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Humanity does not have borders.

The Mapalagama success story

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Several years ago, we contributed to the rebuilding of a Primary School and associated Pre-School in Mapalagama, Sri Lanka. An old structure on the site had become unfit for purpose and there was no education in the area for primary age children. Almost all Clubs in our District contributed to this substantial educational project that was in partnership with the Charity Project Sri Lanka. The Primary School and its Pre-School were duly completed around 7 years ago, bringing educational opportunity to many local children. The past three years have seen very bad times for education in Sri Lanka. Because of the pandemic, followed by economic collapse and social unrest in the country, many schools for the young closed and have never re-opened. Mapalagama however, is a wonderful success story. Our club members, Joy and David, were recently able to visit the school, finding a thriving educational establishment with an ever increasing number of children. The toilets, funded by our RotaKids, are still standing and in good use!

The global grant that granted a wish

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Image by Shamika Nayanajith

Our Club has recently contributed funding towards the establishment of a new operating theatre in Peradeniya Hospital, Kandy, Sri Lanka. This project is being funded by an on-going Global Grant with support from the Rotary Foundation. The theatre is dedicated to surgical operations needed by pregnant women and babies. Mortality rates during pregnancy are very high in Sri Lanka and hopefully this dedicated facility will save lives of mothers, unborn babies and neonates. Some equipment including a ‘state of the art’ anaesthesia machine has already arrived on site, and other items should arrive in Peradeniya soon. It is anticipated that the theatre will be fully ‘up and running’ by April 2023. The Hospital Director and staff convey their deepest gratitude to all who have supported this Global Grant project, including District 1030, our own Club, and the Rotary Clubs of Durham and Whitley Bay.

Support for dental surgery

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Another Global Grant our Club has donated to focused on the provision of equipment for the Dental Faculty at Peradeniya Hospital in Kandy. The surgeons here engage in major life-saving surgery for patients with severe maxilo-facial conditions. The global Grant provided a digital laboratory for diagnosing conditions, equipment for surgery and for the intensive care ward looking after post-operative patients who may have undergone 20 hour surgeries.

Equipment for Emergency Treatment unit

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A Global Grant which we supported provided much needed equipment for the Emergency Treatment unit at Peradeniya General Hospital. Around 100 persons each day pass through the doors of this unit which is in serious need of more equipment such as ECG machines and syringe pumps. The Global Grant added considerably to the amount of equipment available for emergency care.

Support for pain relief

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Another Glocal Grant which linked to Rotary Kandy was dedicated to providing equipment for pain relief, both in childbirth and in post-operative patients. The grant provided syringe pumps and other necessary equipment to enable a much better quality of life for those who would otherwise be in great pain.

Treatment of cataract patients

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The Club has donated towards the treatment of cataract patients from rural areas. Without support for transport, many people would not be able to travel from remote places to the hospitals to receive treatment and would simply simply live with advancing blindness.

Support for cancer surgery

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Our Global Grant contribtions have also supported equipment for paediatric and general oncology surgery. The hospital in Kandy is in great need of appropriate equipment and post-operative support for patients.

Oral cancer awareness project

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The Club contributed to a substantial Global Grant which focused on raising awareness of the dangers of chewing betel, detecting cancers caused by such habits, treating oral cancers, and organising a major island-wide awareness programme to help young people understand the dangers of chewing betel. On visits to Sri lanka we met childen who were being treated for oral cancers at such a young age.

Water & sanitation for isolated rural communities

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One focus of our donations to support isolated rural communities with significant drought problems has been the provision of water wells and associated pumps. These projects have enabled the village people to grow crops for home consumption which they were previously been unable to do. We have also contributed to the provision of toilets in some rural schools.

Working together

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The club has worked in partnership with several Clubs in Sri Lanka to engage in service projects to help those in need in remote communities and those with basic human needs acoss the island. We have accomplished six Global Grants with the Rotary Club of Kandy and have also engaged with humanitarian projects with the Rotary Club of Colombo Mid City and Rotary Jaffna.

Support for amputees

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The Club supported a substantial Global Grant which enabled the provision of prosthetic limbs for people who have had amputations in the Kandy area of Sri Lanka. Amputations are very common as a result of road and rail accidents, diabetes, snake bites, cancers and congenital deformities.

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