Zonta 111, CMF provide clean water to Batticaloa residents
View(s):Give2Lanka has partnered with Palm Foundation East to provide tap-water to 56 families in Barathipuram village in Chenkalady. Batticaloa.
Most of us in Colombo would think of water as an entitlement. However people in the East particularly in Batticaloa find it unaffordable since even as a Samurdhi family one has to invest Rs.5600 to get a water connection from the Water Board.
In a media release, Give2Lanka said this is a huge sum when one lives with a meagre daily wage or by catching a few fish in the lagoon. Such activities barely give enough income to provide for two meals for the family. Thus over 20,000 families in the East still use unclean dust-coloured water from wells polluted with overflown lagoon water especially during the rainy season despite the possibility of having clean water.
Palm Foundation East, a relatively small NGO based in Batticaloa, has stepped in to assist these families. With the support of NGO’s, such as Berendina and agencies such as USAID they have linked 11,200 families with water.
But the media release said, for the first time people with good souls in Colombo came to the assistance of these needy families. This is critical as foreign funds are drying up for NGO work in Sri Lanka due to the island nation reaching the mid- income status. Ms. Farida Luckmanjee, Secretary of Zonta 111 and Director Give2Lanka appealed to her friends and relatives to donate funds for this cause in lieu of the usual birthday presents.
Not-for-profit music charity the Country Music Foundation (CMF) was kind enough to allocate funds from the proceeds of its March 2017 annual Country Roads concert towards this cause as well. All these efforts enabled 56 families and over 250 adults and kids to have clean water on a permanent basis.
Palm Foundation carried the hard work of compiling records for each family, with over 8 documents including, marriage certificates, birth certificates, and income statements, etc as required by the Water Board. Palm foundation liaised with these families to enable them to do shramadana work in laying pipes to homes from the nearest connection. Palm staff trained the kids and women, in particular on sanitation practices.