13 January 2010

Residents of a home for the elderly and youngsters with mental health problems were just some of the vulnerable people who benefited from recent voluntary activities carried out by SAPSRI’s Youth Council members.

Through SAPSRI’s Youth as Agents of Change over 800 young people across Sri Lanka have organised into Youth Councils, and some of the groups have initiated voluntary work in their communities.  

For example, over 80 members of the Matara Youth Group spent the day transforming a home for the elderly in Beligalle, Matara. Breaking into small work groups, they cleaned the rooms from top to bottom, painted the walls, tended the garden, bathed the residents and washed the residents’ laundry.
In another case, the Colombo Youth Group, in collaboration with the Sahanaya National Council for Mental Health, organised a New Year festival for young patients with mental health problems.

These voluntary activities are not only a valuable service to the community, but also gave the Youth Group members an insight into the lives of these vulnerable and marginalised groups and an understanding of their needs.

Youth as Agents of Change is a three-year project that started in April 2008. By the end of the project, SAPSRI aims to have established an active network of youth that will bring about changes in national policies affecting young people, as well as changes in the lives of the communities they represent.