COVID 19 Emergency Aid
Sri Lanka, October 2021. Essential Supplies for Covid Poverty. Brighterlife, with the help of the Rotary Club of Capital City and the Army, delivers 400 Food packs for the Covid-affected needy families in remote areas.
​
Reports of the catastrophic health and food situation in Sri Lanka due to the continued lock-down reached Brighterlife by the day. People who couldn’t go to work anymore because they were forced to stay at home if a family member was tested Covid-positive, started to suffer from hunger, a humiliating situation unheard of in Sri Lanka.
In September, Brighterlife and the Swiss Asian Chamber of Commerce decided to make a collection among their members to raise funds to finance a limited number of packs of basic food and essential daily items.
Under the leadership of Brighterlife local member, Rishani Gunaratne, an ad-hoc taskforce was formed. Ms Gunaratne coordinated with LanHai Lin from the Rotary Club of Capital City, to identify 400 families in need. Together with one of the country’s biggest retail chains they assembled and packaged 400 samples of one-month essential food rations, financed by the alms of donators in Switzerland. It took a while for the money to arrive at the Rotary Club. But once it reached its bank account and the sudden shortage of rice was overcome, the purchase of the ordered items was done quickly.
The Rotary Club, through its network, and in some places with the help of the Army delivered the packs to the needy families starting in Ampara, movedon to Polonnaruwa andBatticaloa nextand made the final distribution in Seenimodera on the 8thof October 2021.
Needless to say, the packs were received with gratitude. See picture series and video clips. It also fills the taskforce and the Board of Brighterlife and the Chamber with satisfaction that a relatively small sum of money can turn into effective and multiplied help. We are very happy to count on a well-organized and trustworthy network of the Rotary Club on the ground.
Thank you to all involved. And let’s hope the worst of the pandemic in Sri Lanka may be over and the Country re-opens and recovers quickly from its worst economic and social crisis.
