Message from the JHCA Canada president

Dear Members.

Thank you for participating in the poll overwhelmingly and voting for Option 3 to extend the elected term of the Executive Committee (EC) and the President for another 12 months. The majority of the members have sent their message that the ongoing pandemic situation is not favorable to have an in-person election.  As expected, the situation is becoming more dreadful day by day, and your decision to extend the term of the current EC and the President is justified.  We sincerely thank all those 128 members who voted for extending the term by another 12 months.

I and EC members never expected that our elected term of 12 months would be extended for an extended period since the election was held in December 2019. The ongoing pandemic situation did not give us the opportunity to host our Annual Dinner, Tamil Student Examination, and Kalaiarsi. I strongly believe that every member is eagerly waiting for these events for the last two (2) years.

We have managed to host our Annual Picnic Day in the summer when the lockdown was relaxed by the Provincial Government. It was a great event that was enjoyed by our members and their families. We acted swiftly to host that event when the lockdown was relaxed. Although we could not host our regular annual events during the last two years, EC committee members were involved in the fundraising to support our school and our people in our homeland during this unprecedented time.

We raised over $30,000 and added another $10,000 from our annual membership reserve fund and remitted over $40,000 to the school to support the smartboard project and the Jaffna Hospital. It was crucial for our school to continuously provide education to the students during the pandemic. When our school principal approached us for the smart board project funding, our members unconditionally supported our fundraising effort. It was a milestone in our recent history that a significant amount of money was given to the school for projects and every member should be proud of it.

The smartboard project was very successful and our school was leading in online education in the Jaffna Peninsula. Our school online program was open to all the students in the country. It provided the opportunity to learn and experience the education at our school for many school children who were studying in other schools. Today, Jaffna Hindu College is standing tall and proud for its achievement and responded to the unprecedented challenges when the pandemic recks the education of young children in our homeland.On behalf of the committee, I am thankful for the members who made the finical contributions during the last two (2) years. I and our committee members will continue the good work for the next 12 months. We need your support to succeed in every effort and task that we plan to execute for the next 12 months.

Safe and Happy Holidays!