Sri Lanka - Paper factory - construction of drinking water wells
Since March 2015, our association has been supporting the projects of the Millennium Elephant Foundation (MEF) in Kegalle, Sri Lanka, which aims to conserve domestic and wild elephants in Sri Lanka (created in 1999 with the help of the WSPA, World Society for the Protection of Animals). The main objective is to curb human/elephant conflicts. In Sri Lanka, there are approximately 160 domesticated elephants, some of which are cared for at the MEF by our volunteers supervised by the Mahout and the veterinarian. The island has approximately 5,000 wild elephants, some of which are spread across the Habarana region, a rural area of the country. The villages are located between four national parks and entirely surrounded by jungle, i.e. in the middle of an elephant corridor, the ancestral migration route. Wild elephants cross the region in search of food and water. In a few hours, elephants destroy the only means of subsistence of poor farmers
To address this problem, we have set up plant barriers which allow a yield for farming families. We also support the Fabrique de Papier Maximus which makes objects from elephant dung and have financed the drilling of a well for the primary school of Weragala, two projects that we detail in this article.
Maximus Paper Factory
The Eco Maximus paper factory, founded in 1997, produces handicrafts with the aim of contributing to environmental protection. The paper, the raw material for these objects, is produced using a mixture of elephant dung and used paper. The elephant dung used by the factory is supplied by the M.E.F. elephant care center (where our volunteers carry out their mission) located not far from the workshops. Contrary to what one might think, the dung once dry does not give off any odor! In addition, the manufacture of paper pulp invariably begins with the sterilization of the raw material: the dung is boiled to ensure that no bacteria or germs remain in the droppings.
But then follows a whole series of steps! Mixing with pieces of used paper, forming the sheets with the paper pulp, drying and then making the finished products: cards, notebooks, albums and boxes beautifully decorated by the factory workers. The factory’s products are then sold on local markets but also for export. A percentage of the proceeds from sales is donated to the Millennium Elephant Foundation. Sens Solidaires participates on its scale in the dissemination and promotion of these elephant dung paper products.
Ecomaximus Products
Gift card 5€
Notebook 10€
Photo Album 15€
Paper sheets making
Notebook decoration
The well project
Increasing access to safe drinking water in public schools in Sri Lanka
Over the years, we have been in contact with schools in the intervention area with our project “Exchanges on the theme of sustainable development between French and Sri Lankan schoolchildren”. Schools in the Habarana region do not have access to drinking water, the infrastructure is non-existent due in part to the civil war between Tamils and Sinhalese that raged in this region from 1983 to 2009, i.e. around thirty years.
For post-conflict reconstruction and to curb competition with wild elephants for water, we drilled a borehole in the Weragala school in 2016 which benefits both students and villagers. This borehole improves the schooling conditions of children thanks to sustainable access to drinking water in schools. Indeed, the water was previously unfit for consumption, it was used for latrines, to clean the school and water the plants. Students and school staff were either forced to come with purchased water, which represents a certain budget, or not to drink during the day (with the tropical climate that we imagine in Sri Lanka). Without water, there was no canteen system, which forced students to only attend classes in the morning.
In the region, each family buys about 35 liters of drinking water every 2 days at 3 Rupees per liter, which comes to 19,163 Rupees per year, or €150 while the average income in Sri Lanka does not exceed 250 euros per month and even less for farmers.
The project therefore began in March 2016, where we raised private funds to build the borehole in the Weragala school. In July 2016, we trained and sent two of our S.A.S volunteers to supervise the drilling. In November 2016, the rest of the project was followed by two other volunteers on solidarity leave: installation of the pump and testing of the water quality at the school. In June 2017, new exploratory mission with two volunteers to meet the needs of installing a drinking water filter in the schools of Weragala and Psudiulwewa whose drilling system with pump already existed but the iron content in the water was too high to be drinkable. It was therefore necessary to install a reverse osmosis filter in both schools. Then, August-September 2017, an evaluation of the project was carried out in the area by the coordinator and a volunteer, the Weragala school will be financed by the “Lion’s Club” to receive this water purification system.
