After assisting a fishing community at Balapitiya during the first year following formation, the trustees of the charity felt that it would be fairer to concentrate our efforts on community projects. This would effectively spread the aid further by virtue of the numbers we are able to help as well as extend the timeframe, as the aid provided would be available for future beneficiaries. We have concentrated our efforts in restoring a rural school that had been used as a refugee camp and assisting a home for the disabled during several projects being delivered by others.
Houses at the fishing community at Brahmanwatta in Balapitiya
Our first project in Sri Lanka was to rebuild seven completely damaged houses and repair several other severely damaged dwellings in the fishing hamlet of Brahmanwatta, a coastal community in Balapitiya. By employing a direct workforce, by buying materials locally and with the help of the local community, we were able to provide much-needed homes for numerous displaced families. We are pleased to confirm that this project has now been successfully completed. More in News and Events.
The Sumana Vidalaya School in Kulleegoda Sri Lanka
The school, although not damaged by the tsunami, was used for about six months as a refugee camp for displaced fishing families who lived near the sea. During this time it sustained significant damage to its fixtures and fittings. The school provides co-educational teaching to 850 children between the ages of 5 and 18 and has around 50 teaching staff. The school had no drinking water, only four toilets, a lethal electrical installation and numerous health and safety hazards. The total absence of any security measures resulted in the theft of anything with any value left unattended overnight.
Having carried out a full evaluation, we set about putting matters right and one year later we are happy to confirm that we have completely rewired the school, providing new safe lighting and power and numerous fans to cool the children working in the equatorial sun.
We have also constructed a new toilet block for the girls comprising 12 new closets; provided a bore hole and tube well which provides clean potable water on the site for the first time in 40 years; installed security grilles and doors to all classrooms which are now locked at night keeping the school’s equipment secure. We also provided new guardrails and balustrades where we identified dangerous fall and trip hazards and finished off with some new front gates to keep out unauthorised personnel. We have nearly finished this project, having obtained locally manufactured desks, chairs and benches for the infants, juniors, seniors and teachers and painted the entire facility inside and out to create a bright and welcoming environment for the children. We also intend to provide some play equipment for the younger ones. More in News and Events
The Sambodhi Home in Galle
This specialist home for both physically and mentally disabled children and adults in Galle was severely damaged due to its proximity to the sea resulting in the death of 40 patients. We have been assisting the home with advice on health and safety and on occasion provided security measures and food when vital supplies had not arrived. Fortunately the home has received aid from several international NGO’s and we consequently are now focusing on other projects in the area. More in News and Events.
