Our Partners

Together with 5 partners in 5 different programs throughout the Central and Southern parts of Sri Lanka, CCFC Sri Lanka has transformed impoverished neighbourhoods into fully functioning sustainable ones. Our partners are locally registered experts in the area of international and community development, who are chosen through detailed pre-affiliation guidelines.

Through our partnership, we develop participatory programs that build a community's ability to create and manage sustainable improvements. We help community members gain the skills needed to think about and manage workable solutions for their problems, themselves.

All of CCFC projects are planned and budgeted annually. The Country Office plays an oversight role and assists partner organizations to build and strengthen their capacities by providing direction, guidance and advice. It also plays a role in monitoring the project activities and assisting the partners in evaluating the impact of their programs.

Programs and Partners

CCFC and its partners have programs in both the northern and southern regions of Sri Lanka.

The northern programs are in the district of Jaffna and the southern programs are in the districts of Kegalled, Colombo and Kalutara. All our Sri Lankan programs are divided into two categories, institutional and community based.

Institutional based programs take place at schools where children live. Children enrolled in this type of program are provided with education, health, nutrition, social and spiritual development.

Community based programs include the involvement of the community. These programs include providing water, sanitation, health, housing, nutrition, Micro-Enterprise Development and education, all of which are carried out with community involvement and participation.

• Number of Partners - 5
• Number of Programs - 5
• Number of authorized children - 4090
• Number of children under age 5 - 871
• Number of school-aged children - 1513
• Number of high school aged children - 2148

Micro-Enterprise Development

To create a long-term cycle of self-reliance, families need sustainable ways to generate income. Initiatives like Micro-Enterprise Development (MED) provide lasting solutions to help the "poorest of the poor" learn to provide for themselves and jump-start the economy of their community.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has ranked CCFC's MED program as one of the most effective in Sri Lanka.

MED programs encourage community members to work with CCFC and our local partners to develop new marketable job skills. Community members purchase the collateral they need to start and grow their income and buy the materials to reinvest back into their small businesses.

To be eligible, each MED recipient must join a self-help group to act as each other's guarantors. If one member does not pay, then the others are responsible for repayment. This structure has been shown to greatly limit default of MED loans and presents a highly successful repayment rate of 98%.

The MED programs in Sri Lanka are all community based. This program is designed to provide training in micro-enterprise skills and credit loans for four CCFC project partners and their communities. The majority of participants in CCFC Sri Lanka's MED program are females.

Successes:

• In 2008, 110 new MED participants were identified.
• 824 participants enrolled in Sri Lanka's MED program.
• 10 technical training programs were introduced ( agriculture, food processing and sewing) for 179 clients
• 41 other training sessions were conducted in book keeping, accounting, leadership mobilization and packaging
• 10 business development studies training programs were carried out for 183 entrepreneurs

Self Sustainability

Our experience in Sri Lanka has shown that our efforts are multiplied and are long lasting if we help others develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to reproduce the projects we help them start.

It is more sustainable and lasting to teach, encourage, and train people to do things for themselves. If a community invests in a project physically, emotionally and economically, they are more likely to appreciate and value it. Having local perspective and knowledge of the community incorporated into the process means that it is more likely to be culturally appropriate.

We help local communities in Sri Lanka to identify their needs, and then work with them to see what resources are available locally. As is often the case, there may be a lot of manpower in the communities we assist, but few materials and required skill sets. CCFC's approach is to allocate responsibility to the community for providing the land and labour, and we fund the materials.

Successes:

• 22 Management Committee meetings held
• 1094 women are participating in Small Groups in the program
• 21 men are participating in Small Groups in the program
• 285 children are participating in Children's Clubs

Education

CCFC and our partners in Sri Lanka are committed to providing Sri Lankan children with the education they need to become productive members of the community.

Education for children means access to more opportunities, better paying jobs and increased literacy rates in communities. With the help of our trusted local partners, CCFC raises community awareness about the importance of educating children and strengthening the capacities of children, parents, and teachers in order to maintain educational programs.

In addition to encouraging school-based programs, CCFC works with community members and families to develop solutions to obstacles standing in the way of basic education for children like the lack of classroom facilities, lack of teachers, lack of school supplies, the inability of parents to support their children in school and gender inequality. In order to enhance the language skills of the children one program has established a language laboratory.

Successes:

• All CCFC Sri Lanka programs have maintained a satisfactory gender balance
• 98% of children are enrolled in school
• 861 children are attending pre-school
• There have been 18 teacher training programs conducted
• 17 children are presently enrolled in vocational training
• 50% examination oriented seminars were held a program levels

Health & Nutrition

Investing in health and nutrition programs means better health for children and families even before they are born.

Health and nutrition programs run by CCFC are designed to reduce malnutrition, strengthen children's bodies and their minds. We focus on prenatal and natal care, and medical treatment for children, as well as HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. Our free anti-parasitic treatment has saved hundreds of lives.

Malnutrition sometimes stems from a lack of knowledge, not a lack of food. That is why nutrition education is a major focus of our programs. We help teach families about proper nutrition and the foods children need in order to grow up healthy. By working with parents and educating the communities, we promote the importance of good nutrition and explore ways to increase food availability.

Successes:

• Children have received the triple vaccine (DPT), the polio vaccine and the vaccine against measles
• 43 health educational programs conducted
• All programs provide nutritional needs for children
• 26 field health clinics conducted
• Community based programs provide nutrition awareness for families and education for mothers
• 143 children received medical attention and assistance
• 12 nutrition educational programs conducted

Water and Sanitation

Investing in safe drinking water and sanitation means CCFC can reduce disease and sickness, as well as the long amounts of hours it takes to find water for cooking and cleaning- time that can be spent on caring for children.

CCFC Sri Lanka has facilitated a number of initiatives to supply communities with dependable water and sanitation facilities. Once water is available in communities, additional steps are taken to teach community members about managing water resources efficiently.

Children, parents and community members are educated about proper hygiene, latrine building, well maintenance, how to protect themselves and their families against disease and how to manage water resources efficiently through widespread training and skill building.

The St. Peter & Paul's church program in Hewadiwela recently built several wells for community use. The Hewadiwela program also provided a well to a local school since they didn't have any access to water.

Successes:

• 30 new wells built
• 23 new latrines built
• 12 Shramadanas carried out to clean the environment
• 44 home gardens built
• 13 new houses constructed
• 6 major roads repaired
• 495 trees planted