Nutritional Rehabilitation Centers

TRO's Nutrition Rehabilitation Programme is aimed at addressing malnutrition becoming endemic among the Tamil refugee population.  The Primary focus of the programme is to ensure that adequate nutrition is provided to undernourished and malnourished children below the age of five.  They also cater to undernourished pre- and post-natal mothers.
The programme is delivered through a number of Centres established at various locations in the North-Eastern Province.  The first Centre was established in 1990.
A large proportion of pregnant and lactating mothers are malnourished. The Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation currently runs 44 Nutritional Rehabilitation Centres throughout the Vanni districts, where the heaviest concentration of Tamil refugee population lives.  Each of these centres care for approximately 100 children at any one time. In addition to the children, pregnant and lactating mothers are also cared for.  Each Centre employs six people to make it operational.  The Centres provide nutritional supplements for the children and mothers, in addition to providing pre-school education for the children.  Severely malnourished children and their mothers are brought in and housed in the Centres for a period of three months or until the child is over the critical phase.
The Centres also plays a role in community awareness in the selection and preparation of appropriate food for their children.
Other benefits of the programme include: provision of portable water to communities, construction of tube wells, prevention of waterborne diseases, and removal of general malnutrition.
Activities
Malnourished mother and child stay at the centre
The mother and/or are given nutritious meals at regular intervals as well as supplements
The mother, if able keeps her surrounding clean and tidy
Newspapers and educational magazines are given
Self-employment, motivational and nutritional training and workshops are provided
Participate in gardening and small scale farming and poultry
Listen to music
Participate in group discussions
The children are provided with preschool education and play things

How are the beneficiaries selected?
TRO (SL) contacts the local medical clinics, midwifes and village officers to identify malnourished children, mothers and expecting mothers. They are then bought to the nearest nutritional centre and cared for till their health and weight are back to normal.
TRO also identify those below the poverty line or those with the risk of becoming malnourished. They also identify those who lack knowledge of nutritional food or of obtaining nutritional food and those who are psychologically affected and thus unable to care for themselves or their children. These individuals and families are educated on the value of nutritional food and how to economically obtain nutritional foods. The awareness is created by the following methods:
Seminars
Training workshops
Group discussions
Audi/visual displays
practical examples
Street dramas

Nutritional Foods
Fish, meat, milk, egg, Vegetables, Grains, nuts, pulses, fruits and others
The centres have its’ own small-scale farms, poultry from which most of the foods are obtained. These nutritional parks are used as examples for others to obtain nutritional food at a cheap price. Some food is also obtained from local or expert markets.
What is the outcome?
The weight of the children and mother are increased to a healthy level according to their age.
They are less prone to infectious diseases and the there will be brain growth.
Also the mothers will have a better understanding of nutritional foods and methods of obtaining them.
The education level of the children has increased
Awareness has been created about health, sanitation and nutrition
Household are becoming more self-sustainable in producing nutritional foods

Rabid Rehabilitation Development Service Project
Over the past twenty years , over 500,00 Tamil people have  been displaced due to the war in Northeast Sri Lanka. To assist these people resettle and rehabilitate, TRO Sri Lanka, along with several other local and international NGOs, implemented the Rapid Rehabilitation Development Service Project. In 2005 a sum of $20,000 was disbursed for this project.

Deaf and Blind Institute for Children
This institute known as “Inuya Vazhvu Illam” fosters deaf and blind children in the Vanni area, and houses 82 children. TRO Australia is partially responsible in the maintenance of this institute. Funds are disbursed from the general fund raising activities.