This project supports the youngest at Prithipura Communities - babies and young children with disabilities who live at the Infants Home. The first few years of life are crucial to a child's development, especially those with disabilities, and through specialist care, therapy, pre-school education and a lot of love we provide maximum opportunities for growth and independence.
Community support remains inadequate for children with disabilities and their families in Sri Lanka, particularly those living on low incomes and/or with complicated family situations. This means that babies and young children in the most vulnerable circumstances are frequently at risk of neglect. People with disabilities in Sri Lanka also continue to face a lack of opportunity and access to education, work and community integration.
The support that we provide in the early years has a direct impact on future development. Working with families where possible, our care team provides individual attention to those they look after with a child-centred approach through specialist care and opportunities for play, stimulation and early year's education. We encourage family contact and employ parents of some of the children who live with us so that the children can receive targeted support and retain close bonds with their family.
The stories of those who have grown up at Prithipura Communities, who now lead happy and fulfilling lives illustrate our long-term impact. A UN report from 2007 states that 'very few young persons with disabilities succeed in finding work in any country'. Through our work, we continue to break these barriers and ensure that future generations of children will grow up to be a part of society and their local communities - early years support is vital to our success.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
