Care to look at Care Services?

By Random Access Memory (RAM)
It is time that we in the business sector, realised that we need to seek creative solutions to our problems.

Our leaders are too busy with their antics of power politics and may not have the time, for sometime now, to reflect on the real issues that face us.

We, on the other hand have been too busy making sure that short-term enabling environments are created for our business activities.

We have often limited our focus on social issues to discussion sessions on corporate social responsibility (CSR) at conferences and seminars and on placing the essential paragraphs on the do-good activities of our companies in our annual reports.

One such social issue we place little emphasis on is the near 'slave trade' like industry, facilitating Sri Lanka's mothers and sisters to work in foreign lands as domestic servants.

Often referred to as a necessary evil, we live the reality that this is our largest foreign exchange earning sector. But we do sweet little to really reflect on the manifold issues that face them as individuals and as a collective group representing a vital section of our society. It is true that all do not face problems when they work abroad and most make it good with the dinars and dollars they earn.

The exploitation continues with many employment agencies playing them out from the application to placement stages. We all are aware of the numerous other hardships the not so fortunate ones face, in their attempts to realise their dreams.

Reports from UNICEF and ILO will tell you of the negative long term socio-cultural impacts of this industry, where children are robbed of the loving care of their mothers, creation of disharmony in the family environment and the like.

What options do we have? What long term solutions can we seek to ensure that we build a Sri Lankan society that can make good business sense and serve market needs while also preserving our nation's dignity, safeguarding the future of our less privileged children and their mothers and sisters?

Taking on initiatives to develop a care services industry within Sri Lanka might be one key option we perhaps can consider. Given the recent findings presented to the 'UN Conference on Aging' by Secretary General Kofi Annan, the world's population is fast aging and by 2020 there will be a majority of over 60's among us.

From a business sense this offers immense opportunities for a country like Sri Lanka, where care giving is part of our culture and tourism and leisure is a somewhat mature industry.

What we need to understand is that tourism today is lifestyle business and not a mere selling of airline seats, tour packages, hotel rooms or recreation activities as we have viewed it traditionally.

The following headline story from the Philippines, illustrate the thinking and boldness of initiatives that are taken by other pioneers in exploring new ground. "Philippines: Ready for Medical Tourism". "Healthcare with leisure - this is how the Department of Tourism describes its new programme, aimed at positioning the country as a competitive health vacation destination in Asia, targeting both the wellness/spa and medical tourist markets."

In Sri Lanka, we have all the ingredients in the right proportions now, to make it happen. We have a mature tourism and leisure industry. We have initiated building modern medical facilities of international standards. We have a tradition of seeking mind-body wellness through mediation and Siddha-ayurveda. And more importantly, we are a people whose culture at its core, is focussed on care giving.

If we in the business sector can mix these ingredients with a deep sense of social responsibility, it can mean building a community-based small and medium scale care services industry for Sri Lanka.

It will also mean that we can end the need for our mothers and sisters to go gold digging elsewhere, but do it being in their own family domain to ensure that their children grow up sharing their loving care.

Do those who can make it happen, care to care?


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