Malayalapuram is in a forested area of the Vanni, the northern-most district of Sri Lanka, some 100 km south east of Jaffna. Families are now trying to re-establish their communities in this area, having been displaced by years of fighting. Child Aid Lanka is providing funding to local community development organisation Kaveri Kala Manram to construct wells in and around Malayalapuram village. The work employs local villagers, and provides them with a secure supply of water for drinking, sanitation and irrigation. Child Aid Lanka is now fundraising to secure the money to construct further wells – you can make a donation that will help to bring secure water supplies to more struggling communities here.

In this uplifting video, we see just how much of an impact a well can have on a familiy's quality of life. It compresses four years toil into six minutes to show how a piece of shrub land, with careful nurturing and irrigation, can become a beautiful garden of Eden providing so many crops and a very important source of income.

In 2011, Child Aid Lanka visited the Rotary Club of Colombo. The result was project Well Done; we developed a unique way to construct sustainable wells to provide families with fresh clean water. Each family is trained to help build the well themselves by our partners KKM (a local community charity in the North of Sri Lanka). Every well is built to last and is fully maintained by the local community. Wells are shared by multiple families, who are encouraged to use the water for cultivation. Child Aid Lanka has arranged for a local supermarket to buy any subsequent excess crops from the families. As a result, the adults often use their newly learned skills to gain income for their family.