Airtel adds colour to Lady Ridgeway Hospital on World Children’s Day

Wednesday, 16 October 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Creates a warm, welcoming, child friendly and educational surrounding for children

Bharti Airtel Lanka, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, celebrated World Children’s Day recently by declaring open the refurbished area at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital. The project, carried out by Airtel Lanka as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility project, was declared open by Lady Ridgeway Hospital Director Dr. Rathnasiri A. Hewage in the presence of the First Lady of Sri Lanka, Shiranthi Rajapaksa, Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena and Bharti Airtel Lanka CEO/MD Suren Goonewardene.

As part of this project, Airtel Lanka took the initiative to paint the columns and walls in the passageway of the hospital with the aim of creating a welcoming atmosphere to the children and parents who come to obtain paediatric treatment as well as a friendly surrounding to the in-house patients. Another objective in the refurbishing of the environment was to make it educational for children. As a result the pillars along the passageway of the hospital now portray the English, Sinhala and Tamil alphabets and numbers, giving the children an opportunity to not only enjoy the colourful illustrations, but to also make it a learning experience. Commenting on this special project, Bharti Airtel Lanka CEO/MD Suren Goonewardene said, “At Airtel we have made a pledge to take the responsibility of creating a better world for the youngest members of our society, our children. As adults we see that it is our utmost duty to protect them and give them a happy and safe childhood. As a leading telecommunication service provider Airtel has always taken pride in taking the initiative and being proactive in giving back to the society we serve. This is an extension to CSR project, which is to prevent child abuse and neglect. We are delighted to be able to offer this gift of education to our children on a day specially dedicated to them. We look forward to engage in the areas related to children and continue our fight to create a protective world for them.” Airtel Lanka’s CSR project, ‘Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect’ was initiated in 2012. Under the first phase, a booklet containing

forms of child abuse and neglect, ways of protecting children and advice for parents and caregivers was published under the supervision of the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians. Phase two will include creating awareness about this issue through workshops, programs and seminars which are to be conducted in many organisations and schools. The refurbishing of the Lady Ridgeway Hospital was an extension to this project.