Empower 240 disabled children and adults

Yet again, your support has kept us going! Since our last report in July, we have received an additional $13,400 through those donating via the GlobalGiving platform. These funds continue to provide the essentials for the children and adults with disabilities who live with us.

Sri Lanka came out of yet another nationwide lockdown recently that lasted several months, due to an increase in the delta variant.  This meant that transmission of COVID-19 increased rapidly and hospitals faced huge problems with managing capacity.

Vaccine roll-out success

In the last few months we are delighted that everyone at all our branches who is over 18 (and some over 16s) have been vaccinated. The local Ministry of Health teams have visited each branch to do this safely, so that vulnerable people have not had to go out in the community and join long vaccination queues in their local areas.

We realise, however, that this does not protect everyone. We are very concerned about those under 18 with particular health conditions, who have not yet had a chance to have the vaccine. There is no doubt that all of us at Prithipura – residents and staff alike – want to make sure we continue to protect each other, not just ourselves. We are all in this together and have been since the beginning of the pandemic and this will certainly continue! Therefore, our 4 branches remain closed to visitors and we continue with care and extreme caution when people do have to go out. Our protocol is well established and continues to work well.

Plans for 2022

With so much unknown at the moment, we know that our funding may be unstable in 2022. Furthermore, it is really important that our amazing team of carers, teachers and farm workers continue to be adequately remunerated for the work they do. Their contributions have been particularly impressive since the onset of the pandemic where everyone has pulled together to keep those at Prithipura Communities happy and healthy.

We will therefore be launching a fundraising campaign for 2022 on Giving Tuesday - November 30^th.  As in other years, GlobalGiving is giving away extra funds for donations made on their platform on that day, so as usual it’s an excellent day to make a contribution and spread the word about what we do – further details to follow shortly.

Thank you!

Thank you to all those who have supported us. It really does mean the world to us. Special thanks to our 17 regular donors who in total donate nearly $600 to us on a monthly basis. This regular support is really important. You can set up a regular donation here:

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Links:

• Our website

Thank you once again for your support to our cause. Since our last report in March we’ve received another $6,800 in donations via the GlobalGiving platform. This support continues to sustain us at this challenging time.            

Sri Lanka has just come out of a period of increased restrictions island-wide since April due to a 3^rd wave of coronavirus infections. The vaccination programme, having started in January, has had a slow rollout due to supply issues. Around 10% of the population have had the vaccine at the moment. Unfortunately, clinically vulnerable people have not been prioritised in Sri Lanka, apart from people over 70 years of age, so it has been a challenge to ensure that those who live with us have access to the vaccine.

Thankfully in the last month or so, we have been able to secure the first dose of vaccine for 75 adults living at Prithipura Communities. This has taken place at our two branches in the Western Province – the Infants Home and Anandapura Farm– the area most affected by COVID-19 and where access to vaccine is most prevalent. We made special requests to our local health officials so that the vaccines could be given out on site to avoid the vulnerable people who live with us having to go out in the community to get the vaccine. This would have been dangerous and impractical as community-based vaccination locations have long queues and sadly social distancing is frequently not adhered too. We were really grateful that local ministry of health teams responded to our calls for help and came to each location to administer the vaccines efficiently and safely.

Although we are pleased that 75 people have received their first dose, there remains some work to be done. At present, those who have received their first dose of vaccine are awaiting their second dose. Furthermore, the policy in Sri Lanka is to only vaccinate those over 30 so at the Infants Home there are 62 children and adults under 30 including some staff who have not been vaccinated. Lastly, 120 children and adults living at Asokpaura Farm and Cotagala School have not been able to access the vaccine to date.

As ever, despite the challenges, we remain hopeful for the future. We are safe, happy and well and with support such as yours, we are confident that we can continue to weather the storm. Thank you once again for your commitment to supporting the children and adults with disabilities who call Prithipura their home!

Find out more about setting up a monthly donation here:

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Links:

• Our website
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