Lankan Youth Spearheads “Relief for Sri Lanka”
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Mr. Sasikumar with the Nation Lanka Team handing over the donations to a bomb attack victim
Multiple Easter Sunday attacks on Churches and some hotels around Sri Lanka have brought grief and great sorrow leaving over 350 dead and more than 500 injured.
Umesh Ramanan
Collective relief effort to strengthen the country
The post bombing relief efforts brought together many nationalities and organizations. The collective assistance as well as government regulations enabled the authorities to swiftly bring the situation under control.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has condemned the attacks, saying they are “ an attempt to make the country and its economy unstable”.
“I condemn these attacks which targeted religious places and some hotels. We all should join hands to protect law and order Wickremesinghe’s statement added.
Relief for Sri Lanka
Spearheaded by Umesh Ramanan, a Sri Lankan youth residing in England, ‘Relief for Sri Lanka’ is an initiative for Relief Effort towards the Easter Bomb victims and their families, facilitated through a ‘GoFundMe’ page.
Mr. Victor Ramanan , handing over the donation to Rev. Fr. Lawrence at Archbishop's House
“The death toll and the numbers injured are still on the rise which is heartbreaking, and so it means we need to all work together to raise as much as we can” Umesh stated.
Supporting Umesh, are his friends and family, as well as Nations Lanka Finance PLC and Nawaloka College of Higher Studies, and their staff. Umesh’s father, Victor Ramanan is the current Chairman of Nations Lanka Finance PLC and CEO/ Deputy Chairman of the Nawaloka College of Higher Studies Pvt Ltd.
Umesh Ramanan was supported by Sasi Kumar from Nation Lanka Finance PLC, and together were able to collect approximately 2million SLR in total.
Financial Donation to the Relief Effort of the Catholic Church
“The money will be delivered directly to each family and my aim is to help as many families as possible” Umesh explained. It was therefore decided that to meet the objective of the Relief Effort, to donate some of the funds to the Archbishop’s House, to be used in initiatives taken by the Catholic Church.
Funds were also given to families who lost their main breadwinner, as well as for other victims towards life support, medical treatment and other financial support as needed.
Representatives from Nation Lanka Finance and Nawaloka College of Higher Studies handing over their donations to Archbishop’s House
The funds collected by the church will be directed towards supporting Children who have lost both parents, School Scholarships for Children whose breadwinner of the family has been killed, counselling and support through “Seth Sarana” and “Caritas” team of the Church, with the support of qualified psychologists as well as supporting the communities in the affected parishes.
“Sri Lanka is a beautiful country with amazing people who truly depend on tourism, so please do continue supporting us by visiting our magical island! Let’s remain united and not allow the actions of a few extremists divide us. Neither should we allow the spreading of fake news and rumors because that is exactly what the extremists desire” Umesh urged in conclusion.
Ms. Nipuni Jayaweera handing over the donations to a bomb attack victim's father