Trail Sri Lanka held a launch recently to announce their new plans. The event was hosted by The Colours of Courage Trust and was followed by an exhibition of photographs taken during the previous Trail. Trail also launched their newly refreshed website www.trailsl.com.
The celebrity ambassadors for the event were announced as Jacqueline Fenandez, Otara Gunewardene, Yureni Noshika, Natalie and Nadiya Anderson (of amazing race and survivor fame) as well as Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene who pledged to walk the entire distance in 2016.
Trail resumes again in 2016 with a new goal of building a cancer hospital worth $5 million in Galle. Born out of the vision of Sarinda Unamboowe, who had pledged to walk the length of his homeland as a commitment to peace were the war to end, and Nathan Sivagananthan who, touched by a personal loss to cancer, felt this walk was the most impactful way help the many others struggling against the disease.
Thus began Sri Lanka’s largest ever crowd-funded charitable initiative, which saw the construction of a cancer hospital in Jaffna after raising $2.2 million of which almost $70,000 were raised through tills during the walk in July 2011.
The new project will see walkers begin their journey at Point Pedro and walk to Dondra Head in order to raise funds towards a new seven storey building for the Karapitiya hospital. The Karapitiya teaching hospital sees patients coming not only from the southern districts of Galle, Matara and Hambantota but also from areas as far as Badulla and Kalutara. Catering to a population of 6 million, one of the biggest obstacles faced by the hospital is the overcrowding of all units. The number of in-ward patients receiving chemotherapy and palliative care on any given day is over 200 although there is there is only a bed strength of 135.
The proposed building will give patients more ward space and other facilities including counseling rooms, rehabilitation and recreation facilities as well as new radiology and pathology labs.
Trail 2016 will cover a distance of 670km over 28 consecutive days from October 6th to November 2nd 2016. Walkers can commit to walk the whole distance, part of the way or become a virtual walker depending on their ability.
A Sri Lanka Air Force Bell 212 helicopter belonging to the No. 72 squadron has crashed into the Madhuru Oya reservoir this morning, Air FOrce Media Spokesman Eranda Geeganage said.
Update: Five of the twelve passengers on board the bell 212 aircraft that crashed into the Maduru Oya today, have succumbed to their injuries, the SLAF said.
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