Archdiocese of Colombo receives Rs. 350 m to help Easter attack victims

Thursday, 18 July 2019 02:22 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Allocates Rs. 102 m from funds received for children’s education
Rs. 16.8 m as compensation, Rs. 17.8 m for medical expenses
Rs. 35 m to meet daily expenses of victims
Rs. 53 m to purchase land to build houses with help from Govt.

The Archdiocese of Colombo has allocated a sum of Rs. 102.5 million of the total funds it received after the Easter Sunday attacks, for the education of children affected in the attacks, a statement released yesterday said.

‘Seth Sarana,’ which is the social arm of the Archdiocese of Colombo, said it had received Rs. 350.7 million worth of funds from local and foreign donors, including individual donations, those from the Government, and corporate entities, to assist the victims of the attacks. Accordingly, of the total allocations, the largest amount is to be used to fund the education of child victims up to university admission, and also to grant a monthly stipend for new-borns up to five years, the statement added, clarifying the allocations to the different relief efforts being disbursed by the Archdiocese.

Other allocations include Rs. 16.8 million as compensation for the families of victims who lost their lives, and Rs. 17.8 million for the medical expenses of injured victims. All donations are being managed and distributed by Seth Sarana in order to cover social care, personal, and family development needs of the victims.

Meanwhile, a counselling centre has also been set-up with the assistance of the Dialog Foundations’ “Rally to Care” initiative, under the supervision of the Cardinal, to provide counselling for those mentally affected by the tragedy.

“The Emmaus Life Healing Centre, as it is called, has 20 professional counsellors, 10 psychotherapists, and 17 psychiatrists with over 770 children, young adults, and adults having been counselled and treated at the Life Healing Centre, and 200 house visits conducted for affected families,” the release said.

Meanwhile, Rs. 10 million has been allocated for the construction of the Zion Church in Batticaloa, although the Church does not fall under the Archdiocese of Colombo.

The release added that around Rs. 53 million has been allocated to purchase lands for the construction of houses for families with no permanent residence. This project is to be carried out in collaboration with the Government.

A sum of around Rs. 35 million is also being provided in a bid to meet the day-to-day expenses of the victims. This is in addition to the allocations of around Rs. 30 million for low-income families, and Rs. 32 million for the treatment of differently-abled persons.