HNB continues 5-year partnership with AIESEC to provide RO units to schools in CKDu hit areas

HNB Anuradhapura Branch Manager Rohana Premachandra with the members of AIESEC

• Invests over Rs. 5 m for RO units and connected facilities

Celebrating five years of providing essential clean drinking water facilities to schools in areas affected by the Chronic Kidney Disease (CKDu), Sri Lanka’s leading private sector bank HNB PLC partnered with the Colombo South Committee of AIESEC, to provide three schools in the Anuradhapura District with Reverse Osmosis (RO) units and connected infrastructure facilities.

The long-term campaign launched under the Aqua 9.0 banner and supported by HNB with an investment of over Rs. 5 million over the years, recently established three RO units at A/K.B. Rathnayake Vidyalaya, Perimiyankulam Asoka Maha Vidyalaya and Sri Wimalagnana Maha Vidyalaya in the Anuradhapura District.

HNB Anuradhapura Branch Manager Rohana Premachandra opening the recently established RO unit at A/K.B. Rathnayake Vidyalaya Anuradhapura

Attended by HNB Anuradhapura Branch Manager Rohana Premachandra, HNB North Central Regional office staff for the gala ceremonies held at each school to celebrate the establishment of the facility concluded with activity based awareness programs conducted by local and international members of AIESEC regarding the importance of sustainable development goal of ‘clean water and sanitation’. This included the importance of conserving water for sustainable management of natural resources, the severity and causes of prevailing chronic kidney disease in Anuradhapura and importance of drinking reverse osmosis filtered water.

“When this project was initiated, it was feared that this disease could reach epidemic proportions in the farming communities in the dry zone. These communities feed our nation and the threat of the disease has created some very credible fears regarding the well-being of their families and future generations.

“We are happy to say that over the past five years we have been able to safe guard over 8,000 children in 12 schools across the province through this campaign which has established clean drinking water facilities for them. We have witnessed a change in the lives of the school children we have been a part of, and we hope to replicate our successes with other communities and schools in areas affected by the disease in the future as well. The collaboration with AIESEC spanning over five years has established RO units in schools across Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Mahiyanganaya.