One of the most important precepts in the
Aspirations Education approach is empowering communities to develop
themselves. In Ampara there is no
shortage of locals motivated to work to overcoming disadvantage and address
need. Meet Mr KJ Wijetunga, patient
advocate, award winning community organizer and Chairman of the Hospital
Management Committee, Provincial Hospital, Inginiyagala, an Ampara project.
Born in 1954 in Kegalle district, Mr
Wijetunga had one elder brother but lost both his parents at the age of 16. Both
brothers had to finish up their studies, and travel to Ampara district 250 km
away to find work. In 1971 Mr Wijetunga managed to find a job at a retail shop
as a helping hand in Inginiyagala, receiving a wage of Rs. 5/- per day. He spent
the nights in the shop itself as he was homeless. He worked at this shop for several years and
was save his small wage to build a hut to live in on encroached land in nearby
jungles. Later, he got married to a
village woman from Inginiyagala and had five girls and one boy.
With the escalation of internal conflict in
the North and East, there was high demand for blood for war casualties for both
military personal and civilians. Worried about the lack of blood in nearby
hospitals for surgeries, Wijetunga regularly donated blood to surrounding
hospitals. Wijetunga thought it was his prime duty to donate blood to save a
life. As well as giving blood frequently,
he started organizing small blood donation campaigns in villages to collect
blood required for the emergency surgeries. He enlisted the support from the
hospital authorities for this purpose.
Wijetunga formed a blood donation society at Pahalalanda village in 1983
with the assistance of Damana Divisional Secretariat. His main challenge was to
convince community members to donate blood as most of their circumstances left
them below the poverty line and lacking in proper nourishment.
His blood donor society was recognized by both
the Colombo National Blood Bank and the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health. To date Wijetunga has formed 32 blood donor
societies in Ampara district and he contunes to conduct mobile blood donor
campaigns’ when and where necessary. A
strong blood donor campaigner in Ampara district, he was able to establish the
“Eastern Provincial Blood Bank” at Ampara District Hospital. He is also
Chairman of Hospital Management Committee, Provincial Hospital, Inginiyagala. Wijetunga
has received number of national awards for his extraordinary commitments in
this field.
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