Taking Care of 50 Vulnerable Sri Lankan Children

With activities at the Sunshine Day Care and Preschool being disrupted in the past months due to the lockdowns, we anxiously looked forward to the health and wellbeing workshops planned for the children and the mothers. It was a meaningful way to start the new year. Meeting the children; seeing them play and listening to the stories their mothers related at the integrated programme to support vulnerable communities to access basic health care and nutrition was long overdue. The programme included Health Check for Children, Nutritional Assessment and Screening of Pregnant Mothers & Mothers to be, Discussion with Mothers on Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases and a Discussion with Mothers on the Nutritional Needs of Children.  Medical Doctor/ Obstetrician and Gynaecologist (VOG), Dr. Ravichandran raised awareness on many areas. Bringing a locally based medical doctor and a supervising public health midwife to the field allowed the mothers to connect without formalities. The Q&A was certainly a game changer for the fifty mothers present. Each mother was given a quarterly supply of pharmaceutical drugs for their child, which included vitamin and iron syrup and the annual worming treatment.

Another interesting part of the programme was the preparation of a nutritional meal for the family. The food items were neatly displayed on the table with the midwife explaining the nutritional aspect of each one. The vote of thanks at the end of the programme told us how much information the participants had gathered. “Learning about best practices when preparing a meal for my child and hearing about the nutritional needs of children was for me one of the most important aspects of this programme,” is how one mother expressed herself.

Our experiences have taught us that community-based programs under many circumstances provide the crucial tools and interventions to make programmes significant. So, it was for this workshop too - Supporting Vulnerable Communities to Basic Health Care & Nutrition.

With increasing economic challenges resulting chiefly from the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to access affordable basic health care is almost impossible. The worst affected are vulnerable communities. Hand-outs maybe good in the short-term but sustainable social philanthropy impacts individuals and communities long-term. Encouraging all stakeholders to participate and engage in these programmes have contributed immensely to its achievement.

 We are grateful to all our donors for their support and generosity to allow us to realize the organizations’ overall goals and objectives.