On the 28th of August the ACTLanka Team successfully delivered medicines, milk powder, toys and art tools/supplies & books to the Cheddikulum Base hospital and Manik Farm.

ACTLanka is able to confirm the completion of a 5 room community centre inside Zone 5 of the Menik Farm which will be used for classes, community activities within Zone 5.

The ACTLanka Team delivered medicines to the Pulmoddai Base Hospital on the 3rd of September and delivered essential medical supplies on request to the Puvarasakulum Hospital on the 4th.
The Medicines purchased in bulk quantities for this delivery was possible by the funding received from Johanniter of Germany. We wish to thank Johanniter for their trust in us and their support of our continued work with the IDPs in Sri Lanka.

Johanniter Site (via Google Translate)

Note that ACT is transporting toys in addition to urgent medical supplies because many children are affected and they need hope as well as medicines.

The Action and Trust team is clean, fed and safe with their families, which many people we’ve met will not be, for years. The government staff and volunteers are doing a remarkable job of running the Vavuniya Hospital under immense presssure. They and many other hospitals can use continued support.

Will write a fuller report after some rest. It is something, even when it feels like not nearly enough. Thank you for your support and please extend your thoughts, metta and prayers to those that continue to suffer tonight.

We are now en route to Vavuniya to deliver the medical items we’ve collected. This is a video of some volunteers loading medical supplies onto one of the two lorries heading up. The lorries contain medicine, crutches, mattresses and some basics like milk powder. Now passing Kurunegala. Will try to update from Anuradhapura then Vavuniya

Please note that ACT Lanka is in no way shape or form associated with ACT-NOW in UK. This is a purely Sri Lankan citizens based initiative working directly with the government and Army.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaP9eNEGgHU]

History will judge the politics, policies, politicians and terrorists. History will not help the children who are crawling on their stomachs because they don’t have crutches.

It is time to try, harder than ever before, to help those who cannot help themselves. The real victims, not just the displaced but those who have suffered permanent injury and have lost hope of peace and prosperity.

This Trust was formed specifically as a result of the tremendous response we received not just from our friends but from complete strangers, all of whom heard the call to action.

The time to ACT is now.

How can you help?

With only 28km of land area currently controlled by the LTTE, anyone of a fighting age is forcibly recruited into the LTTE and civilians attempting to flee are being shot, chased and often killed.

Only those that are of no use to the LTTE, the severely injured, the children and the elderly are allowed to leave and even then, only when they have managed to flee and reach the ICRC boat loading area.

Before being loaded onto a boat, a medical decision (Triage) is made as to whether each civilian can survive the journey.  Those that are determined high risk are left to die.

The ICRC are, under instruction of the State, now bringing boats ashore in Pulmoddai, from the conflict zone.  These boats arrive every few days and carry approximately 480 civilians.

Of those civilians arriving via ICRC boats, a third are seriously injured, a third have relatively minor injuries and the remaining third are bystanders accompanying the injured.

Civilian arrivals are registered, tagged and treated by the Indian & Sri Lankan doctors at Pulmodai Field Hospital. Later, some patients (with bystanders) are transferred to Padaviya Hospital and some stay overnight and then transferred. Those that arrive with no injury and not accompanying any injured are transferred to Padaviya for overnight stay.

Once emergency medical treatment is provided and patients are stabilized, the injured fit enough for travel are then dispatched to Vavuniya Hospital.

ACT has been informed by the authorities that Vavuniya Hospital currently has capacity to treat 300 patients but has 900+ at present, mostly amputees that are immobile.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has agreed to allow ACT representatives to transport relief items to Vavuniya Hospital.

World Concern, an INGO that has access to the Pulmoddai receiving point, is in need of supplies and have a network in place that can effectively manage distribution of relief to the injured civilians.

World Concern are on hand when civilians are being tagged and registered.  They greet them with welfare packs to help adjust to new surroundings.  Where patients are taken straight to surgery, World Concern follows their progress, making sure no one is left out of their donation mechanism.

ACT will work with World Concern and support their emergency relief strategy by way of collection of goods.

ACT representatives will personally deliver medical supplies to Vavuniya Hospital, with MOH and Ministry of Defense approval.

We ask the Sri Lankan private sector to support this Initiative in any way possible.