Child Action Lanka marks 15 years with ‘CAL Me’ emergency mobile app
For 15 years, Child Action Lanka (CAL) has made it their mission to provide aid and support to disadvantaged children across the country. From striving to support just eight children in 2006, to over a thousand more across eight Child Development Centres across the country currently, CAL works towards creating a better future for children who have been deprived of education, safe housing, traumatised by violence and abuse both mental and physical, and suffering from illness caused by poverty, war and conflict.
To celebrate their 15th anniversary this September, CAL is launching ‘CAL Me’ – a mobile app that provides easy access to emergency hotlines all in one place, as another step towards safeguarding children and women from domestic violence.
The app is designed to trigger a quick call to emergency numbers and hotlines for special services when needed, making it a valuable resource in an emergency situation where there is no time to look up a specific number.
“Over these last few weeks and months, we’ve been hearing about lots of incidents of child abuse, domestic violence etc through the media. That’s when we thought that something like this could be of importance to people,” says CAL’s Founding Director Debbie Edirisinghe.
In addition to providing easy access to the Child Help Line and Women’s Help Line, the app dashboard also lists crucial national services and helplines for anyone experiencing an emergency, crisis or illness wherever they are in the country. It includes numbers for national services like Ambulances, Fire and Rescue, Police Emergency Services, COVID hotline, Long Distance Bus Harassment helpline, Ceylon Electricity Board in case of power failure, and a mental health chatline for those struggling with anxiety and depression.
Developed by LI Studios in Moratuwa, the design of the app is extremely simple and discreet so that everyone including children can operate the app if they are in an unsafe situation. The simple picture icons make it easy to figure out which icon they need to tap in order to get help for their specific situation. When a user clicks a specific number, they will get a confirmation notification before dialling up that contact number to prevent accidental calls.
The other important feature of the app is the Donate function, where users can donate to those in need. The donor will have the option of filling out the necessary information on the app and donating not only to CAL children or CAL communities, but anyone in need across the country. CAL will contact the Divisional Secretariat in the area, and distribute the donation based on the need.
CAL hopes that this function will mobilise people and create the spirit of community and giving that is so necessary during this time. Since CAL aren’t able to celebrate their anniversary with the children as they usually do, they decided to focus on this particular issue as protecting the wellbeing of the children is their key focus. Debbie explains that usually their anniversary celebrations are more in the form of a big birthday party for the kids who otherwise have no chance to celebrate.
Initially doubtful that they had the funds to go through with their plans for the app, they are gratified that their contacts and donors rallied around with a loan, while others began fundraising for it.
“At the end of the day, Child Action Lanka is about transforming the lives of these children. What we do take very seriously is that these kids are trusting us to make life different for them,” says Debbie. “Despite the lockdowns and restrictions, we need to focus on how to reach these kids and create a better future for them.”
The CAL Me app is now available on Google Play Store, and will be coming soon to iOS as well.
For more information on Child Action Lanka and their projects, or to see how you can be a part of the change, visit their Facebook and Instagram pages @childactionlanka, their website https://www.childactionlanka.org, or through email at childaction@sltnet.lk. To make a donation, visit https://childactionlanka.charity