Ampara Safe House
Prior to a visit in July 2009, HELP had been informed of the plight of a children's safe house in Ampara and was asked if we would be prepared to support it. The safe house provides a temporary (6 week) refuge for abused children who are made wards of court prior to being found more permanent places in children's homes. The safe house can accommodate a total of 12 children at any one time. We visited the property and were distressed to see the lack of basic facilities available; cramped rooms, no bedding, toys or clothes and only basic kitchen equipment. The previous funding of the Safe House had fallen away and its ongoing costs (food/utilities) were being met on a temporary basis by a local charity.
We met the Warden of the House and recognized that she was doing as good a job as possible in very difficult circumstances. We are not in a position to fund the Safe House's ongoing expenses but we committed to buy the necessary bedding, clothes, toys etc for the children from our current resources. The house desperately needs a small playground for the children (swings, roundabouts etc) at a cost of £500 which we will endeavour to support from future donations as and when funds permit.
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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.
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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.