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In Sri Lanka, people die every day from alcohol-related causes. This includes diseases, accidents and violence, but also families who lose their security and their future.
At the same time, alcohol is deeply present in many people's everyday lives. When incomes are low, the consequences have major effects – money that would go towards food, health and education disappears, and conflicts at home increase.
But change starts close to people.
Together with our partner, we work directly in local communities where people are supported to change their lives. Through conversations, training and local initiatives, men are given tools to reduce their alcohol consumption and prioritize their family. Women are empowered to take a greater place and influence decisions in the home.
Young people play an important role. Through schools and youth groups, they are mobilized to question norms and resist the alcohol pressure they encounter in their everyday lives.
At the same time, we work for change at a societal level. Through campaigns, media and dialogue with politicians, we push for stronger laws and regulations that reduce alcohol-related harm and protect the population.
When people are given the knowledge and support to act and when society takes responsibility, something crucial happens. More families are better off, more children can go to school and more people are given the opportunity to live healthy lives.
This is how public health is created, in people's everyday lives and in the structures of society.
Facts Sri Lanka
Meet Sudharma – improving children's health through her classroom
Sudharma is a preschool teacher in Hambantota, Sri Lanka. In her classroom, she meets children at an age where the foundations for both health and security are being formed.
For a while, she noticed that two of her children were becoming increasingly aggressive. At first, she didn't understand why. But through the support she received through our work, she began to see the situation in a new way – and chose to talk to the children's mothers.
It turned out that the problems at home were linked to the fathers' alcohol use and conflicts in the family.
Alcohol doesn't just affect the person who drinks – it affects the health of the entire family. Children who grow up in unsafe homes are at greater risk of feeling unwell, having more difficulty at school and carrying the problems with them later in life.
With new tools, Sudharma began working with simple exercises and games in the preschool, where the children learned about safety, relationships, and the effects of alcohol – in a way they could understand. The children took songs and messages home, and something started to happen.
The parents began to reflect.
Today, two of the fathers have stopped drinking. Conflicts in the families have decreased and the children are calmer, safer and feel better – both at home and at school.
“My heart fills with warmth when I see what a difference I have been able to make for the children and their families,” says Sudharma.
Your gift makes it possible to improve health – not just for an individual, but for entire families and the next generation.
