MASL
MASL
During the visit, the Country Director of Muslim Aid Sri Lanka, Mr. Faizer Khan highlighted Muslim Aid’s fifteen (15) years of dedicated service in Sri Lanka to the Deputy High Commissioner. He also recollected the partnership between Muslim Aid Sri Lanka and the Pakistan High Commission, through which a substantial number of development and aid programmes were conducted. Muslim Aid then expressed their interest to resume the partnership with the High Commission.
The Deputy High Commissioner described the High commission’s programmes; especially those supporting higher education and educational scholarships of Sri Lankan students every year. His Excellency also highlighted the Pakistani Government’s assistance to Sri Lanka through community-based household livelihood programmes.
Furthermore, His Excellency, Mr.Tanvir Ahmed mentioned the strategy adopted by the High Commission in implementing the projects in Sri Lanka, where the projects focus on cultivating and establishing social cohesion and coexistence among the communities in the country.
The Country Director of Muslim Aid Sri Lanka was accompanied by Business Development Manager, M. Mohamed Jaleel and Business Development Officer Fahim Iqbal on this courtesy visit.
Muslim Aid Sri Lanka has always been in the front lines during an emergency situation in the country. As the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to spread and the country is facing crisis, Muslim Aid joined hands with the Sri Lanka Army to bring aid to families in lock down and isolation.
As your trusted charity, Muslim Aid Sri Lanka, on request of the Sri Lanka Army has handed over 1000 instant snack packs to distribute among the people who are under observation at quarantine centers.
As phase -2 in collaboration with Muslim Council of Sri Lanka, we are in the process of distributing dry ration packs to daily wage earners and laborers who are facing severe hardships to find the means to feed their families due to isolation and lock down.
All packing and transporting was handled hygienically with all precautionary measures; and handing over at the Army head quarters welfare division was also implemented with great care. Muslim Aid Sri Lanka wholeheartedly appreciates its generous donors and well wishers for their continued support.
கொரணா வைரஸ் இன் பாதிப்புக்குட்பட்டிருக்கலாம் என சந்தேகப்பட்டவர்கள் தங்க வைக்கப்பட்டிருக்கும் ‘கரண்டைன்’ எனப்படும் தனிமைப்படுத்தப்பட்ட பராமரிப்பு நிலையத்திலுள்ளவர்களுக்கு உதவும் நோக்குடன் முஸ்லிம் எய்ட் சிறிலங்கா நிறுவனம், இலங்கை இராணுவத் தலைமையத்தினூடாக உடன் உண்ணக்கூடிய உணவுப் பதார்த்தங்களை உள்ளடக்கிய 1000 பொதிகளை இன்று 20ம் திகதி காலை வினியோகம் செய்துள்ளது.
இன, மத, நாடுகள் என்ற எல்லைகளைத் தாண்டி அனைத்து மக்களையும் பல்வேறு வகையிலும் கொரணா வைரஸ் நோய்த் தொற்று பாதித்துள்ளது. உலக வரலாற்றில் மிகவும் பாரிய மனிதகுல அச்சுறுத்தலாக இந்த வைரஸ் தொற்று மாறி வருகின்றது. உலக நாடுகள் பலவற்றையும் அதிர்ச்சியில் உறைய வைத்திருக்கும் கொரணா ஊழுஏஐனு 19 வைரஸ் இன் தாக்கம் நமது இலங்கை நாட்டையும் விட்டு வைக்கவில்லை. எனவே மனித நேயம் கொண்ட அனைவரும் தமக்கு சக்திக்குட்பட்ட வகையில் இந்த அனர்த்த நெருக்கடியினால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டவர்களுக்கு உதவுவதுடன் இந்த அச்சுறுத்தலில் இருந்து விடுபடுவதற்கு அரசாங்கம் மேற்கொண்டு வருகின்ற பாதுகாப்பு மற்றும் மனித நேய முயற்சிகளுக்கு தமது தரப்பில் முழுமையான ஒத்துழைப்பினை வழங்க வேண்டியது கட்டாய கடமையாகும்.
15 வருடங்களாக இலங்கை எதிர்நோக்கிய அனைத்து பாரிய மனித நேய நெருக்கடிகளுக்கும் முன்னின்று பணியாற்றிய முஸ்லிம் எய்ட் சிறிலங்கா ஆபத்தான இக் கொரணா வைரஸ் நெருக்கடியில் பாதிக்கப்பட்ட மக்களுக்கு உதவும் நோக்குடன் தனது பணியினை ஆரம்பித்துள்ளது என்பதுடன் இம் மனித அவலத்திலிருந்து நமது மக்களை மீட்டெடுக்கும் முயற்சியில் முஸ்லிம் எய்ட் தனது முதன்மையான கவனத்தை குவித்துள்ளது.
කොරෝනා වෛරසය ආසාදනය වී ඇති බවට සැක කරන අය රඳවා තබාගෙන ඇති නිරෝධායන මධ්යස්ථානවල රැඳී සිටින අයට උපකාර කිරීමේ අරමුණින් මුස්ලිම් ඒඩ් ශ්රී ලංකා ආයතනය මගින් ශ්රී ලංකා යුද්ධ හමුදාව හා එක්ව අද පෙරවරුවේ ආහාරපාන පැකට් 1000 ක් බෙදා දී තිබේ.
කොරෝනා වෛරසය ජනවාර්ගික, ආගමික හා ජාතික සීමාවන් වලින් තොරව මිනිසුන් හට ආසාදනය වී ඇත. මෙම වෛරසය දැනට ලෝකයේ විශාලතම මානව තර්ජනයක් බවට පත්ව ඇත. ලොව බොහෝ රටවල් කම්පනයට පත් කර ඇති කොරෝනා කොවිඩ්-19 වෛරසයේ බලපෑම ශ්රී ලංකාවෙන් තවම ඉවත්ව ගොස් නැත. එබැවින්, මෙම ආපදා අර්බුදයෙන් විපතට පත්වූවන්ට උපකාර කිරීම සඳහා සියලූ මානව හිතවාදීන් උපරිමයෙන් කටයුතු කිරීම අත්යවශ්ය වන අතර මෙම තර්ජනය මඟහරවා ගැනීම සඳහා රජය විසින් ගනු ලබන ආරක්ෂාව සහ මානුෂීය ප්රයත්නයන් සඳහා ඔවුන් හට උපරිම සහයෝගය ලබා දීම අත්යවශ්ය වේ.
වසර 15 ක් තිස්සේ ශ්රී ලංකාව මුහුණ දුන් සියලූ මානුෂීය අර්බුද ජයගැනීමට සහය ලබාදුන් මුස්ලිම් ඒඩ් ශ්රී ලංකා ආයතනය මෙම මාරාන්තික වෛරස් අර්බුදයෙන් පීඩාවට පත් ජනතාවට උපකාර කිරීමේ මෙහෙයුම ආරම්භ කර ඇති අතර, මෙම ඛේදවාචකයෙන් ගොඩ ඒමට අපේ ජනතාවට උපකාර කිරීම සඳහා ඔවුන්ගේ මූලික අවධානය යොමු කර ඇත.
On request of primary schools of Sanmuga and Sindu in the resettled village of Pallikkudiyiruppu, Muslim Aid supported 20 children with school packs to start their first day at school.
The event was held today (03.02.2020) at the T/Mut/ Kalaimahal Hindu College with the participation of the principal, teachers and staff of Muslim Aid.
Although the literacy rate in Sri Lanka is approximately 94%, in remote and underdeveloped villages, children are still facing severe hardships to start and continue their education. One of such villages is Pallikudiyiruppu, a resettled village in Trincomalee district where the villagers had to face multiple displacements due to the war that lasted for three decades and ended only in 2009.
There are five preschools in five small communities in the Pallikudiyiruppu resettled village. All the families from this region were displaced to Batticaloa and Trincomalee districts and a few families took refuge in India around 10-15 years backs. All the families are poor and lost everything during the displacement.
The parents and the preschool teachers sent their request through the District Secretary in Trincomalee to the Muslim Aid field office, five days prior to today’s event; and The Assistant Government Agent facilitated the process. After the assessing the situation, Muslim Aid Sri Lanka allocated funds and arranged the school packs for distribution promptly. This activity falls under the ‘Education for All – Up for School’ programme.
The new preschool kids were ceremonially welcomed by grade one kids and the teachers. A school teacher spoke at the event saying,
In December last year, Muslim Aid distributed school packs to students from three ethnic communities, starting from Vilankulam of Trincomalee and reaching out to three other Sinhala schools from the Kuliyapitiya region.
Muslim Aid celebrates 15 years of dedicated service in Sri Lanka this year. It has been operating in Sri Lanka since 2005 as a humanitarian and development agency working in five strategic areas including economic empowerment, humanitarian support; education development, health, water and sanitation. Muslim Aid’s programmes are combined with peace-building and social cohesion among communities in the country.
This marked the first activity of Muslim Aid’s 15th year anniversary celebration
The blood donation campaign organized by Muslim Aid Sri Lanka and the Sri Jayawardenapura University Muslim Majlis (Association) was launched today at 9:00 am at the management faculty building of the university, with the participation of interfaith leaders, university staff, the National Blood Bank department, students of Sri Jayawardenapura University and staff of Muslim Aid Sri Lanka. This activity is one of many, including a tree-planting campaign and beach clean-up that are planned to be implemented in celebration of Muslim Aid’s 15 years of service in the country.
The Muslim Majlis of Sri Jayawardena University joined with Muslim Aid Sri Lanka to organize the blood donation event with the approval of the university management. Rev. Fr. Rajiv Alexander welcomed this joint effort and expressed that helping others is the prime duty of human beings. Ash-sheik Arkam Nooramith, who also graced the event, pointed out in his blessing note that sacrificing one to another is human responsibility. Also present at the event was Fathoum Zaleeha Issadeen, Bronze Medal winner for Squash at the SAG (South Asian Games) 2019.
“This event is one of our national development programmes” said senior lecturer Dr. Roshan Ajwad. At the inauguration of the event, senior staff member and Head of HR and Administration of Muslim Aid Sri Lanka Mrs. Indika Abeysuriya, welcomed all the stake holders and participants and thanked the student association of the Sri Jayawardenapura University.
Under the campaign ‘Up for School 2020’, Muslim Aid Sri Lanka, under its “Education for All” programme brought joy to 55 poor students and their families
The Muslim Aid team with the support of youth and the school administration, distributed 55 school packs to the poor students from 3 rural Sinhala schools in the Kuliyapitiya Education Zone.
25 students from Wadumunna Sinhala Vidyalaya, 20 students from Uduwewa Vidyalaya and 10 students from Konwewa Vidyalaya received the school packs in December 2019 to start of their new academic year with new school materials. Religious leaders, community leaders, SDC members, teachers and parents, Grama Niladhari officer and Police officers participated the handing over events.
Principals of the respective schools, SDC members, community leaders and two youth groups – Global Youth Club from Annukkana village and Youth Dedication from Kotambapitiya village were fully engaged in organizing the three events. All the families that benefitted from this support are vulnerable and make a meagre and irregular wages through daily labour work. These families often find themselves in despair at the beginning of a new academic year, as purchasing of school materials is forthcoming. The principals and the parents expressed a feeling of great relief having received this support.
Religious leaders of Buddhism and Islam appreciated Muslim Aid for this form of assistance and reach, while stressing that there would not be education development or economic development in the country if we failed in building trust and harmony among the different faith communities in Sri Lanka. One of the faith leaders said, “There are forces in small numbers working hard to divide the citizens of Sri Lanka, but majority of the people are eager for sustainable peace and harmony in our country”.
The Muslim Aid Sri Lanka team assured participants that it is ready to use all the opportunities and resources available to build trust and social harmony wherever it works; and would like to continue working together with grassroot Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities as it has for the past 15 years.
The Election Commission of Sri Lanka, Muslim Aid Sri Lanka, and the British Council Sri Lanka hosted a Disability Action Forum 2019, to celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (3 December) at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute, Colombo 7.
The Disability Forum 2019 was the extension of Active Citizen Priyankha Jeyaraj’s social action project Nethraloka, which began as a project to empower and bring awareness about the visually impaired. Priyankha is an Active Citizen and Facilitator of British Council’s Active Citizens programme; and the Head of Volunteers for Muslim Aid Sri Lanka.
Team Muslim Aid, the organization’s dedicated volunteer team, under the leadership of Ms.Priyankha and support from the Election Commission of Sri Lanka, Muslim Aid Sri Lanka and British Council Sri Lanka, organized the forum featuring wonderful performances by participants from two schools that serve the needs of disabled persons, especially children, by providing special education, rehabilitation and vocational training. The forum served as a platform for the youth from these institutes to showcase their talents.
The event started off with a registration process designed to be inclusive for disabled persons, and everyone had to go through a voting scenario that included use of a wheel chair, cane etc to show how the disable are included in the process of voting and how their rights can be exercised and preserved.It also reinforced the message that inclusion is paramount in every aspect of life, in every building, workplace, homes and even on the roads, if we are to uphold and preserve their rights.
Election Commissioner and Chairman of Election Commission of Sri Lanka, Mr.Mahinda Deshapriya, graced the event and delivered his keynote speech on the significance of the day and inclusion in the elections process and empathy.
Muslim Aid Sri Lanka has supported disabled persons and their families through income generation, water and sanitation and volunteer projects, since 2015. Speaking at the event Mr. Faizer Khan, Country Director of Muslim Aid Sri Lanka said
“We need to think about ways of supporting persons with disability in better ways than welfare and charity. We need to provide them access and space, but change the way of approaching them with sympathy. We must include them into our mainstream society by action, and empower them in ways to be independent financially and socially; so that they will be part of our society, rather than be welfare receivers or depend on others. They could become tax payers to the country and their productivity will be added to the country’s economy”.
Hospital and computer equipment handed over to
Wathupitiwala base hospital and Meerigama base hospital in the Gampaha district.
With the funding support of the UNHCR, Muslim Aid handed over 4.3 million worth of hospital equipment to two hospitals namely Wathupitiwala base hospital and Meerigama base hospital in the Gampaha district.
Wathupitiwala base hospital is the third largest hospital in Gampaha District and is one of the oldest hospitals in the country with a 110 year old history. The hospital operates with 600 bed strength and human resources of 17 Medical consultants, 143 medical officers, 03 dental surgeons,333 nursing officers, 50 paramedical staff 200 health care assistants and 20 office staff.Muslim Aid handed over 2.1 million worth of computer equipment to enhance their digital radiography programme.
Meanwhile Meerigama base hospital received essential hospital equipment worth 2.2 million for smooth running of their services. It included apparatus such as medicine and dressing trolleys, ECG monitor and oxygen cylinder stands, cabinets and other items needed in the operating theater.
The event was graced by Ms. Shirani Wickremasinghe, Senior Programme Associate – UNHCR, Mr.Faizer Khan, Country Director – Muslim Aid Sri Lanka; Mr.Shaheel Thajudeen, Senior Protection Assistant – UNHCR , Deputy Directors of the hospital; as well as consultants, staff and nurses.