‘Life Healing Centre’ Setup at Katuwapitiya to offer Psychosocial Support for 4/21 Victims

Project initiated by Seth Sarana and ‘Rally to Care’ by Dialog Foundation

The Life Healing Centre at Katuwapitiya, Negombo

The ‘Life Healing Centre’, led by a team of certified professionals to provide psychosocial support to those affected by the tragic incidents of 21st April 2019, was setup in Katuwapitiya, Negombo on 18th May 2019, by the ‘Rally to Care’ initiative, a charitable trust under the aegis of Dialog Axiata PLC, and ‘Seth Sarana’ the social action arm of the Archdiocese of Colombo.

The fund initiated with Rs. 15Mn by Dialog, saw generous Dialog customers, individual donors, corporates, enterprises, and overseas donors coming together to raise an amount of Rs. 28.68Mn, which was doubled by Dialog in matching funds. Axiata Group came forward to contribute an amount of 34.6Mn towards the Rally to Care fund. The generosity of this community of supporters surmounted a mammoth fund amounting to 106.96Mn

The Life Healing Centre was inaugurated in the presence of Rt. Rev. Dr. J D Anthony Jayakody, Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Colombo, Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya – Corporate Executive Vice President and CEO - South Asia Region, Axiata Group Berhad, and Supun Weerasinghe, Group Chief Executive, Dialog Axiata PLC.

The ‘Life Healing Centre’ set up in collaboration with ‘Seth Sarana’, the social action arm of the Archdiocese of Colombo, will provide psychosocial rehabilitation for affected families through its team Catholic certified counsellors, led by Rev. Fr. Claude Nonis, Director – Archdiocesan Family Apostolate, Coordinator – National Family Apostolate. The Life Healing Centre will provide psychosocial rehabilitation for those affected through a range of programmes customised for children, adolescents, young adults and adults, by addressing a range of psychosocial issues including depression, post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and other psychosocial issues resulting from traumatic events. The centre is in close proximity to the affected families and will be open every day from 8.00 am to 8.30 pm.

During the opening of the Life Healing Centre, complete eye check-ups by Vision Care, and hearing check-ups by the Ratmalana Audiology Centre were also conducted for those impacted. Required prescriptions for spectacles were provided on the day of the opening, following which the prescribed spectacles will be distributed free of charge by Vision Care. Hearing aid requirements will be provided by the Fund. Furthermore, a medical screening camp was conducted by MyDoctor team for those in need and vouchers to purchase prescribed medication were provided as required.

As an aid to the healing process radio units were provided to families at the Life Healing Centre, to listen to CDs containing counselling programmes and spiritual hymns. The initiative will also deliver ‘healing the wounds of trauma’, and ‘spiritual’ programmes on-air, daily from 8.00 pm – 9.00pm on Seth FM 103.1, a popular regional radio station, in the residential areas of the affected families, covering Negombo, Wennappuwa, Marawila, Madampe, Chilaw, Minuwangoda, Diwulapitiya, Gampaha, Ja-Ela, Kadana, Wattala, Peliyagoda.

Furthermore, 100 out of the 250 school bags with stationary that were donated by the Executive Committee of Colombo Model United Nations 2019 were disbursed by the Life Healing Centre to affected children in Katuwapitiya. The rest of the school bags with stationary will be provided to affected students in Kochchikade and Batticaloa.

The Rally to Care initiative together with its partners World Vision Lanka, Sarvodaya, My Doctor, Vision Care and Ratmalana Audiology Centre, will continue its relief disbursement efforts and its mission of providing immediate term out-patient support for victims of physical disability & trauma, long-term educational support for 500+ children, and psychosocial rehabilitation for 250+ families that were affected by the tragic incidents of 21st April 2019. Visit http://dialogfoundation.org/rallytocare for more information and further updates on the Rally to Care initiative.

About Dialog Axiata Group

Dialog Axiata Group, a subsidiary of Axiata Group Berhad (Axiata), operates Sri Lanka’s Leading Quad-Play Connectivity Provider. Dialog Axiata PLC, listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange, supplements its market leading position in the Mobile Telecommunications sector with a robust footprint and market presence in Sri Lanka’s Fixed Telecommunications and Digital Television markets through its fully owned subsidiaries Dialog Broadband Networks (Private) Ltd (DBN) and Dialog Television (Private) Ltd., (DTV). Dialog Axiata Group is Sri Lanka's largest Foreign Direct Investor (FDI) with investments totaling USD 2.3 Billion.

The winner of six Global Mobile Awards, Dialog has the distinction of being voted by Sri Lankan Consumers as the Telecom Service Provider of the Year for seven years in succession at the SLIM-Nielsen People's Choice Awards. Dialog was also voted by Sri Lankan consumers as the Internet Service Provider of the Year for six years consecutively, and has topped Sri Lanka’s Corporate Accountability rankings for the past eight years in succession, and is an ISO 9001 certified company. The Company has received numerous local and international awards including the National Quality Award, the Sri Lanka Business Excellence Award and endorses the worldwide Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which aim to build a sustainable future for all by 2030.

Dialog has been at the forefront of innovation in the mobile industry in Sri Lanka since the late 90’s, propelling the nation’s mobile telephony infrastructure to a level of advancement on par with the developed world. The company delivers advanced mobile telephony and high speed mobile broadband services to a subscriber base in excess of 13 Million Sri Lankans, via 2.5G and 3G/3.5G and 4G/4.5G networks.