While prepping up for the big day, a few stallholders and charities shared their thoughts with us

SHANG CHENGLIN Chinese Embassy

“It is a very nice to help women, children and those in need during Christmas. Hopefully we will be able to see more of these activities in future”

SAVITA TIWARI International Expatriate Association (IEA)

“The IEA sells Christmas items handmade by our Sewing & Craft Group, packaged foods and crafts from our members’ many home countries, goodies baked by our members and many other unique gifts donated by IEA members. All items are creatively packed by our members using recyclable materials. We use cloth, paper, jute, glass, cellulose cellophane etc. for packing. We are the winners of the ‘Best Stall Award’ for the past three consecutive years. Our stall is unique as members from different nationalities come together and bring out the best through their common interests”

GABRIELLA OZAKI AND MISAKO TAKAMIZAWA Japan

“We have been actively involved in ICCB for a long time. There will be Japanese sweets, souvenirs and many other items. It’s a good idea to have an event such as this during Christmas”

SRIYANI RANASINGHE Russian Embassy

“This is a great way to engage in charity during Christmas. We are hoping to sell Christmas decorations, cards, translated Russian books and Russian delicacies”

NURJAHAN Bangladesh

“This is the first time that I’m getting involved with ICCB and we are selling all jute products this time. These include bags, carpets and different types of items”

AHU EMINE Turkey

“This is the third time that we are participating at ICCB. The Turkey embassy in Sri Lanka is quite new and since we are in Sri Lanka we want to establish good relationships and get involved in more social activities. During our first sale we sold Turkish food which was a bit of hard work and this time we are doing more hand-painted items such as tiles, the blue eyes which is believed to keep evil eyes away. So you can wear them as bracelets, necklaces or hang them anywhere in their houses. We hope everybody enjoys this event and we want to collect as many funds as possible for charity. Last year we gave all funds to a school with differentlyabled children where we gave them a computer and a printer”