Archbishop relief programme to allocate funds for education of young Easter attack victims

The social arm of the Archdiocese of Colombo has allocated a sum of Rs 102.5 million of the total funds it received in the aftermath of the April 21 terrorist attacks, for the education of children affected in the attacks.

Issuing a press release, ‘Seth Sarana’- the social arm, said it had received Rs 350.7 million worth of funds from local and foreign donors including individual donations, those from the government and corporate entities to assist the victims of the attacks. 

Accordingly, of the total allocations, the largest amount is to be used to fund the education of child victims up to university admission, and also to grant a monthly stipend for newborns up to five years, a statement said clarifying the allocations to the different relief efforts being disbursed by the Archdiocese.

Other allocations include Rs 16.8 million as compensation for the families of victims who lost their lives and Rs 17.8 million for the medical expenses of injured victims.

All donations are being managed and distributed by Seth Sarana in order to cover social care, personal, and family development needs of the victims.

Meanwhile, a counselling centre has also been set-up with the assistance of the Dialog Foundations’ Rally to Care initiative under the supervision of the Cardinal, to provide counselling for those mentally affected by the tragedy.

The Emmaus Life Healing Centre, as it is called, has 20 professional counsellors, 10 psychotherapists, and 17 psychiatrists.

“ ....over 770 children, young adult and adults have been counselled and treated at the Life Healing Centre, and 200 house visits have been conducted for affected families..,” the released noted.

Meanwhile, Rs 10 million has been allocated for the construction of the Zeon Church in Batticaloa although the Church does not fall under the Archdiocese of Colombo, the statement said.

The release added that around Rs 53 million has been allocated to purchase lands for the construction of houses for families with no permanent residence. This project is to be carried out in collaboration with the government.

A sum of around Rs 35 million is also being provided in a bid to meet the day-to-day expenses of the victims. This is in addition to the allocations of around Rs 30 million for low-income families and Rs 32 million for the treatment of differently-abled persons.