SihaDerana: Sri Lanka and Theravada Buddhism - Operating Guidelines
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We firmly believe that every single individual can help, even in their own small way, to form an unstoppable force for a brighter more prosperous future in Sri Lanka.

Operating Guidelines

The information below is provided to offer insight into the guidelines we operate under.

If you wish to receive more information on any of the items below or have any questions relating to our operating guidelines, please feel free to contact us directly here. We would be happy to answer your questions.

SihaDerana, being a charitable institution operating internationally must conform to the strictest of standards expected of such. Following are some procedures put in place initially to guide any and everyone associated with any of SihaDerana’s operations.

SihaDerana being in a position of managing its finances, could be expected to be the object of attention of many a person whose interests would be self-serving and who would try to partake in some of that money or other services for purposes contrary to those of SihaDerana.

When any situation arises which could cause a problem for any of SihaDerana’s operational units, the following course of action must be taken.

    Our principles,

    • We do not discriminate on any grounds whatsoever (race, religion, gender, age, or any other point).
    • We are not affiliated to any political party, individual or group.
    • We do not participate in public debates. These are for people who want to do everything and view everything, from their mouths. We believe in action. We do not believe in actions such as growing paddy with your mouth.
    • We do need a large amount of funds to effectively carry out our planned activities.
    • We do welcome contributions. But we do not depend on them from any individual, group or organization. The contributor should also be aware that the act of giving such a gift (financial or otherwise), will not provide access to influence or manage the operations of SihaDerana.
    • We provide information which is to the best of our ability, 100% true, accurate and unbiased.
    • Our financial records are completely transparent (visible to anyone who desires such information).
    • SihaDerana does not exist for personal gain of anyone. Our retained personnel receive a fair and just remuneration for the work or power that they undertake. There are no additional benefits given to any individual person. All donations are used strictly for the purposes outlined on our website.
  1. Way to solving problems facing SihaDerana, or any of its Avatars:
    • Do not pre-judge any situation before it arises.
    • Each situation must be treated as an individual event.
    • Alert relevant staff for further occurrences of any problematic situations, as relevant. And be Vigilant.
    • Write down a report detailing the problem, exactly and truthfully with all known details of what happened, what triggered it and why. Get a monitoring number from the system and assign it to the report.
    • Wait for some time to pass, possibly a day or so (this naturally depends on the urgency and the severity of the resultant effect). Re-examine what was written down for accuracy and relevance, taking out any emotional remarks and decisions.
    • Enter the written report onto the “system list for the Panel of Advisors” – the Sangha Mandalaya – සංඝ මණඩලය. (Note: This method is also meant to act as direct feedback to the advisors on the state of the institutions.)
    • Be patient and kind. Do not initiate any controls except those recommended in the operational procedures. Any new controls you introduce could adversely affect the nature of SihaDerana. This would in effect become sort of a “punishing the innocent” act.
    • The panel will inform you of its decisions and the next course of action to be taken if any.
  2. The panel will decide what course of action is to be taken, the decision being made on the basis of SihaDerana’s operational principles and guidelines. If any action is necessary, the Panel will direct the “Head of SihaDerana” to initiate action as deemed relevant by the panel.
  3. A monitoring system will be put into place soon where, as soon as a report is made a number will be assigned to it with the number registered in the system and associated to the person filing it. The monitoring system will track all registered items.

    After a pre-specified time, any unresolved items, will be copied to the next higher level of escalation point for their attention. Thus any unresolved reports after a lapse of a pre-specified time will escalate up the responsibility ladder until it is resolved.

    Finally, any open items will get notified to the Head of SihaDerana and the Advisory Panel, along with an analysis showing the efficiency of resolution of problems.

In effect, what we strive for here at SihaDerana is to raise the standards of living in the society. We aim to do this by providing better facilities and services to the community, whilst using these to earn funding for the charity work.

If you feel you have gained some knowledge or otherwise from this website, and if you are interested in finding out more about contributing to help our non-profit charity organization to grow, you can find a further write-up here or you may contribute directly by contacting us here.

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