Letters & Speeches
Remarks by Charge d’Affaires James Moore at the Elpitiya Hospital Opening Ceremony
Honorable Minister of Health Nimal Siripala de Silva; other honorable ministers, honorable members of Parliament, Honorable Chief Minister of the Southern Province, honorable members of the clergy, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. It is an honor to be here with you today.
I’d like to begin by acknowledging the outstanding work that AmeriCares does here in Sri Lanka under the leadership of the organization’s Country Director, Lisa Hilmy. We are delighted that Curt Welling, the Chief Executive Officer of the Americares Foundation could be here for this occasion.
Quality health care is important to everyone—in the United States as well as in Sri Lanka. Today we celebrate the opening of this new hospital, a result of AmeriCares’ partnership with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health. Now complete with obstetrics units, a blood bank, medical and surgical units, and operating theatres, Elpitiya Hospital has been upgraded to a “Base A” facility. Thanks to AmeriCares, the quality and availability of care offered to local people in the area has dramatically increased.
Although much attention is often given to given to official financial assistance from governments, it is important to remember that individuals and businesses make tremendous contributions in providing humanitarian and development aid. Today, we bear witness to that fact.
All of the $4.3 million that Americares used to finance the upgrading of the Elpitiya Hospital was donated by the American people in the wake of the devastating 2004 tsunami. Much of it came in small donations – five dollars here, ten dollars there. The spirit of charitable giving and helping others is an important part of the fabric of American society.
We see the same spirit in the way that so many Sri Lankans have in recent months given time, financial resources, clothing, and food to assist those who were displaced by the conflict and are now in temporary camps in the North.
Private donor agencies, such as AmeriCares, have played a critical role in helping Sri Lanka recover from the effects of the tsunami. I would particularly like to commend AmeriCares for creating strategic partnerships with other organizations and donors. The partnership between AmeriCares and the U.S. Agency for International Development is a good example of how a private non-governmental organization can work with a government agency for the benefit of Sri Lankans.
In Ulla/Pottuvil in Ampara District, USAID and AmeriCares joined together to provide safe, clean drinking water to thousands of local residents who were affected by the tsunami. USAID contributed nearly $10 million to build a water treatment system to replace the traditional wells that were contaminated with salt water from the tsunami storm surge.
The $1 million donation from AmeriCares enhanced that investment by installing more water lines in more communities, thereby increasing the number of homes, businesses, and schools that can be connected to the new water treatment system.
Whether through the United States government or through non-governmental organizations like AmeriCares, these sorts of projects bring the peoples of our two countries closer together, and strengthen and refresh our longstanding ties of friendship and cooperation.
Let me once again commend the Americares and the Ministry of Health for their fruitful collaboration in making this new facility a reality, one from which many thousands of Sri Lankan citizens will receive quality care and treatment each year.
Thank you very much.