Established in 1977, the Overseas Children’s Aid Association (OCAA) has been supporting under-privileged children in Sri-Lanka for over 35 years.

OCAA lends its support to Homes which provide food, shelter, medical attention, clothing and education to under-privileged children of any age, race and gender.

Our aim is to help those children to grow in a protective environment.

Based in Adelaide, OCAA has deliberately remained a small charity so that it can continue to be run entirely by volunteers.  This allows OCAA to maintain a low cost structure - ensuring that 100% of all funding reaches the children.

Running OCAA

The monthly contributions from sponsors are paid in full to the Homes for day to day living expenses for the children.

OCAA’s running costs such as postage, stationery and printing, come from other fund-raising events held throughout the year, and of course, we have no labor costs.

When we have raised sufficient money from other fund raising events, OCAA is sometimes able to help with larger projects such as extensions or renovations to the homes or refurbishing household items.

How does OCAA help?

OCAA supports four children's aid facilities (the Homes) in Sri Lanka.

Three of the homes are located in or near the capital city of Colombo:

• ACCC Child Development Center,
• SOS Children's Village International, and
• Sangamitta Girls' Orphanage.

The fourth home is located at Trincomalee, on the North East coast of the island.  This is an area that was particularly devastated by ethnic fighting for over 15 years of civil war.

Sponsorship payments are spent on ongoing needs such as providing regular meals, clothing and bedding for the Home of the sponsored child.

Each Christmas season, sponsors can give their loved ones Pay-it-Forward cards where the money normally spent on a gift is used instead to provide little extras to the Homes, such as school bags, art supplies, medication or the cost of transportation to school.

One-off donations can be put towards a specific project like much needed renovations in one of the homes, or the provision of playground equipment.