Who are we?
The Debaters' Council of Sri Lanka (
http://thedebaterscouncil.blogspot.com) has selected a delegation consisting of five debaters and one Coach/Chaperone (and one mascot so awesome, he doesn't even need the right flag, Chris) to represent the nation at the World Schools Debating Championships 2015, held in
Singapore from the 27th of July to the 6th of August.
From left to right in that super cool picture up there, the debaters are: Eran Fernando and Amrita Khandpur from Colombo International School, Devin Hewage of S. Thomas' College, Miriam Alphonsus of Methodist College and Sidath Samarasinghe of Royal College.
Those on the team have been recently selected from a pool containing some of the highest ranking speakers in the school level debating circuit, and are individuals who have committed themselves to the task of representing Sri Lanka at the tournament, among more than 50 other nations.
Sadly, commitment and training alone won't get the team to Singapore. We've launched this campaign to raise the funds we need to send the team for the tournament, as efforts at securing local (government or private) sponsorship have not been productive so far.
What we need and why
We need to raise the funds necessary to cover the cost of the registrations of the delegation, which comes to S$1,150 per person, which is equivalent to about 835 US Dollars or about 111,000 Sri Lanka Rupees. (http://www.wsdc2015.org/registration.html)
Since there are 6 of us, the registration fees come to a grand total of about 5010 dollars, not including airfare, which the team has decided to pay for on its own as it would be inconsiderate to rely entirely on external support. The $5500 goal is to cover the fees levied through Indiegogo itself.
For now, the plan is for the delegates to provide the necessary funds through any means necessary as there is a deadline that must be met to assure the registration of the team, and then they will be reimbursed from the funds raised.
Every cent raised beyond our goal will go towards funding next year's team, which will be going to Stuttgart, Germany.
Why this is important
English debate is, naturally, not the biggest field in our nation or the world, but it acts as a medium to propagate critical thinking, discourse and resolution of issues amongst those who are involved in it, unlike any other.
Events like the World Schools Debating Championships serve to propagate English debate across the world, and the more teams take part, the greater the effect is; the delegations take what they learn and experience at the tournament, back to their home nations to be spread in their local circuits.
The people who attend these tournaments and the people in their local circuits will be amongst the individuals tackling the world's issues, either now or later in life. By supporting at least one team (and we urge you to support as many as possible), you are making an immeasurable contribution.
Other Ways You Can Help
We understand that some of you can't contribute financially, but that doesn't mean you can't help!
- Get the word out to your friends and let them know what they can do.
- Use the Indiegogo share tools!
Thank you so much for helping us out - you've gotten us that much closer to getting to the tournament!