With the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019, Sri Lanka had a major economic downturn ever since. And with the increasing cost of living, tightening of financial conditions, and most importantly difficulties in fulfilling basic needs; the health sector of the country is affected severely.
The hospitals have had a devastating impact from the crisis and high inflation causing a shortage of resources and rising prices; where some hospitals had to shut down certain units due to a lack of proper resources and funds to run the hospital.
Moreover, public sector hospitals are comparatively facing more difficulties when it comes to fulfilling requirements and accessing the necessary equipment. This situation can be seen in Children’s hospitals as well, where the children need extra care and support, but the hospitals are unable to fulfill them due to a lack of funds and equipment.
By taking this issue as a major concern for children and healthcare, the Rotaract Club of Kandy decided to contribute to helping a Children’s hospital, by providing the hospital with the required resources to carry out their operations smoothly.
The project ‘Helping Small Hands’ was executed by the club to donate grey sheets to the operation theatre of Srimavo Bandaranayake Children’s Hospital, Kandy. Contributions were made by both the members of the club as well as by generous contributors outside the club who were eager to help.
The objectives of the project were to support the management of the hospital in providing services to the children who are gaining treatment and to give hope to the hospital officials that we are all in this together and will support each other amidst this crisis. Additionally, it was the club’s way of expressing our gratitude and respect towards the hospital for its service.
The project took place at the selected hospital on the 05th of November, 2022 and the club managed to donate 110m of grey sheets.
Moreover, the hospital’s management including the director and the people in charge were immensely satisfied with the effort the club put into doing such a project and expressed their appreciation and encouraged the club to continue such projects, especially during hard times like this, so many people and especially children would be benefited.
