Project Updates
HELP has continue its support of the Amman Mahaleer Girls Home. Following a visit by our Trustees and volunteers in November 2014, we have agreed to build an extension to the Home (at a cost of c£4,000) to provide a vocational training centre for the girls and women in the local village. The sewing centre training that we support will move into the new building, as will the girls computer studies. It will also be used for teacher training by the local villagers. During the visit, we also agreed to buy the girls new clothes and school books for the new school year.
The sewing centre we established in 2010 continues to thrive, giving the girls a potential livelihood. We provide free lessons in dress making etc on a weekly basis for local mothers in the village and for the eldest girls in the Home. We have bought 6 Singer treddle sewing machines for the Home, pay the costs of the teachers and provide the cloth that is required. We have also set up a small micro-finance scheme which enables the women and girls to buy their own sewing machines when they finish their studies.
What is HELP?
Helping East Lanka Progress (HELP) is a UK registered charity that was set up by Dr Vip Thiagarasah in August 2005 to relieve the suffering of victims affected by the devastating tsunami of December 2004 on the East Coast of Sri Lanka.
The aim of HELP is to provide assistance to the families, and specifically the children, in the Ampara district of Eastern Sri Lanka who have suffered as a result of the tsunami. HELP operates on the simple principle that all funds raised will be spent on the projects identified by the Trustees.
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Pre-school in Akkaraipattu
We have, for a number of years, been supporting a small pre-school for children in the village where the Home is situated. Read more »
Educational and Vocational centre in Navkatadu
A local village, Navatkadu, has been recognized by the local authority as impoverished, with families living under the poverty line and children having difficulties without proper access to education. Read more »
Amman Girls' Home
The Amman Girls Home in Akkaraipattu cares for 52 orphaned girls between the ages of 6 and 16. Read more »
Little Flowers School
HELP has funded free after-school classes in Tamil history, English, Science and Social Studies for the children of Thirikuvil, a village on the East Coast which was devastated by the tsunami. Read more »
HELP has provided a monthly bursary to the Swami Vipulananda Home from 2006 to assist with its ongoing expenses and to employ an after-school IT teacher for the boys. We also provided funding to assist with the setting up of a sustainable farm run by the boys. The Home is now funded by other donors and no longer needs our support.
HELP has been actively providing medical and other equipment to the local hospital in Thirrukovil, which services a large population of Ampara District.
Read more »
July 2022
Also in July 2022, we received a request from Mr Gunapalan, our school teacher in Thirrikuvil, to help support 100 elderly people in Thandiyaki who were suffering from the crisis. We were very pleased to be able to provide the funds to buy rice and other foodstuffs for these elders.
July 2022
In July 2022, we received a request from the orphanage for two very worthwhile projects. The first was to set up 60 families with seeds, plants, compost etc to establish their own gardens to provide a livelihood and, of course, their own home produce. The second project was to provide dry food parcels for 200 families headed by women who were suffering desperately from the economic crisis. We were very happy to support both.
April 2022
In April 2022, we received a request to increase our monthly fund transfer to the girls home to meet its ongoing costs, which had increased significantly due to the economic difficulties of the country. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we were very happy to do so. We also provided new clothes and equipment (beds, mattresses and school equipment) for four girls who had recently been taken into the care of the orphanage.
October 2021
In October 2021, we received a request from the orphanage to support the educational costs of four of the girls who had successfully achieved the necessary grades to attend university, an outstanding achievement by all four girls. We were delighted to be able to support them. We also provided additional support for the orphanage, including educational equipment and the completion of the external wall to provide greater security for the girls.
November 2020
In November 2020, we provided additional support for the orphanage in Akkaraipattu, providing funds for new clothes and educational equipment for the girls.
May 2020
In May 2020, with thanks to our many generous donors, we were able to arrange an emergency Covid support package for 260 families in the remote villages of Ampara District. Coordinated by our good friend Mr Vamadevan, who runs the orphanage in Akkaraipattu, dry food parcels were distributed to deserving families in the region.