The festival of Vesak
The Buddhist communities in Sri Lanka have been celebrating the festival of Vesak over the last two days.
Naomi Booth :: Tuesday 17th May 2022 :: This Story
Vesak is one of the most important Buddhist festivals. It is also known as Wesak or Buddha Day. It is a celebration of Buddha's birthday and, for some Buddhists, marks his enlightenment (when he discovered life's meaning). It is also a time to reflect on his teachings and what it means to be Buddhist.
In Sri Lanka Buddhists decorate their houses and public places with colourful lanterns called Vesak koodu are hung along streets and in front of homes and arrange for various cultural events to bring happiness to everyone on that day.
Local businesses...
Chat to us!
Naomi Booth :: Tuesday 3rd May 2022 :: This Story
Dilanee met up with Melanie Huttunen and Roshanie to chat about our work and how local Sri Lankan people may be able to add their support.
Contact us if you'd like to know more about it, or you think your business could work with us to empower children through education.
To the countryside
to see...
Naomi Booth :: Friday 29th April 2022 :: This Story
The team travelled for over an hour with our star driver, Sudha. Miles and miles of countryside with no people in sight, until finally in the distance there was a small building with blue shapes. The blue shapes turned out to be 37 small preschool children waiting to greet the team with flower garlands.
The team were reminded of the power of our work, reaching out to forgotten villages and giving children the best possible start to their education journey.
The building was too small for all the children so they sat on mats outside. They read stories, sang the hokey Cokey, blew bubbles, drank Milo and had an amazing morning with a truly inspirational community.
The breakfast project makes sure the children have one nutritional meal per day. Seeing the children's faces light up when they were given a teddy to take home was a moment to treasure - another community grateful for our visit and the support of OST.
Chenkallady 2 preschool
Welcoming the new students and to say goodbye to the older students
Naomi Booth :: Wednesday 27th April 2022 :: This Story






Mahadeva Children's Home
and the 2 preschools in the local community
Naomi Booth :: Sunday 24th April 2022 :: This Story





Batticaloa to Trincomalee
and then onto Killinochchi
Naomi Booth :: Friday 22nd April 2022 :: This Story






Starting back at pre-school
After a few days off for the Sinhalese and Tamil New Year celebrations, Poya and Easter, all of our preschools started back today.
Naomi Booth :: Monday 18th April 2022 :: This Story
The Ocean Stars Lanka team and Dilanee were back visiting preschools. In 2022 the charity took on 5 new preschools to support and today's visit was to one of them.
Situated in a remote village in the middle of nowhere, all the parents are daily wage earners whose livelihoods are lost whenever there is a crisis in Sri Lanka. The village elders came to meet the team and were very grateful for our support to their forgotten children.
The team read books, sang and danced to the Hokey Cokey, chased bubbles, cuddled new teddies, drank Milo and ate biscuits. Toothbrushes and toothpaste had been donated by UK donors. Knowing they had brought laughter and joy to the children, the team left after a very happy and hot morning.
School Partnership
with Royal Hospital School (RHS) in Ipswich
Naomi Booth :: Monday 11th April 2022 :: This Story






The Ocean Stars gift catalogue...
...provides our communities with gifts that are sometimes essential but are not affordable for most of our families.
Naomi Booth :: Sunday 10th April 2022 :: This Story
We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has purchased a gift from our catalogue over the past year.
John, Dilanee and the OSL team have spent the last few days distributing gifts, which to some are life-changing. Shoes, dictionaries, stationery sets, educational posters, bicycles, whiteboards, first aid kits, chickens and boats have been handed out.
All the recipients have asked us to thank those who have purchased gifts. If you have a special occasion coming up, please think of donating a gift to our catalogue which can be accessed on our page: https://oceanstars.org.uk/shop/
Thank you!
Meeting the teachers
Dilanee and John met up with our Ocean Stars Lanka teachers for the first time in over 2 years. volunteers visit them soon!
Naomi Booth :: Saturday 9th April 2022 :: This Story
OST supports around 60 teachers by giving them a monthly donation, uniforms, resources and training. In return, we have a team of committed teachers who work under very challenging conditions to deliver a high quality early years education programme to over 1,000 children.
The teachers value the support they receive from our Ocean Stars Lanka preschool manager, Dishanthini, as well as the rest of the team, and the UK OST team. The teachers are looking forward to having UK.