Leonard Cheshire Disability Resource Centre, Sri Lanka

Leonard Cheshire Disability Resource Centre, Sri Lanka GSK supports Leonard Cheshire Disability (LCD) in Galle, southern Sri Lanka. Following the devastating tsunami in 2004, LCD set up the Disability Resource Centre (DRC), the first of its kind in the area to support access to health and rehabilitation services, provide inclusive education and create livelihood opportunities for young disabled people affected by the tsunami.

The project also focuses on empowering people with disabilities to establish self-help groups, to tackle the challenges they face and to campaign for their own rights. This is complimented with a drive to increase the participation of local government and non-governmental organisations in project activities to increase awareness of the needs of people with disabilities and ensure long-term sustainability of the programme.

Kumara, a young man living with disability from Galle, is just one example of what can be achieved as part of this initiative. With help from LCD, Kumara has been able to set up a small business selling spices to local people. He sums up what the programme has meant to him, "Society believes that I can't do anything. But, I've overcome those attitudes, I've proved them wrong and now I earn a livelihood for myself and my family."

Thanks to GSK’s help, LCD will be able to support 500 people with disabilities including Kumara to access crucial facilities and services. It will also increase awareness of these services to a wider network of 1,000 family members of people with disabilities. It is further hoped that 200 young disabled people will take part in their “Young Voices Programmes”, a global initiative which advocates for the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. Nishanthi Kodithuwakku from Young Voices says “Young people with disability are ready to struggle for their rights in a place where others think that people with disability can do nothing. GSK has given us an opportunity to make a difference to the lives of those with disability so they can live their life with dignity.”

LCD is working to build inclusive communities that nurture, value and respect all who live with them. This project will build on their work and ensure that tsunami affected communities consider the needs of disabled people as they rebuild areas and redesign services. It is hoped that this project will serve as a model of inclusive development in Sri Lanka and beyond.

International programmes