Alpaslan Öngel
The Ramadan aid team arrived in Colombo province of Sri Lanka on the first day of Ramadan in order to carry out relief work. After having a rest for one day, the team members left Colombo for Hemmedhagama province. Following a two-hour-long trip, the team members visited the orphanage and İzmit Ansar Education and Rehabilitation Center for Mentally and Physically Disabled Children in the region.

There are children coming to the orphanage and the rehabilitation center from every part of Sri Lanka. There are 100 registered students at the rehabilitation center while 34 other students visit the center regularly. There is a computer room, playing room and a bedroom in the rehabilitation center which were established thanks to support from our volunteers.

Here, there are always various activities for the children. They take various courses in order to adapt to social life and learn to stand on their own two feet in the future. There are painting and handicrafts courses in their curriculum. In order for them to learn to do chores, a special kitchen has been established for the children and they learn how to cook there. They also learn to do ironing, tidy their beds and clean dust. The students also learn to use a computer in the computer room. In the playing room, they play games such as puzzle, lego that help to develop their mental skills. There are also two fish pools in this center and the students take fishing courses. Taking all of these into consideration, this center has turned into a facility which has a crucial importance for the children here.

After visiting the facility, we delivered our gifts and Ramadan food packages to the orphans. Then, we played some various games with the children. The happiness on their faces when they saw us and played with us was worth of seeing. We broke our fast together with the sisters and brothers here where we came with the slogan of “Help to spread the abundance of Ramadan globally” Then, we moved for our hotel in order to arrange aid deliveries for the following days.