To: Mr. Sripathy Sivanadiyan
Island Restoration Society - London
5th July 2010
Report on Island Projects (Elluvaithivau & Kayts)
Little Aid are pleased to announce our latest project updates in collaboration with the Islands Restoration Society (IRS).
Elluvaithivu – Tube well Project
Little Aid delegates visited Elluvaithivu on Thursday 24th June 2010 to meet village leaders and members of the public at the Fisherman Cooperative Society- Elluvaithivu. Little Aid had a lengthy discussion with Mr V Vadivalagayan (GS-Elluvaithuivu), Miss E Ganachelvi (Village Medical Officer), and Mr Arul Nathan Amalanathan (Secretary – Fisherman Cooperative), briefing them about Little Aid's mission and current projects in collaboration with Islands Restoration Society (IRS).
Photos taken at Fisherman Coorperative Society- Elluvaithivu
The discussion covered the benefits of having a well built in the village. All present agreed that a new well would be very useful to the villagers, and that there are several locations available but that it will be most advantageous to build the well in land owned by the Fishermen Society. Elluvaithivu consists of 750 people in total (486 adults and 264 children) and 90% of the population are fishermen. Fishermen Society representatives were not in favour of installing a tubewell as they felt it would not fulfil their needs. They explained that ideally a traditional large well with a safety wall surrounding it and with a platform would be better than a tubewell. Due to the large amount of salt water on the island the depth of the well would have to be between 10 and 20 Feet with a width as large as possible. The expert present suggested that the well has to be located where the ground has more stone than sand. In such areas there are more chances of getting satisfactory water.
A rough estimate of costs came to minimum Rs130, 000. The Fishermen Cooperative Society was more than willing to organise the labour if Little Aid could provide an expert to supervise the project. Little Aid agreed to donate the money directly to the Fisherman Society’s bank account. We hope to commence this project this week and expect completion of the project by 15 August 2010.
On behalf of the Village, Mr Arul Nathan Amalanathan (Secretary – Fisherman Cooperative Society) conveyed his sincere thanks to the members of IRS. Mr V Vadivalagayan (GS Elluvaithuivu) stated he is more than willing to help us on this project.
Delegates of Little Aid visited the Primary School at Elluvaithivu and the proposed site of the new hospital which is to be built in Elluvithivu. Mr Noel Nadesan (Australia) is in charge of the hospital project in Elluvaithivu and the work to be commenced soon.
Little Aid also vested the Elluvaithivu Health Centre and donated medicine worth £1200. On behalf of the village , Miss E Ganachelvi (Village Medical Officer) received this donation from Mr.T Constantine. These gifts consist of Allergy tablets, Heartburn tablets, Gastric tablets and general pain killers.
Medicine donation received by Miss E. Ganachelvi (Village Medical Officer - Elluvaithivu)
Medicine Donation to Kayts General Hospital
On recommendation by the Islands Restoration Society, Little Aid donated £20,000 worth of medicine to Kayts General Hospital on 24th June 2010. On behalf of the General Public Dr Aruna Puniyamoorthy received this medicine. Kayts is the main hospital for all the islands. Although Kayts as an island consists of 18,000 people, its serves 58,000 people in total.
Our delegation has visited several hospitals in Sri Lanka. Without any doubt we delegates felt that Kayts Hospital was extremely well organised, clean, and all in all, outstanding. The Medical Superintendant Dr Puniyamoorthy was proud to say that standards were kept high due to the hard work of staff. Dr Aruna Puniyamoorthy conveyed his sincere thanks to Mr Sripathy Sivanadiyan and to IRS for funding the medicine donation project. He explained that there are no imaging facilities in the hospital for example ultrasound scans for pregnant women.
On average Kayts hospital oversees 15 urgent deliveries per month and the hospital would benefit enormously from having simple ultrasound scanners for use in pregnant women and multiple other medical conditions. Little Aid trustees will meet to discuss how best to raise money towards this project and appreciate any donations from our supporters to expedite this.
Medicine donation received by Dr Aruna Puniyamoorthy from Mr. T. Constantine
