Pahansila was founded on the belief that every talented child deserves access to quality education, regardless of economic circumstances. We provide comprehensive scholarship support to students from Grade 1 through university level across Sri Lanka.
We are a U.S.-registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN: 20-3642201), committed to the highest standards of transparency and accountability. 100% of all donations go directly toward supporting students and advancing educational opportunities.
Donations made by eligible U.S. taxpayers are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
From casual conversations among the Sri Lankans living in North America we realized there are several who are assisting young children in Sri Lanka in their education. However, a main obstacle for their efforts was that they found it difficult to coordinate the details in Sri Lanka. Moreover, given the fluidity and financial capacity of most of them being graduate students, we realized it is worthwhile to plan for a longer time span as a group. Initially we attempted to go through established sponsor programs but were not satisfied with their responses. As a result, Sri Lankan Society (SLS) at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) ventured out with its own Scholarship Project. From the initial search, SLS identified two candidates from the list of dependents maintained by the Prison Welfare Committee at Bogambara prison. In December 2002, then president of UIUC-SLS met with the Superintendent of Prisons, Asst. Superintendent and welfare officer at Bogambara Prison, and with the fathers (inmates) of the students. Arrangements were made for the welfare officer to provide some monitoring of the students with input from the respective school officials.
The response from the Sri Lankan community across North America and the generosity of our donors from around the world have been truly heartwarming. Thanks to their continued support and generous contributions over the years, Pahansila has provided educational assistance to over thousand students to date.
The literal meaning of the word Pahansila is the flame of the lamp; "pahana" in Sinhalese means the lamp and "sila" means the flame. The choice of the name is more about the cultural perception of what it means than its literal meaning. In Sri Lankan culture, light symbolizes knowledge and the darkness, the lack of it. The goal of the Pahansila Scholarship Project is to help educate Sri Lanka's needy children, hence bringing light into their lives.
Pahansila Scholarship Project is a Not for Profit organization. The sentiments underlying this project could be attributed to essence of gratitude that many of these members shared since they had experienced the gains of a free education system while in Sri Lanka.
At present, Pahansila General Coordinating Committee (PGCC) has obtained the full tax exempt status (Federal and State of California) - 501C(3), from Internal Revenue Services of USA. All other chapters have their own Tax ID and are in the process of getting full tax exempt status.
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