Elephant fence in Sooriyawewa declared opened by His Lordship Rt. Rev. Dr. Raymond Wickramasinghe.

Caritas Sed Galle the Social & Economic Development center of Galle Diocese is implementing the project in the 3 Districts of Galle, Matara & Hambantota.

Food Security Project – Matara District

5 CBO Groups of Welipitiya DS Division

Food Security Project
06th March 2024, at the auditorium of Divisional Secretariat office, Welipitiya

Food Security Project – Matara District
Capacity building training programme for farmers - Month of March 2024

In commemoration of the the 200th year of the arrival of the plantation people “ Malayagam”, Two classrooms were constructed and declared opened by His Lordship Rt. Rev. Dr. Raymond Wickramasinghe.

Student in 5th Grade selected for this program from Andaragasyaya School and Kirindagama School has been benifited.

Under the Caritas Korea Primary Education Project, the additional budget we received this year, we were able to provide external learning support kits as follows to beneficiary schools.

The World Children’s day was celebrated at Andaragasyaya Primary School in Hambantota District under Caritas Korean Primary Education Development Project.

Distributed chicks to the farmers in the District's of Galle, Matara & Hambantota.

Fruit Tree planting program in conjunction with religious harmony program at Hambantota.

Providing of financial support for construction ten new toilets for selected of 10 vulnerable families at Patna in Deniyaya.  

“Suwa Dekma” a Local Foods and Ayurvedic Exhibition was held at Divisional Secretary’s Office premises, Weligama on 11th December 2023  (from 10.00 AM to 4.00 PM). This exhibition was organized by Caritas SED Galle in collaboration with the Divisional Secretary’s Office, Weligama, Agrarian Centre Mirissa, Department of Ayurveda of Southern Province and “Sithamu” Women Agricultural Societies.      

Health and Hygienic awareness programme for school children at Nabadagawewa National School in Suriyawewa.

Tissa lake and city cleanup campaign held on 30th November 2023, collaboration with Janadipathi Collage ,Tissamaharama Divisional Secretariat and Pradeshiya Sabha and Trade union.

Health and hygienic awareness programme for school children at Handford tamil maha viddalaya and Aninkanda Tamil viddalaya.

The invited  guests were thereafter  welcome and proceeded to the Auditorium for  the inauguration ceremony.  After religious observations,  Very Rev. Fr. Charles Hewawasam  (Vicar General - Diocese of Galle), Rev. Fr. Luke  Nelson Perera, National Director of Caritas Sri Lanka SEDEC,  Mr K.P.G.Sumith (Additional GA, Hambantota) and Mr N.W. Udayakumara, Manager (Manager in charge of Tele Cinema Village) spoke on this occasion.   Miss Evanjalina Sampathwaduge (Programme Officer, DRRM Unit, Caritas Sri Lanka also emphasized  the value and importance of  disaster management training in today’s context and requested all to participate with dedication  as DRRM Unit at National  Centre is always ready and well prepared to  guide and assist you  to  proactively prepare our communities, making them more resilient and  ready to face these disasters.

Caritas SED Galle along with CODESEP   who  work for the betterment of  plantation community in Galle Diocese,    organized a Ceremony  named “Malayagam 200” in Deniyaya on 20th August 2023 to commemorate 200 years since  the arrival of Sri Lankan Plantation community (known as persons of Indian Origin) who have been brought to Sri Lanka by the British to work as labour on estates. This commemoration was organized under the Project “Lighting the Lives of the Plantation People”. 

Attitude Development, Leadership and Counselling Training Programme on Teachers for President junior School in Tissamaharama (Hambantota District ) under the Misereor DRR Project.

A Board of Directors’ meeting of Caritas Sri Lanka (SEDEC) was held  at Caritas SED Galle Staff Room on 26th August 2023. It was a truly a memorable occasion as it was the first time a Board of Directors’ Meeting was facilitated at Caritas SED Galle.

This Programme was held at Nadiganwila  Primary School with the participation of students sitting for 5th Year Scholarship Examination this year from Nadiganwila, Andaragayaya, Kirindagama and Abeysekeragama Primary Schools in Hambantota District. Students of Grade 4 from Nadiganwila School also participated as this programme was held at Nadigamwila.

Teachers and parents of these students also took part in this Programme.

A number of  nutritional awareness programmes  were conducted by these Community Medical Officers attached to the Provincial Department of Ayuveda  in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka targeting  mostly pre-school children of pre-schools, their mothers and families in villages where we conduct food security related activities with the objective of  improving their nutrition levels. These  nutrition related prorgammes were conducted  in collaboration with Caritas SED Galle.

We are most grateful to Mr Gerard Chitty of Irasil Foundaiton of  Australia for granting financial assistance to improve the quality of  paddy seeds to increase rice production of paddy lands in Hambantota District in Sri Lanka.

We have identified many issues in relation  to agriculture especially in  paddy farming. One main issue is Inadequate income  to cover expenditure due to increase  in agricultural input prices. Due to the present economic crisis, inability to purchase high-quality seeds   has resulted  in the decline of yield significantly. The service charges of tractors and harvesters  have also increased three times due to increase in fuel cost. Falling prices of paddy at harvest time,  exploitation due to  monopoly by large-scale traders and increase in wages for workers  are some of other issues faced by farmers.

The lack of clean drinking water is a persistent issue in many of the schools in Hambantota District in Sri Lanka. The water supplied to schools at present is unfit for drinking purposes due to its high salinity level.

Caritas Humanitarian Aid &  Relief Initiatives, Singapore (CHARIS) came forward to assist the students of most remote villages who are from most poor and vulnerable families to have access to clean and purified drinking water facilities. As a sustainable solution, a number of Water filtration units were installed in three such schools namely Samanalagama Primary School, Hedawinna Primary School and Andaagasyaya Primary School. The students and teachers are very thankful to CHARIS Organization as now they enjoy clean and purified water.

A Training Programme on production of  vermicompost (worm manure) was conducted on 3rd May 2023 by  Mr Rasika Rukshan ( one of the very experienced farmers  in Hiyare who has achieved a remarkable  success  in producing vermicompost). This programme was conducted at a model farm belonging to Mr Kalinga at Kanampitiya . A total of 40 Members of Arunalu Agrcultural Society,  farmers in and around Kanampitiya participated at this programme organized by Caritas SED Galle.

Career guidance & Leadership training workshop for youth under the conflict mitigation project.

Caritas SED Galle distributed Dry Ration Nutrition Packs and Model Question Papers to students who are due to sit for 5th-year scholarship examinations in the year 2023 from 05 Primary Schools ( 32 students at Nadigamwila Primary School, 54 students at Andaragasaya Primary School, 22 students at Kirindagama Primary School, 16 students at Abeysekaragama Primary School and 39 students at Wanigasiri Primary School totaling to 163 students on 28th April 2023 under Caritas Korean Primary Education Development Project.

We have established a Model Home Garden at Caritas SED Galle Premises as a Production Model . This Model Home Garden has now become a well-developed Home Garden. This was developed under the Food Security Project (Addressing Causes for Poverty and Ensuring Food Security Security for Farming Communities in Sri Lanka) funded by Caritas Norway/NORAD.

Awareness Training Programme for zero Budget Farming,Traditional Seeds Protection and Eco Frendly Family Garden Development at Mahagalwewa,Koswatta, Patna and Beminiyanwila VLEGs on Environment Project.

The Project of “Addressing Causes for Poverty and Ensuring Food Security for Farming Communities”  funded by Caritas Norway is being implemented by  Caritas SED Galle to establish 2000 Home gardens in Galle,  Matara and Hambantota Districts. The Home Vegetable Garden Program seeks to increase access to healthy food for low income residents through establishing home gardens and providing one on one garden support at family homes, Community Knowledge Centers, Schools and Religious Institutions. Program participants are provided free seedlings, seeds, and other necessary tools and supplies as well. As necessary trainings,  home gardening provide participants with opportunities to build resilience through increased community engagement, opportunities for inter-generational experience and improvements in their health from exercise and increased consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.
This partnership (Between University of Colombo Institute for Agro-technology and Rural Sciences, ,Weligatta and Caritas SED Galle &) will be paired with a garden mentor to provide extra support to help them reach their goals, whether it be help with water management, soil erosion control, pest management, or spending more time with their families outside.

All Parishes in the Diocese of Galle too commemorated the Easter Sunday  attack on 21st April 2023  by  candlelight vigils, prayer services, marches and displaying  banners in the three districts of Galle, Matara & Hambantota. Banners were   displayed  in three languages (English, Sinhala and Tamil).

A special new unit was declared open to learn computers at CODESEP on the 10th February 2023.

Distribution of Food pack for selected 45 needy families in Ambalantota DS Division under Mesereor DRR Project

International womens day celebration programme at Hambantota.