ECSAT is a disability-focused organisation which takes inclusion seriously. What does that mean? It means all their projects help integrate differently-abled children into the fabric of society.
ECSAT stands for Equality-based Community Support And Training. They work with children of really, really poor families who live in rural Galle.
ECSAT creates awareness about the barriers of stigma and misunderstanding that so often exclude disabled people from leading the lives they want. It is not a home for differently abled kids. It’s a place where parents can take their differently-abled children for therapy, informal education and skill training. This is Kevishka (below). He visits ECSAT for one-on-one educational support.
Poor families have limited access to support their children and often parents choose to institutionalize them. ECSAT does not promote placing children in institutions, instead ECSAT provides a yeoman service by going from home to home to provide therapy for the children. Which also help parents to learn how to take care of their children.
ECSAT is located in Galle. All their projects are designed to teach, enable and provide equal opportunities for the differently-abled. Their projects focus mainly on inclusion, education, vocational education like computer skills, handicrafts, home gardening, sewing, making greeting cards. These vocational skills have helped people to start their own small businesses.
ECSAT also has a handicrafts division called ECSART. If you would like to purchase some of the handicrafts the children have made, there are many to choose from such as the kids bedroom range, homeware range, greeting cards, etc. You can write to them at ecsatlanka@gmail.com or if you would like to donate, you can send your gift to:
ECSAT. Commercial Bank – Galle Fort Branch. Acc. No: 1107585301. SWIFT CODE: CCEYLKLX.
(All images courtesy the ECSAT FB page)
