Model welfare project in the East

One of the key tasks for the Peace Secretariat in the post-conflict era will be to encourage initiatives that bring disparate actors together. A recent collaboration to supply prosthetic limbs to disabled people in the Eastern Province has demonstrated that even simple welfare projects can be organised in a manner that promotes reconciliation.

The Jaipur Foot Programme, administered by the Colombo Friend in Need Society, has been supporting disabled people across Sri Lanka for years. Last month, the Peace Secretariat helped to take its mobile clinic to Trincomalee, in partnership with the 22 Division Army headquarters, with funding from the Rotary Club of Capital City.

Around 65 people from Trincomalee town and surrounding areas like Thambalagamuwa, Kuchchaweli, Kinniya and Nilaweli attendedover three days. Of them, 40 people were given prosthetic limbs. A handful of serious cases were referred to the Colombo residential clinic and will be brought to Colombo soon. Another mobile clinic is to be held in Trincomalee town to serve a further 130 people, followed by similar efforts in Batticaloa, Ampara and the Northern Province. Read more ...