Plan Sri Lanka Annual Progress Report 2009

BANGLADESH

A YEAR IN

SRI LAN09KA SUMMARY REPORT

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GOOD REASONS why Plan works in Sri Lanka

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A girl works on a multimedia project as part of youth participation

• 1.2 million Sri Lankans live in absolute poverty • Nearly a third of children under five in rural areas are underweight • More than a quarter of people in rural areas do not have access to clean water

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Our priorities in Sri Lanka INDIA

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• Protecting the health of children and young people • Promoting nursery care and schooling for children and young people

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• Improving children’s and families’ access to clean water and sanitation

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• Protecting children’s rights and helping children to take part in the progress of their communities

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Students work on a problem during a math’s class

SRI LANKA

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SRI LANKA FACTS Capital: Colombo Population: 19.2 million Language: Sinhala

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Climate: The climate of Sri Lanka is tropical and warm.

The mean temperature ranges from about 16 °C in the Central Highlands to a maximum of approximately 33 °C in other low-altitude areas. May, the hottest

INDONESIA

period, precedes the summer monsoon rains. The rainfall pattern is influenced by monsoon winds from the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal: as the winds encounter the mountain slopes of the Central Highlands, they unload heavy rains on the slopes and the southwestern areas of the island. Some of the windward slopes receive up to 2500 mm of rain each month.

Economy: In the 19th and 20th Centuries, Sri Lanka became a plantation economy, famous for its production and export of cinnamon, rubber and Ceylon tea, which remains a trademark national export. The development of modern ports under British rule raised the strategic importance of the island as a centre of trade. From 1977 the UNP government began incorporating privatisation,

deregulation and promotion of private enterprise. While the production and export of tea, rubber, coffee, sugar and other agricultural commodities remains important, the nation has moved steadily towards an industrialised economy with the development of food processing, textiles, telecommunications and finance. Parts of Sri Lanka, particularly the South and East coast, were devastated

by the 2004 Asian Tsunami.

In recent years the economy was buoyed by an influx of foreign aid and tourists, but this was disrupted with the reemergence of the civil war resulting in increased lawlessness in the country and a sharp decline in tourism.

A YEAR IN

A SRI LANK09 SUMMARY REPORT

FOCUS ON: CREATING SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS Plan is working to give rural families greater financial stability.

Our programme includes assisting farmers in improving crop yields to increase their food supply and income, and helping families to plant vegetable gardens.

We promote financial services, offering families the chance to save and borrow for initiatives like small businesses. We support employment training for young people and work with families to improve road and transport systems, so they can access markets and other services.

MY TOMORROW

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Teachers share new learning techniques

The Bigger Picture

Plan is working with children, families and whole communities to address the problems that Sri Lanka faces. This report can only tell a small part of that story. As a further insight, last year we also: • Improved the quality of children’s education by helping communities to build or rehabilitate 32 schools or education centres • Helped 236 new families to begin growing produce to give their children a more nutritious diet • Supported training for police officers on ways to protect children from abuse.

Your support as a sponsor is crucial to achieving these positive results. So on behalf of the communities, partner organisations, and most of all the children we work with – thank you!

itting at her sewing machine in a clothing factory in Kandy, central Sri Lanka, Amita has very definite ideas about where the future is taking her.

“I have an ambition to start my own tailoring shop where I can work independently after getting married,” she says.

So far, the signs are good that Amita will achieve her ambition. She enjoys her job and she’s good at it. If she works hard she will be promoted to supervisor, another step on the way to becoming a successful businesswoman.

For now, she’s happy to earn a regular wage and have enough to put aside each month. She can even afford to buy clothes and gifts for her family when she goes to see them.

Two years ago, the idea of a life and a job in the city seemed a world away for Amita. At the age of 24, she lived with her parents, grandmother and two brothers on the Loolcandura Tea Estate, in Hewaheta, central Sri Lanka.

Amita’s parents work as casual labourers on the estate. Money is tight, the work is back-breakingly hard and it’s a struggle to meet the family’s needs.

Indeed, Amita and her brother were forced to drop out of school when the cost of uniforms, schoolbooks and transport became an expense their parents simply couldn’t afford.

Innovative

“We were split into groups and given some interesting games to play. At some games we succeeded and at others we failed but this gave me the strength to face challenges” To learn more about Plan’s work in Sri Lanka visit plan.org.au/ourwork/asia/srilanka

Produced for Sri Lanka by the Australian National Office.

For three years, Amita stayed at home and spent her days helping with chores around the house.

She had few prospects until she learned about the Mage Heta (My Tomorrow) employment training programme.

A joint initiative between Plan, Indian children’s charity the CAP Foundation of India and local partner Jobs Net, Mage Heta aims to offer young people working on tea plantations the opportunity to learn the skills they need to find work in a number of Sri Lankan industries.

“The idea of a life and a job in the city seemed a world away for Amita”

The project is designed to help young people fill recognised gaps in the job market. At the Mage Heta centre close to the Loolcandura estate, students follow a three-month course that includes classroom and practical teaching, visits to various workplaces, preparation for working life and guidance in skills like problem-solving, or setting personal goals.

At the end of the course, students are placed in jobs with carefully-chosen employers who pay a fair wage, offer further training and treat employees well.

Life-changing Amita admits she applied for a place on the course because it took place near her home. She chose to study garment making. Very quickly, she realised she had made a good decision.

“We were split into groups and given some interesting games to play. At some games we succeeded and at others we failed but this gave me the strength to face challenges,” she says.

She progressed to learning how to operate a sewing machine and make various items of clothing, explaining: “I was able to learn all kinds of cutting and sewing techniques.”

After successfully completing her training, Amita’s tutor helped her to prepare for her interview at a clothes factory that is known to take good care of their workers’ welfare. “I managed to face the interview and I succeeded,” she smiles.

Amita’s determination and new skills have changed her life. But it doesn’t end here. She is determined they will change her brother’s life too, saying: “I will support my younger brother’s higher education, so that he can become a government officer.”

With Plan’s support, a new generation is putting poverty behind them.

Some names have been changed for child protection and privacy purposes.

plan.org.au