The Ephraim Foundation
INTERNATIONAL
Empowering Rural Communities in Sri Lanka
A village child already has a seat in a classroom. What she doesn't have is a meal before she sits down, or the paid tutoring that quietly decides who passes the national exams. We run the centre in her village that closes both gaps.
Your Donation Matters
Your Partnership is Key
Your Donation today creates lasting impact for Generations to come
Every Donation provides a way to share hope practically and empower rural communities in Sri Lanka!
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DONATIONS ARE 100% SECURE & TAX DEDUCTIBLE
Services
$10
Once
One child's school supplies for the year — exercise books, pens, pencils and the rest of the list she's expected to bring on day one.
$55
Monthly
A quarter of a village centre. Four people at this level fund one outright.
$222
Monthly
An entire LEAD centre — food, tutoring and a paid local leader for one village.
Our village teachers keep notes on what changes. After the first full year of LEAD classes, they recorded:
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Term test averages rose across the classes — measured by the schools, not by us.
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Students read better, with wider vocabulary and clearer enunciation.
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One girl who had been demoted to grade 2 for not keeping up was promoted back to grade 3 and thriving.
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Shanilka, a grade 11 student, can now work through O-level past papers on his own.
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More than 100 children came to the Children's Day programme at Makandura.
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They learn social emotional learning, character developement, leadership skills. Dio from our INSPIRE classes said, "I'm learning to make good decisions. Just like a compass always points north and helps us find the right direction. We need guidance to make wise choices in life. This lesson taught me the importance of thinking carefully and making good decisions that will lead me toward a better future."
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That's real, and it isn't yet a set of numbers. We're now tracking enrolment, attendance, sessions held and growth screening at every centre, and we'll publish those figures as they accumulate rather than claiming outcomes we haven't measured.
Thank you for partnering with us to reach those in need across the world! We appreciate you so much!
We are intentional in our projects. We know that each dollar represents the hard work and generosity of our partners. We also know your partnership is an investment to be an extension of hope to lift each other up.
The Ephraim Foundation International is able to reach rural impoverished communities through our local communities and partners. They see the needs and know the people as they build relationships and communities of hope.
The name 'Ephraim' means 'to be fruitful'. Your support provides an impact of healing to children and families allowing them to be fruitful, empowered, encouraged, equipped and inspired.
Four people keep a village open.
A LEAD centre costs $222 a month to run. Food, tutoring, and a paid Community Leader from that village, every session, all year.
That's four people giving $55 a month. Not four hundred. Four.
We don't need a crowd — we need four steady people per village, because a centre that closes in June helped no one. If you're deciding between giving once and giving monthly, give monthly and give less. It's worth more to us than the larger one-time gift.
Making an Impact
Join with us to impact lives across the world!
The Ephraim Foundation International is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Federal ID #86-3290387.
All donations in the United States are tax-deductible in full or part. No goods or services are provided in return for donations.
LEAD
We're small. That's the argument, not the apology.
In 2025 we operated on roughly $17,000, given by thirteen people. That's the honest scale of this.
It means your gift isn't absorbed into an overhead line you'll never see. Four monthly donors are the literal difference between a village centre being open or closed this year. At a larger organisation, $55 a month is a rounding error. Here, it's a quarter of a village.
It also means we work through people already on the ground. Every centre is staffed by Community Leaders from that village, on a stipend — so your gift both runs the programme and puts a paid job into a rural economy. Nothing pauses when an American team flies home, because none of it ever depended on one arriving.
Where the money actually goes
Funds are converted to Sri Lankan rupees and sent to the Community Leaders who run each centre. They buy food and learning materials locally — cheaper than importing, and it keeps the money circulating in the same village that the programme serves.
Five villages currently: Makandura, Badalgama, Kuliyapitiya, Gunepolla Estate, and Matale.
FAQ
OTHER WAYS TO HELP
Is my gift tax-deductible? Yes. The Ephraim Foundation International, Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Federal ID #86-3290387. Donations in the United States are tax-deductible in full or part, and no goods or services are provided in return.
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Can I give to one specific village? Yes — note the village when you give and we'll direct it there. If you'd rather we place it where it's most needed that month, leave it unrestricted. That flexibility is genuinely useful to us.
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Can I cancel a monthly gift? Any time. We'd rather you start small and stay than commit to more than fits and stop.
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Can I see how the money was spent? Yes. Email admin@ephraimfoundation.org and we'll show you what we have. We'd rather answer a hard question than have you wonder.
Not ready to give? These help too.
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Shop the store. Batik purses and tie-dye pieces handmade by artisans in our INSPIRE programme. Slower than a donation, and it comes with something you can hold.
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Sign up for the newsletter. One email a month: what the centres did, what it cost, what changed.
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Tell four people. That's not a throwaway line on this page — it's the exact number that opens a village.