WHY, WHO, WHAT, WHERE …….. SARVODAYA?

Sarvodaya, Sri Lanka’s biggest charity, is dedicated to making a positive difference to the lives of rural Sri Lankans. Our grassroots movement now reaches 15,000 villages in 34 districts with 1,500 staff throughout Sri Lanka.

Founded by a Sri Lankan schoolteacher in 1958, our philosophy is based on Buddhist-Gandhian philosophy and we work across all ethnic and religious communities. We are dedicated to the sustainable empowerment of people through self-help and collective support, to non-violence and peace.

It is not as much what we do to alleviate rural poverty but the way in which we do it which makes us so effective and sustainable – through the active participation and engagement of the villagers themselves.

Our social and technological village development programmes continue unabated; in addition, in response to urgent needs in our country, we are continuing with our award-winning Tsunami recovery programme and conflict resolution activities towards building a lasting peace.