SUMMER PICNIC

The next upcoming event for SLAG is the Summer Picnic!! which was meant to be held earlier than usual, in late June. This however was not realised as we could not secure a suitable location. But, no harm done….it will now be held in late August, which is the usual time the Summer Picnic has always been held. This being said, there will be one big difference. We will be holding traditional Sinhala and Tamil New Year games at the Summer Picnic to make up for not having held New Year celebrations in April. These will consist of games for adults and kids, to name some: coconut scraping, tug-o-war, Kotta pora, lime & spoon race, sack race etc. So, please come prepared to join in the games and fun!! There will of course be a BBQ as well which, as we all know, is one of the main highlights of our Picnic. Admission is free to all current Members and a fee of CHF 10 will be charged for guests. So please do pay the membership fee, if you have not done so yet, to ensure free entrance to the Picnic.

The details of the Summer Picnic are as follows:

Venue : Parc de Jonc (Chemin du Jonc, Grand Saconnex)
Date and Time : Sunday, 26^th August 2007 from 10am

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FUNDRAISING EVENTS

SLAG has so far held three fundraising events for the year 2007. They were food stalls held at ‘Fete des Rues ‘ events in various Communes of Geneva and all proved to be a success. The first, was held in Plainpalais on the 12^th of May. The event was from 10am to 10pm and our traditional Sri Lankan rice and curry was in huge demand in spite of many other food stalls being available. The menu was Rice, Chicken Curry, Dhal, Potato Curry, Beans and Papadam. The Sri Lankan Mission as well as many of our Members contributed by food preparation. The next event was at Eaux-Vives on the 26^th and 27^th of May.

The third event was on 16^th-17^th June at Saint-Jean and here also, it was proven that Sri Lankan cuisine was a huge hit, here in Geneva. The major out come of these events of course, were the funds raised, which will be donated to worthy causes and deserving people of Sri Lanka. However, there were other, unforeseen, benefits like the enormous amount of fun we all had handling these stalls and the interaction with the crowd that came. All in all, SLAG can call these events a success. The SLAG Committee extends their deepest gratitude to everyone who helped make these events success. We intend to hold two more such events within this year (please see below for details).

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FORTHCOMING EVENTS

1. The Summer Picnic which as was mentioned earlier, will be held on the last Sunday of this month.
2. The next Sri Lankan food stalls at ‘Fete des Rues’ events will be in Jonction (1st & 2nd September), Paquis (22^nd & 23^rd September), as was done in the first half of this year. As always, SLAG welcomes anyone and everyone interested in helping, whether it is to serve at the stall or to just visit us at the stall. This includes Members and non-members of SLAG. For further details, please contact Chandika – 022 791 2846 / 078 892 3120 or Chandana – 079 484 5964
3. SLAG will organize a talk by Prof Nalaka Mendis (Consultant Psychiatrist) on Mental Health development in
   Sri Lanka: The role of the community during the second half of October, when Prof. Mendis will be visiting Geneva. The talk will be conducted both in English and Sinhalese. Further details will be sent via email. Those of you who do not have valid email addresses are requested to contact Chandika. Those of you who do have valid emails but have not submitted the emails addresses to SLAG are requested to do so by mailing Mayoni at mayoni21@yahoo.com.
4. The Year End Party, which, is another annual event of SLAG will be held on the 1^st December at Avully (same venue as last year). The Committee tried to find a closer place to Geneva for the event without success.

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OBITUARIES

It is with deep sorrow and regret that we inform all our Members and the Sri Lankan community at large, of the following obituaries:

The demise of the loving mother of Mrs Nandini Fonseka. The funeral took place in Kurunegala on the June 22^th 2007. We send our condolences to Nandini, Kamal and their family members in Sri Lanka.

The demise of the loving mother of Mr S.I.M. Jefferee and Mr S.I.M. Akram. The funeral took place in Kolonnawa on the 28^th June 2007. We send our condolences to Jefferee, Akram and their family members in Sri Lanka.

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