Help Sri Lanka beat Covid-19

Help Sri Lanka beat Covid-19

From Aravinda Dassanayake

The latest wave of Covid-19 that's ravaging through South Asia has hit Sri Lanka hard. ICUs are overrun, and the country is in dire need of extra medical supplies. Please join me in helping Sri Lanka!

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Recent Updates

Update #7

over 2 years ago

This is the moment I have been waiting for, and I am sure that all donors would be delighted to get this final update too!

ALL FUNDS HAVE BEEN USED TO SUPPORT 4 HOSPITALS AND EQUIPMENT HAS BEEN DELIVERED AND PUT TO USE!!!

Beyond the $3,700 collected through this campaign other donors in Sri Lanka as well as I personally topped up the total to close to $4,500 to fund the necessary purchases.

Following donations were done:
✅ Divisional Hospital of Kandana - 2 Double Jar Suction Machines
✅ Provincial General Hospital of Badulla - 1 Multipara Monitor & 1 Bedside Pulse Oximeter
✅ District Hospital of Bandarawela - 1 5000L water tank, 6 air mattresses & 2 emergency lamps
✅ District General Hospital of Ragama - Contribution of 20,000 LKR for the fund by the Alumni Association of the class of 2005, Faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka to purchase Syringe Pumps.

It sure has been emotional for me to see this campaign take shape and come to a close, and I want to thank each and every donor for your valuable contributions. I am honored to have done this campaign with you!

As simple as I thought this was to start off and execute on my own, it didn't take long for me to understand the complexity of things on the ground. I am absolutely grateful for the following individuals for coming together, specially to help operationalize things in Sri Lanka.

More Info

Update : PayPal option added inline below for donors who prefer PayPal

Sri Lanka...

Sri Lanka - The Pearl of the Indian Ocean, is known for its hospitality, diverse culture and natural beauty. This travelers paradise has welcomed hundreds of thousands of tourists each year with open arms and shared what it has to offer with utmost generosity. It has shared its pristine waters, lush forests and soft clean breezes. Unfortunately with the latest wave of Covid-19 in the region, Sri Lanka is gasping for air and it has become the teardrop of the Indian Ocean!

Covid19 Surge 2021

The island nation with a population of 22 million people is currently experiencing a massive surge of Covid-19 cases and deaths. As a country hit hard economically by the initial stages of Covid-19, it is being hit equally hard at a societal level as the community spread ravages through the country, compounded by the latest variants of the virus. The case and death counts are soaring daily following patterns of neighboring countries such as India and Nepal. The country just passed a death toll of 1000 and average daily hospitalizations are at record levels. This is a significant impact for a small country with around 700 ICU beds for the whole country. Despite efforts taken by the government, military and the public to rally together and ramp up ICU capacity, treatment facilities etc, the current surge is outpacing all these efforts. 

Personal appeal

Me, my family and some of our friends friends from Sri Lanka have the good fortune of living in the United States today.  But, Sri Lanka is where we were born and raised. It's where a lot of our loved ones still live, and it's where some of our most wonderful memories were made. It hurts to our core to see our motherland suffering through this crisis. Increasingly, numbers are turning to names we know and the stories are becoming more distressing. This campaign was created to do our part to give back to our motherland - with your contributions - when help is most needed.

Current needs

Current immediate needs are for ventilators, oxygen concentrators, high flow oxygen units, multi-parameter monitors, PPEs including N95 masks etc according to the Ministry of Health. This campaign is trying to provide targeted support for the exact destinations that need critical help. 

The national need can be found in one of the images in the above slideshow as a reference. 

As per estimations from suppliers, unit costs for few of the equipment are as follows;

  • Non-invasive ventilator ~ $7,000
  • Multiparameter monitor ~ $2,200
  • Oxygen concentrator ~ $1,000 
  • Wall oxygen flow meter ~$100

We have identified the following potential beneficiaries of this fundraiser.

  • District General Hospital of Gampaha (Coordinated with the Alumni Association of the class of 2005, Faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka)
  • Provincial General Hospital of Badulla (Coordinated directly with the hospital)
  • ICU frontliners (Coordinated with the College of Anesthesiologists and Intensivists of Sri Lanka)
  • District Hospital of Bandarawela (Coordinated with the Municipal Council and Hospital)

While we may not be able to satisfy the total requirement for the above targets, we will choose the most underserved requirements and fund for those as quickly as possible based on the campaign completion status. 

Few folks expressed that they would like to donate via PayPal. While Fundly does not support it, I have shared my PayPal link here and I will make sure all donations are logged here as comments as they are received.

https://www.paypal.com/donate?business=B7NUKTU5WS4ES&item_name=Fundraiser+to+help+Sri+Lanka+beat+Covid-19¤cy_code=USD

Transparency

I have personally been in touch with authorities to understand the needs. As you can see the letters of request for supplies are directly addressed to me. I will provide daily updates as we go, and once funds are used, specific information about how they were used with financial statements will be shared with all donors.

Pleas reach out to me for additional questions.

TIME IS PRECIOUS AND YOUR DONATION TODAY CAN SAVE A LIFE!

 

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Aravinda Dassanayake posted a new update:
over 2 years ago

Update #8

This is the moment I have been waiting for, and I am sure that all donors would be delighted to get this final update too!

ALL FUNDS HAVE BEEN USED TO SUPPORT 4 HOSPITALS AND EQUIPMENT HAS BEEN DELIVERED AND PUT TO USE!!!

Beyond the $3,700 collected through this campaign other donors in Sri Lanka as well as I personally topped up the total to close to $4,500 to fund the necessary purchases.

Following donations were done:
✅ Divisional Hospital of Kandana - 2 Double Jar Suction Machines
✅ Provincial General Hospital of Badulla - 1 Multipara Monitor & 1 Bedside Pulse Oximeter
✅ District Hospital of Bandarawela - 1 5000L water tank, 6 air mattresses & 2 emergency lamps
✅ District General Hospital of Ragama - Contribution of 20,000 LKR for the fund by the Alumni Association of the class of 2005, Faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka to purchase Syringe Pumps.

It sure has been emotional for me to see this campaign take shape and come to a close, and I want to thank each and every donor for your valuable contributions. I am honored to have done this campaign with you!

As simple as I thought this was to start off and execute on my own, it didn't take long for me to understand the complexity of things on the ground. I am absolutely grateful for the following individuals for coming together, specially to help operationalize things in Sri Lanka.

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Aravinda Dassanayake posted a new update:
almost 3 years ago

Update #7

We have been busy getting quotes from suppliers and ordering items. Few adjustments have been done for the beneficiaries as requirements from hospitals changed. All funds have been allocated for purchases, and I will be adding more money as needed to account for any additional expenses as we pay for the last few items.

Few donors from Sri Lanka also chipped in as money was transferred and we are working with a total of Rs. 890,000 (~$4,500) right now. Really thrilled about this extra support and what we can do with it.

The following items have been ordered:
- Divisional Hospital of Kandana - 2 Double Jar Sucker Machines (Rs.370,000)
- Provincial General Hospital of Badulla - 1 Multipara Monitor & 1 Bedside Pulse Oximeter (Rs. 385,000)
- District General Hospital of Gampaha - contribution for fund by the Alumni Association of the class of 2005, Faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka (Rs. 20,000)
- District Hospital of Bandarawela - 15000L water tank, 6 air mattresses, water filters (qty TBD), emergency lamps (qty TBD) (Rs. 125,000 + as needed)

Looking forward for the fulfillment of these orders at the earliest, and I will provide more information and pictures as these get completed.

Aravinda Dassanayake commented on a blog post:
almost 3 years ago
Correction: - District Hospital of Bandarawela - *1 *5000L water tank

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Aravinda Dassanayake posted a new update:
almost 3 years ago

Update #6

It's been few quiet days as the fundraiser got close to the end. Although the target amount was not raised, it was an ambitious target to begin with. I am truly humbled by the generosity displayed by all the donors, and we can still make a substantial impact to support Sri Lanka.

Right now I am in the process of transferring money to Sri Lanka. One of my very good friends will be coordinating the payouts in Sri Lanka to suppliers. I have also got latest updates for the requirements for hospitals, which will be the basis for fund allocation and choice of equipment to purchase.

I will share more updates as hospitals start receiving items. Thank you all so very much!

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Aravinda Dassanayake posted a new update:
almost 3 years ago

Update #5

The campaign end date was approaching fast, but we would like to raise a bit more, even if the goal amount seems far off. The campaign end date was pushed to 3rd June. We are past $3,500 at this point, and the generosity is much appreciated! This is the last push and I reiterate the need to spreading the work and getting that last bit of funds added to the fundraiser. Thank you!

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Aravinda Dassanayake posted a new update:
almost 3 years ago

Update #4

Today we passed the 10% milestone of the campaign and we are inching towards $2,000. Truly appreciate the new donors of the day! I kindly request everyone to please keep promoting.

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Aravinda Dassanayake posted a new update:
almost 3 years ago

Update #3

We broke the $1,000 milestone today, and yet we have a lot more ground to cover! I cannot be thankful for everyone who chipped in, and there were 3 $200+ donations that really helped move the campaign. You are about to make a massive difference in some lives, trust me!

There were 2 PayPal donations. I am not sure if the donors wanted anonymity, so I will partially mask the names.
Mar*** Rod**** - $30
Cha******** Pra**** - $100
Thank you, and I have transferred these over to this fundraiser as promised.

Please continue to spread the word...

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Aravinda Dassanayake posted a new update:
almost 3 years ago

Update #2

We are off to a good start. Thanks to everyone who donated so far. Please keep spreading the word.

Few potential donors asked for a PayPal option, but unfortunately Fundly does not support PayPal. I have added a donation link in the description for such donors. I will transfer those donations myself to the fundraiser and add update comments for full transparency.
https://www.paypal.com/donate?business=B7NUKTU5WS4ES&item_name=Fundraiser+to+help+Sri+Lanka+beat+Covid-19¤cy_code=USD

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