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Elder Care
Introduction
Senior citizens in Sri Lanka have no support mechanism such as old age pension. Some rely on the small (and often inadequate) pension derived from employment. Others depend completely on their children to support them. The majority of senior citizens live with their children.
Traditions of the east place the responsibility of looking after parents on the children and this is considered a precious responsibility. However economic hardships and both husband and wife going out to work makes it increasingly difficult for the children to look after their parents, bringing with it much sadness into the lives of all concerned.
The Sahana Foundation has heeded the call for help from the village and developed a project to establish a day care centre and a residential facility which would relieve the burden on the children from time to time and enable the preservation of the extended family life with the grand parents playing an important role in the family.
Project: Day care and residential facility for Senior Citizens.
Back ground:
At present there are no facilities in the Beruwala/Aluthgama area for senior citizens. Some attempt has been made in the village to establish a facility for senior citizens and land had been allocated. But no progress has been made due to lack of funds and coordination, apart from one incomplete building. At the request of the village the Sahana Foundation has taken over the project to build a day care centre and a residential facility of ten rooms to look after the aged for a period of 5 years. It is envisaged that the centre will be handed over to the village community at the end of 5 years if they are in a position to continue with the project.
Location: Between the coastal towns of Beruwala and Aluthgama, about half a KM from Barberyn Reef Ayurveda Resort, Beruwala.
Project activities
The project activities will be in phases and include the following:
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Build and operate a day care centre that can accommodate about 30 - 40 senior citizens.
The centre will have the basic facilities needed and provide recreational activities and breakfast, lunch and tea to the senior citizens
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Residential facility of ten rooms where the senior citizens can stay overnight or for short durations at times when the children are not in a position to look after them.
The Sahana Foundation is preparing a project plan, including architectural drawings and will update the information on this web site.
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