Idea 368 of 500. Cluster 18: Sri Lankans abroad, both directions
Summer schools at home for the teenagers of Sri Lankans abroad: the language, the history, the grandparents
The mechanism, from the book
1.5 million people abroad who know how rich countries work, and who send home money and little else.
Every idea in cluster 18 uses this mechanism.
A first step
Plan a 2-week programme for one summer: language classes in the mornings, visits to heritage sites and a family day with grandparents, with a named guesthouse and a price per child. Send it to three Tamil or Sinhala Saturday schools abroad and ask parents to pay a deposit. The number of deposits tells you whether to book the teachers.
- Who pays first
- Parents abroad whose teenagers cannot speak to their grandparents, who would pay for a supervised fortnight at home that starts to close the gap.
- What leaves today
- The second generation grows up with no tie to the island; a summer school builds the connection that later brings their money, skills and visits home.
The idea and the mechanism are from the book. The first step was written for this site as a suggestion; if you know a better one, say so.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
The only test any idea on this site has to pass. The four rules that go with it are here.
In the book
- Ch. EightWhat It Costs to Go First
What bonds sold to Sri Lankans abroad have and have not done - Ch. SixteenThe Bridge
The institutions that could carry value back
More from cluster 18
- 361A directory of Sri Lankans abroad: who does what, where, and what they will help with, verified
- 362Return-relocation services: the school, the house, the car, the tax, in one package
- 363Sri Lanka House in London, Melbourne and Toronto: a shop, a café and a desk, the Colombo model abroad
- 364Money-transfer products that buy a specific thing at home, a course, a machine, a roof, rather than cash
- 365Investment clubs of Sri Lankans abroad that own one business each at home, with a manager on the ground
- 366Import agencies in each city with a Sri Lankan community, stocking Sri Lankan brands and nothing else
Idea 368 of the 500 in the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? Every one can be started by one person, one family or one small firm.