Empower 240 disabled children and adults

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!

Links:

• https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/cost-of-living-crisis/?sho
• www.prithipura.org

Our end of year fundraising campaign that kicked off on Giving Tuesday – Tuesday 29^th 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!

Links:

• Our website
• Our Facebook page
• Find us on Instagram