Projects

Lankahelp pays the salaries of 85 Indian Tamil teachers, assistants and trainee teachers at various schools in the districts of Batticaloa, Badulla, Monaragala and Kegalle (as of March 2024). There is a shortage of teachers at Tamil schools in the mountainous region, particularly in English, math and science.

With the help of scholarships, Lankahelp helps to train Tamil teachers.

The kindergarten in Sri Lanka is called preschool. During this time children already learn math, writing and reading in tamil, singhalese and english. These are very different styles of language.

Attending preschool is not govermentaly funded and must be paid solely by the parents. For many parents it is not possible to raise the funds, therefore will those children already be disadvantaged by reaching primary school. Lanka-Help wants to provide a better schoolstart for those children.

Mayomi, a young woman from Negombo, taught herself how to crochet and taught this technique to women from her grandfather’s village near Kurunegala. In the meantime, Mayomi supports and employs 12 women.

Menstruation and menstrual practices still face many social, cultural and religious taboos. In many parts of Sri Lanka, especially in the rural mountain areas, girls are not prepared for menstruation and do not know how to manage it, so they face many difficulties and challenges at home, at school and at work.

Many families need financial support to be able to send their children to school. To enable children to get a secondary education, Lankahelp grants a monthly scholarship of currently CHF 30.00 on average to children, juveniles and students at A-level, at universities and for vocational training, in addition to financial contributions from family and relatives. As of Sept. 2020, 153 schoolchildren and students are supported.

In connection with the  «Menstruation as a taboo subject» project, it emerged that toilets for girls are urgently needed. Lankahelp is building toilet facilities exclusively for girls to provide them with the necessary privacy, hygiene facilities and shelter.

The construction plan for the toilet facility at Tamil Central College Bandarawela was designed by a woman from Liechtenstein. It turned out perfectly!

There are elementary schools in most villages. From 6th to 11th grade (Junior Secondary and Senior Secondary School) and from 12th to 13th grade (Advanced Level), lessons usually only take place in regional schools, i.e. the young people have to leave the village, as colleges are generally only available in larger towns.

As most families cannot afford these expenses, we provide hostels for girls and boys in Beragala and Kandaloya to enable children from poor families to attend secondary schools.

Due to the socio-ecological situation in the rural Tamil areas in the mountains and on the east coast in the Batticaloa district, extra tuition and a healthy lunch are essential to minimise school drop-outs.

These school dropouts also have long-term negative consequences for the children, such as considerable losses in future career and earning opportunities. The majority of these children and young people face the fate of having to work as day labourers on tea or rubber plantations.