Give2Lanka launches housing for the poor with corporate IT sector inclusiveness

Give2Lanka, a not-for-profit organisation that connects donors with impactful poverty alleviation projects, is taking a ground-breaking step of an inclusive program of building houses for the poorest families with the direct participation of corporates in the IT sector.

To kick off this impactful program of building 10 such houses for deserving poor families in the first stage, professional staff members of IronOne Technologies are partnering with Give2Lanka to assist with building of a house in a remote village called Eluwana in Dehiowita. This house is for a poor family with a mother and an 11-year-old son who currently live in a wooden shack which is not fit for habitation.

The mother works as a helper and cleaner at a local cleaning company. With the demise of the father, the family has lived in this wooden shack for the past 10 years. The son has the misfortune to have a heart condition that requires him to go through blood transfusions on a periodic basis, placing them in further destitution. MFCD is the participating organisation that is helping with the construction activities of the house.

Give2Lanka Chairman Dulan de Silva stated: “Give2Lanka welcomes more IT companies and its youthful staff members to participate in similar programs and help to complete the target of the 100 houses in 2017.” 

He added: “Give2Lanka is available to provide the support and help to organisations to locate and identify the poorest and needy families as well as to arrange reliable locally-sourced building contractors to complete the work. Give2Lanka also helps to arrange the participation of the donor company’s staff members in the ongoing activities to have a hands-on experience in the process similar to that of Ironone Technologies.”

The funding for this house construction is contributed by the staff of Ironone Technologies, a leading IT software solutions company in Sri Lanka. The participation does not stop with just provision of money for the building, the staff of Ironone Technologies has been involved in steps towards the building and initially took up a shramadana campaign to remove the old wooden shack and make the plot of land fit for building by clearing the rubble and flattening the areas. 

The IT team members, consisting of a youthful group of young professionals were eager to spend their time and efforts to provide such manpower to be truly a part of this program.

Prabodha Fonseka, President of the Welfare Society of Ironone Technologies, leads the initiative within the company. He stated: “We have come together as a team to take a step towards achieving this valuable initiative of helping a poor family have proper shelter and for a child to have the safety and a roof above his head.”

He added: “The shramadana helped us connect with the situation and the family we are assisting. We hope to closely participate and are thankful to Give2Lanka for helping us locate the family and also help us with facilitating the building.”

Give2Lanka Chief Executive Officer Roshan Bambaradeniya added: “Every change starts with one step at a time. We are working towards the first 10 houses with participation by companies in Sri Lanka who will come forward with their effort and financial contribution towards this valuable and impactful activity.”

Give2Lanka (www.give2lanka.org) has identified 10 such deserving families and the corporate sector is invited to come forward and support them. This could be a great opportunity for company’s staff to engage in day activities such as the shramadana, as companies also move towards expanding their social footprint.