Previous year's gifts
In previous years, we sold gifts for the tea picking community we are working with in Rikilligaskada, central Sri Lanka. Rahatungoda tea estate, where the project is based, is home to 280 families, about 1,000 people in total, including 300 children. Every family works on the tea estate, and income is supplemented by agriculture.
Vegetables are grown and consumed by the family, the surplus is taken to the main road and sold to passing traders. Homes comprise two rooms and there are no ablution facilities available to the community. All water needs are met by the nearby river, so all washing is done here, and the water is also used for cooking and drinking, despite being contaminated.
We are delighted with the success of our Gift programme for this area. The direct benefit to the community as a result of your purchases has been immediate and tangible.
The purchase of Shining Life Gifts has meant that:
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85 children had their first ever trip outside of their home area – visiting a attraction in the North East of Sri Lanka. For the first time the children saw the sea and even had the courage to go for a dip.
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Families were given the skills and seeds to grow their own vegetables providing them with nutritious and affordable food.
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Mothers were taught to cook low-cost, healthy meals reducing the percentage of their small income they have to spend on food. Already this has had a significant impact on the prevalence of malnutrition amongst the community’s children.
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Health attendants have been trained in each village to teach the community basic health awareness and ensure suitable health measures are being undertaken such as rubbish disposal, boiled drinking water etc.
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Swings, slides, climbing frames and roundabouts have been installed in the grounds of each nursery school, creating brightly coloured, and well used play areas.
“Over the last eight months the improvement in the children’s nutrition is really obvious. The children are gaining weight and the number absent from school because they are ill has reduced. Three of our children remain undernourished but at least their parents now know how to get help and what they can do to improve this.”
Preschool Teacher
“By studying this subject, good health habits and a disease free life can be organised. It is also very satisfying to teach other people to lead a good life. Therefore this is a very exciting job. We can be happy that we are creating a better society with good health habits and without much illness.”
W. A. Chamila Pushpa Kumari, Volunteer Health Assistant