Request for funds to set up the rice milling plant at the Wahamalgollawa- Suwashakthi Organic Farming Community


Suwaskathi local seed farming is a small organization formed by thirty organic farmers of the Wahamangollawa community. Wahamangollawa is a rural village twenty kilo meters away from the Anuradhapura city and a home to one thousand families. Mr. Hemapala is the President of the organization.
Mr. Hemapala is a native of Wahamangollawa, and a humble organic farmer, an ardent believer in and proponent of organic, sustainable living, and a gently fierce defender of his region’s traditional culture. He encourages anyone with even a passing interest in living off the grid, growing their own food, building a home, farming, or an interest in more general environmental issues to explore his their village that is typically a refuge for learning about, practicing, and enjoying wholesome and sustainable living. Thinking very seriously about the threat of peak of global warming and the environmental deterioration and its’ impact on humans’ health, Wahamangollawa as a community is pioneering alternative lifestyles in order to minimize their impact on the environment to provide a solution for environmental, social, and economic instability by implementing sustainable structures and practices. Organic farming is the state-of- the- art practice deep seated in the culture of the Suwashkthi farming community, and has undergone many challenges. The organic farmers pursuit is to produce organic rice to the market.
Based on this need they have approached various organizations that could possibly support them to purchase a rice milling plant that has the capacity to produce rice from rice grains at their homes.
A rice milling plant was provided by the North central agriculture ministry a year ago from now at the request made by the Wahamangollawa farmers despite the antagonism unveiled by neighboring farmers’ associations towards the Suwashakthi organization’s proposal for organic rice production. Mr. Hemapala and his comrades of the Suwashakthi farming community was compelled to collect sufficient funds to pay off the initial amount of hundred one thousand Sri Lankan rupees to purchase the rice milling plant. The balance money was met by the officials of the North Central agriculture ministry. Milling is a decisive step in post-production of rice that removes the husk and the bran layers of the rice grains, and produces an edible, white rice kernel that is sufficiently milled and free of impurities. Moreover, the organizations collected 3000 Sri Lankan rupees from each member and utilized the funds to build a physical space to set up the ricing mill.
Although, Mr. Hemapala had received technical support from the villagers for the selection, procurement and installation of equipment to restore the rice milling plant, he was unable to attain the exact amount of money required to meet the costs associated with the process of setting up the rice milling plant. Predominantly, the ricing milling plant serves two important decisions for the organization. First, a 10% of the profits exploited by selling the harvest to the market should be contributed towards the maintenance of the rice mill. Then the profits generated by selling the final product- the organic rice will be equally shared among the members of the organization.
Mr. Hemapala overwhelmed by the periodic requests made by the government officials to return back the rice milling plant as a result of his procrastination to complete the job, is in an absolute finance crisis. Being persistent to provide the best organic rice to the community, he had requested to extend the deadline to another month from now. Mr. Hemapala had made several attempts to meet the costs associated with the restoration of the rice milling plant. However, they are still in need of thousand hundred and thirty three rupees to complete the entire project within two months. Mr. Hemapala, not being a stranger to us, approached us for immediate assistance.
VLeapNext as a peace building educational outreach initiative that believes and supports the notion “heal the body, earth and mind” renders it’s support to those who produce organic rice to address the issue of arsenic in rice. We believe a collaborative approach with farmers, trade associations, regulators and academic institutions is the best way to understand and address the concerns and root causes raised regarding arsenic in food in achieving exceptional standards of hygiene and nutrition in our day today meals. To grow healthy food, an individual must make an effort to start with good soil. If we use harmful pesticides and chemicals, we will have soil that cannot thrive on its own. Therefore, organic farming is far better than chemical soil management. Our inspiration to support this community’s effort to rebuild their community, by producing a healthy meal, allowed us to solicit support from sources we are familiar of to support his endeavor.
Farming is the main source of living in Anuradhapura and it is home to a modest farming community. The use of toxic pesticides to manage pest problems that damage crops and livestock and reduce farm productivity has become a common practice by the mmodern farmers engaged in agricultural work or living in agricultural areas of Anuradhapura. Therefore, they are exposed to higher levels and different types of pesticides incurred through mixing and applying pesticides or working in pesticide-treated fields. Pesticides have been linked to a wide range of human health hazards, ranging from short-term impacts such as headaches and nausea to chronic impacts like cancer. The very recent affliction experienced by the civilians in Anuradhapura is the deadly chronic kidney disease (CKD). Chronic kidney disease is taking at least two lives a day in Anuradhapura killing mainly from poor farming families. Currently 5000 people in Wahamangollawa have suffered from the disease. Kidney diseases can be a result of diabetics, or other health complications. As a result of experiencing these health complications associated with the use of pesticides in farming, now the farmers are pulling away from such practices and have transformed themselves gradually to becoming organic farmers. Mr. Hemapala as an individual who himself had experienced a painful journey in using pesticides, have disposed and now strictly adorns to using traditional and safe ways of farming. The only hope and intention of these farmers is to provide their families and communities with a healthy meal that will lead to a long and sustained life.
Mr Hemapala exclaims that the best way to avoid consuming pesticides along with your food is to eat organic produce, meat, and dairy products. Organic food is grown and processed without being treated with pesticides.Mr. Hemapala on this regard has contributed immensely by practicing organic farming and has been successful to introduce 57 varieties of local and organic seeds. Yet, the most popular reason identified was drinking of contaminated water in the region. In order to avoid such circumstances in future, organic gardening can provide the required support to help people seek their well-being. As a result of this deadly disease spreading rapidly across the communities in Anuradhapura, most men in families have died leaving their families desolate. The mothers are left with the sole responsibility of feeding for the family and are in a state of dilemma not knowing which job to take up as they deprive of proper training and expertise to secure a decent job in the market. This has put them in a state of flux where they get into prostitution to eke- out a living and send their children to school. Some children even have dropped out of schools to support their families. Based on the need to support the Suwashakthi farming community and the society at large, we maker this kind appeal to our partners in progress to join hands with us in our mission to save our mother planet.

You can get connected to us through 94770709570 for further details or to organize a project visit to our local organization that will help you to directly connect with the beneficiary






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