolaham Foundation

The Documentation and Information Sharing of Community Medicine Resources Project was carried out by Noolaham Foundation in 2014 to digitize the publications and collections of the Department of Community & Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna. It was a collection development project undertaken by Noolaham Foundation in collaboration with another organization. Documentation, preservation and dissemination of community related medical books and other publications was the main aim of the project.

Through this project Noolaham Foundation has digitized 326 documents and made them available on its Digital Library (www.noolaham.org). The digitized publications include documents related to disease prevention and control, Siddha Medicine books, handbooks, statistics, annual reports of family health, administration reports, annual surveys, working papers, situation analysis papers, bulletins, monographs, magazines, journals and newsletters. These documents are available for free access and could be downloaded in the user-friendly interface of Noolaham Foundation’s Digital Library and most of the knowledge seekers and relevant stakeholders will have easy access to these services.

Noolaham Foundation strongly believes that this project has added substantial reference resources covering healthy lifestyle, health education, disease prevention, injuries management, and first aid. Thus this collection will immensely benefit the communities in the years to come.

Sharing and Documenting Traditional and Religious Norms of Sri Lankan Tamil Communities

Project Number NF/PG/2014/0005 Grant Agency / Donors Norway Tamil Sangam Project Owner Sanjayan Selvamanickam
Project Mentor Shaseevan Ganeshananthan Project Locations Colombo Project Period 2014
Stakeholders Norway Tamil Sangam , Batticaloa Theatre Lab and STA Solidarity Foundation, Sri Lanka

The project of ‘Sharing and Documenting Traditional and Religious Norms of the Sri Lankan Tamil Community’ is a common platform for the integration of Tamil speaking communities from different backgrounds in Sri Lanka. Hence, Noolaham Foundation has identified Koothu (melodrama) as a one of the traditional tools that share some common values. Then Noolaham Foundation and Norway Tamil Sangam, staged ‘Ravanesan Koothu’ in Colombo with the facilitation of Batticaloa Theatre Lab.

The project’s main event ‘Ravanesan Koothu’ was held at the Ramakrishna Mission Hall, Colombo – 06 on 4th January 2014 with more than 800 spectators. The ‘Ravanesan Koothu’ can be viewed as a great honor and a glimpse at our heritage for Tamil speaking communities in Sri Lanka through these treasury performances. The performance was telecasted on Vasantham TV, and a series of special articles were published in the Virakesari weekend edition about ‘Ravanesan Koothu’. This is the first time ‘Ravanesan Koothu’ was telecast on the visual media in Sri Lanka. This online availability of the event will promote the rich heritage of Tamil culture and Tamil language around the world.

Noolaham Foundation believes that this project will develop an exposure for the arts which are being practiced by the Sri Lankan Tamil speaking communities.

Malaiyaham Archive Pilot Project

Project Number NF/PG/2014/0004 Grant Agency / Donors Noolaham Foundation Project Owner Kopinath Thillainathan
Project Mentor Kopinath Thillainathan Project Locations Up-Country Project Period 2013 September - 2014 September
Stakeholders Radhika Thinakaran, Badulla Literary Circle and Up-Country Tamil speaking community, writers and publishers

The Malaiyaham Archive Pilot Project was carried out by Noolaham Foundation during 2013 and 2014 to digitize and preserve the publications of the Malaiyaham Tamil speaking community. It was implemented as a special collection development project of the Noolaham Digital Library. Documentation and digitization of books and publications related to the Malaiyaham Tamil community was an objective of the project as well.

Through this project Noolaham Foundation has digitized 140 documents and made them available on its digital library at www.noolaham.org. The digitized publications include their culture, distinctive history, tradition, political context, religious practices, arts, stories, the schooling system, journals and novels. These documents are available for free access and could be downloaded in the user-friendly interface of Noolaham Foundation’s Digital Library and most of the knowledge seekers and relevant stakeholders will have easy access to these services. A web portal named Noolaham:Malaiyaha_Avanakam (நூலகம்: மலையக ஆவணகம்) was also created. This portal will enable effective and speed searches of the required knowledge.

This project was a successful initiative and received special appreciation from Malaiyaham Tamil writers and publishers. When new documents arrive from the Malaiyaham Tamil community, the documents will be digitized by Noolaham Foundation’s Malaiyaham representative in the future. It will be implemented as part of the Noolaham Foundation’s recurrent Collection Development Project.

Sri Lankan Tamil Who is Who: A Pilot Project

Project Number NF/PG/2014/0003 Grant Agency / Donors Noolaham Foundation Project Owner Kopinath Thillainathan
Project Mentor Kopinath Thillainathan Project Locations Jaffna Project Period 2013 - 2014
Stakeholders Vidivu Australia Limited, Seran Sivananthamoorthy,

The Sri Lankan Tamil Who is Who Pilot Project was carried out by Noolaham to initiate a biographical reference resource about personalities from the Sri Lankan Tamil communities. Even though a small number of biographical dictionaries and family histories exist, there are no comprehensive biographical reference resources about Sri Lankan Tamils. By starting this initiative Noolaham Foundation expects to fill that information gap.

Entries about 612 personalities were created during the project period. Even though the initial target number of entries was not met, Noolaham Foundation successfully tested various strategies to collect information about people and verifying such information. A Mediawiki platform was created to continue updating the ‘who is who’ entries. As a pilot initiative, this project has paved way to create a vast collection of biographical reference resources.

Noolaham Digital Library Collection Development 2014

Project Number NF/PG/2014/0002 Grant Agency / Donors Noolaham Foundation Project Owner Kopinath Thillainathan
Project Mentor Kopinath Thillainathan Project Locations Sri Lanka Project Period 2014
Stakeholders Jothilingam, Paruththiyur Bala Vayiravanathan, Jaffna Public Library

The Noolaham Digital Library Collection Development 2014 project was carried out by Noolaham Foundation in 2014 to strengthen the digital library collection by adding various documents related to the Sri Lankan Tamil speaking communities. Documentation, and preservation and dissemination of these documents were also the objectives of the project. An important advantage of digital conversion is increased accessibility to users. It also increases availability of sources to individuals who may not be traditional patrons of a library, due to geographic location or organizational affiliation.

Through this project NF has digitized 1,278 documents and made them available on its digital library at www.noolaham.org. The documents that are available online from the project, date back to 1969. Many of these documents are out of print and could be the last available copies of the same. Noolaham Foundation will continue to expand and diversify its collections by undertaking further collection development projects as well.

Osai: Jaffna Vembadi Girls' High School Digitization

Project Number NF/PG/2014/0001 Grant Agency / Donors Noolaham Foundation Project Owner Seran Sivananthamoorthy
Project Mentor Seran Sivananthamoorthy Project Locations Jaffna Project Period 2014
Stakeholders Vembadi Girls' High School, Jaffna Vembadi Old Girls' Association (VOGA), Jaffna, Department of Education

The main objective of ‘Osai: Jaffna Vembadi Girls' High School Digitization’ project was collecting, preserving, and disseminating digital copies of the published documents of Vembadi Girls' High School, Jaffna and its community members. This collection includes periodical publications from different years (1956 -2014) and materials such as magazines, newsletters, booklets, reports, souvenirs and felicitation, annual publications, leaflets, memorial publications, monographs and educational materials. It was a collaborative project undertaken by Noolaham Foundation with the help of Vembadi Old Girls' Association (VOGA). This project was aimed to provide open access to and to create global visibility for the institution’s publications and to store and preserve institutional digital assets.

During this project, 73 rare documents were digitized and made available online through Noolaham Foundation’s Digital Library (www.noolaham.org) to the Tamil communities of the entire world. This project was a successful initiative and received special appreciation from the school community and other stakeholders. The digitized documents were published on the 25th of May 2014 at an annual programme of Vembadi Old Girls' Association (VOGA) in Jaffna. Noolaham Foundation was honored by VOGA. The documented collections were gifted to the school in the form of DVD and printed hand book so that the school can share this document with their well-wishers, stake holders, and students.