Thank you for your support in the last 4 months! As usual, support such as yours is so important for all the children and adults with disabilities who live with us, especially at this time when the economy remains unstable and costs for essential items remain high.
Having essential costs covered by your generous donations gives us space to develop new ideas and plan for the future. Development in agricultural production continues, with efforts to increase and diversify what is grown on the farms – important for the sustainability of Prithipura Communities but also as learning opportunity for young people and paid employment for older people with disabilities. The coffee plantation has recently been developed and there are also plans for growing more cashew and cinnamon. Our rice production also continues to do very well.
Since the beginning of the year, the team at Cotagala School and Asokapura Farm have been considering other options for developing vocational training and their first pilot project has already been a huge success. The team have recently had a food stall on 2 occasions at a well-known food festival in Colombo. The work involved in the lead-up to the food festival as well as the event itself meant that many young people with disabilities were able to develop skills in many areas – food preparation, designing menus, looking at expenses and expected profits, managing the day itself, developing customer service skills and of course importantly, teamwork!
Longer-term, we want to modernise our vocational training programme so more people who grow up with us are able to find meaningful and skilled work elsewhere in Sri Lanka and live an independent life if they wish.
As such, the ripple effect of your donations cannot be underestimated. You are making such a difference to our work and creating opportunity for people with disabilities. Thank you once again from all of us at Prithipura Communities!
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Our end of year fundraising campaign that kicked off on Giving Tuesday – Tuesday 29th November – was a huge success. Yet again, this was down to you, our friends and supporters, who came together and helped us raise $4,400 in a month! Thank you to everyone who donated and encouraged their friends and family to do the same.
These funds, as well as the regular donations that we will receive throughout the year from the GlobalGiving platform will pay for essential food, care and therapy – all of which plays its part in keeping the children and adults with disabilities that live with us happy, healthy and thriving.
In recent news, Christmas was a happy time for us all and come together to celebrate. As usual, we were thrilled to receive a visit from Santa who gave a present to everyone.
Significant work has also been completed on some renovation and refurbishment projects including fencing for coffee production and a goat paddock at Cotagala School and Asokapura Farm. This work is part of our agricultural development work that started over the pandemic and has continued since. It is one of the ways that we are coping with the aftermath of the pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis.
Making an impact with regular donations
Our monthly donors contribute over $650 a month, some have been giving for many years! A monthly donation allows you to spread smaller donations over a year. Sunei Shin set up a regular donation in 2018:
“I know personally the impact of the work that Prithipura Communities does and was thrilled I had the chance to set up a regular donation with them nearly 4 years ago! I don't notice the relatively small donation that goes out every month but also know what a big difference it makes to Prithipura Communities over the year. I would recommend setting up a regular donation to anyone wanting to help. It provides a predictable source of income that allows Prithipura Communities to continue their important work and plan for the future.”
GlobalGiving offers matching for those who set up new monthly donations. You can find out more about that here and set up a monthly donation here.
Thank you once again for your continued support and we wish all our friends and supporters a happy and healthy 2023!
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Since our last update, you have helped us raise over $4,800. This means that since the start of the campaign in November 2021, we’ve raised over $20,000! As usual, we remain so grateful for your support and every $ contributes towards supporting the children and adults at disabilities who live at Prithipura Communities.
The economic crisis continues in Sri Lanka continues with ever rising prices that continue to make daily life difficult. Food staples such as rice, flour and lentils have increased dramatically. For example, the cost of a kilo of lentils has increased by 190% since June 2021 (source: Department of Census and Statistics Sri Lanka).
The situation makes your support even more important than ever and along with increased agricultural activities, we continue to weather the storm. As mentioned in our last report, the rejuvenation of the paddy field at Cotagala School has been a huge achievement – not only as a valuable source of food but also as it has taught new skills to many and the team have enjoyed working together to make it a success. The team have just completed their second harvest. The rice will be used across all our 4 locations.
As well as the usual activities, we have celebrated Teachers' Day and Children’s Day – celebrated on 1st October in Sri Lanka. The team at Cotagala have also supported the students with a drama project which involved some very creative costumes and lots of fun!
Saveena, who attends Cotagala School, recently celebrated her 10th birthday. Her story is just of one of many, where children growing up at Prithipura are given the opportunity to develop and reach their potential. Her severe physical disability meant that, as a young baby, there were many concerns about her ability to develop her motor skills. At 10 years old, not only is she able to walk and be fully independent, but she has also learnt to write despite difficulties with her hand. She is excelling in the classroom and has many friends.
We’ll be launching our annual fundraising campaign on Giving Tuesday, Tuesday 29th November, in order to raise funds that will support us in 2023. As with other years, we’ll continue throughout December to reach our target of $5,000. Watch this space for further updates!
Thank you once again to all those who support our work!
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There has been huge political and economic turmoil in Sri Lanka in recent months. It has been a challenging time and the impact is affecting everyone.
Record rates of inflation means eye-watering price increases in essential goods as well as significant supply issues. Frequent power cuts combined with shortages of gas, petrol and diesel mean daily struggles. Your generous support, yet again, has made things easier. The resilience and innovation of our fabulous staff team has also meant that everyone remains happy and healthy. Food production has increased at all our locations, but daily life continues and there’s still been time to celebrate special occasions and enjoy each other’s company.
The team at Cotagala School have rejuvenated an abandoned paddy field and are currently waiting for their second harvest. It’s an activity that many have been involved with in some capacity – agricultural workers, teachers and students. The students have enjoyed learning how to grow rice and then being able to see and taste their harvest!
At the Infants Home, regular pool activities have kept the children and adults with disabilities that live there happy and active. The school room is also a hive of activity every day with those that participate developing new skills through play, song and creative pursuits.
Vesak, a Buddhist celebration that commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha, was also creatively enjoyed with handmade lanterns and religious observances.
You can read more about our recent activities in our newsletter here.
Thanks once again to everyone has donated and supported our work, especially to our regular donors who collectively donate over $550 on a monthly basis!
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Thanks to you:
This is a massive achievement and it’s all down to you – our lovely friends and supporters!
In 2021, we received 2 large donations via the GlobalGiving platform, one from GlobalGiving as part of the Coronavirus Relief Fund and another from a large international funder. As these were entirely unexpected and in addition to our usual funding sources we thought long and hard about the best use of these funds.
As many of you will know, our hardworking team of carers, teachers and farm workers have played an essential role in keeping everyone safe, happy and healthy in the last two years. Many have made personal sacrifices to protect the vulnerable children and adults who live with us. We would not be where we are today if it was not for their dedication and commitment.
Unfortunately, the pandemic and other factors have meant that Sri Lanka is in the midst of a economic crisis. Inflation is at an all time high and costs of basic essentials are raising daily. This has a direct impact on many of those who work for us. Our long-term plan has always been to keep ensuring that our salaries are competitive in order to build staff retention as well as to continue to attract new staff.
As such, we have decided to use these extra funds to support a significant increase in the basic salary of our amazing team. The extra funds received will support the increase for the next 3 years.
Once again, we need to thank you again for our ability to do this. Not only have your donations meant that we can keep funding our usual activities, the fact that you have donated via GlobalGiving has meant higher exposure for us on the GlobalGiving platform, which attracts a wider range of donors from all round the world!
You can find out more about our amazing team in our upcoming newsletter – sign up to receive it direct to our mailbox:
Are you interested in continuing to support us in 2022?
Find out more about monthly donations here.
Thank as always for your support, it truly means the world to us!
With love from us all at Prithipura Communities xxx
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