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IDP Emergency Appeal
Communal KitchensEmergency appeal to support people displaced by the fighting in northern Sri Lanka
UPDATE - With Rs. 500,000 in appeal fund donations Sewalanka purchased 2,325 kg green gram, 1,600 kg of Bengal gram and 50 kg of dried chili. These goods will be used by 8 community kitchens to prepare breakfast for 16,000 IDPs in Zone 2 and Zone 4 of Manik Farm.
UPDATE - Sewalanka had constructed 582 toilets, 99 bathing areas, 132 hand washing stations and 120 drinking points in the Vavuniya transit camps. We have also distributed 7,950 hygiene kits with basic toiletry items. We currently have 4 water bowsers bringing 82,500 litres of clean water into the camps each day.
UPDATE - At the end of May, Sewalanka helped transfer and distribute 2 lorry loads of relief items for the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. Water bottles, biscuits and other food items were distributed at the Omanthai crossing point and Manik Farm. Clothing and undergarments were provided for 1,600 IDPs in Andiyapuliyankulam camp. Baby food, biscuits and jam were given to 160 families with babies in Zone 4 of Manik Farm.
UPDATE - Sewalanka has established community kitchens in Poonthotam Camp and Zones 2 and 4 of Manik Farm. The kitchens prepare 3 warm meals a day for people in the transit camps. Dry rations, like rice, lentils and oil, come from the World Food Program. Complementary food items, like vegetables, proteins and spices, are purchased with support from Welthungerhilfe, Norwegian Refugee Council, International Rescue Committee, CARE international, Nippon Foundation and our emergency appeal fund. We need your support to continue this program. These community kitchens feed nearly 20,000 people per day. A special kitchen has been established for 330 orphans in Manik Farm.
UPDATE - From May 17-22, 2009 Sewalanka worked with the WFP and security forces to feed internally displaced people (IDPs) as they arrived at the Omanthai check point. For many people, this was their first meal in days. We served 166,704 fresh cooked meals from the Omanthai temporary kitchens with support from ECHO. Between January and mid-May, we provided 392,226 cooked food parcels to people in the Vavuniya transit camps.
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Who We Are
"If you give me a fish, you have fed me for a day. If you teach me to fish, you have fed me until the water is polluted and the beach is taken for hotel development.
But if you teach me to organize, then whatever the challenge, I can join together with my community and we will develop our own solution."
Sewalanka Foundation is a Sri Lankan development organization that enhances the capacity of disadvantaged rural communities to identify and address their own development needs. Through our own professionals and our links with other service providers, we coordinate training and support services that contribute to the economically viable, socially just and ecologically sustainable development of Sri Lanka.
Sewalanka, a registered non-profit, works with two "daughter organizations" to provide an integrated and complementary package of services. Sewa Finance is a registered microfinance institution that provides financial services to community organizations and rural entrepreneurs. Sewa Economic Development Company (SEDCO) is a social enterprise that focuses on fair trade, value chain investments and enterprise development services.
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Brick makingAnanda, a brick-maker from the Hambantota district in Sri Lanka's Southern province, has been making mud bricks for five years in the employment of a brick manufacturer in the area. This father of two longed to start his own business but couldn't produce at the quantity and price of other established brickmakers. Today, he brings in a healthy income for his family and has one employee.
Read how Sewalanka helped make it possible.
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