Episcopal Relief & Development’s partnership with Ecumenical Church Loan Fund- Lanka (ECLOF) began in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. We built on that work to identify, train and equip female entrepreneurs. We have since adjusted our strategy from a granting relationship to an investment relationship which will strengthen ECLOF’s institutional capacity to grow.
The Diocese of Colombo, with our support, is creating Savings with Education groups in areas of the country that are rebuilding after the long civil war. These groups will empower and equip women as leaders and help them to build an economic cushion to withstand future challenges.
We and the Anglican Diocese of Colombo partner on a comprehensive disaster management and preparedness strategy. The Diocese trains staff and clergy to create disaster preparedness plans and engage their communities in building resilience and minimizing risk. Building on that success, the ecumenical National Christian Council of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) asked the Diocese to replicate the Disaster Resilience capacity building program to train all its constituent members. With our partners, we also provide water, sanitation and hygiene programs (WASH) along with environmental sustainability projects such as tree planting and water-supply cleaning.
Episcopal Relief & Development has provided guidance and technical expertise to the dioceses of Colombo and Kurunegala as they respond to COVID-19. Diocesan staff and volunteers distributed food to plantation and day workers who had lost income due to the virus and shutdowns. The Church helped to sanitize schools and to provide them with personal protective equipment and thermometers as the schools prepared to open safely. The third wave of COVID-19 infections in Sri Lanka caused schools to close and the country to shut down again in May 2021. The intense monsoon season multiplied the effects of this wave. In response, the Diocese of Colombo provided 765 households with food provisions.
