Draft:Save a Life
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|  |
| Founder | Rakulan Kandasamy |
|---|---|
| Type | Non-governmental organization |
| Location | Jaffna, Northern Province, Sri Lanka |
| Method | Volunteer mobilisation, community programmes, advocacy |
| Website | savealife |
Save a Life is a youth-led non-governmental organization based in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. It was founded on 7 April 2014 as a volunteer initiative promoting voluntary blood donation, and was formally registered in 2019. Its two main sectors are health and the environment. It also works on four cross-cutting areas: gender equality, children and youth development, economic empowerment, and lasting peace.[1][2][3] Most of its work is in the Northern Province, and it has worked with funders including the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, GIZ, Diakonia, Search for Common Ground, The Asia Foundation and several foreign embassies.[4]
History
[edit]Save a Life was founded in Jaffna on 7 April 2014 by Rakulan Kandasamy, a voluntary blood donor, to address a shortage of blood donors.[2] In its early years it organised blood donation campaigns and connected volunteer donors with hospitals and patients.[2][5] From about 2016 it expanded into environmental work.[2]
In 2019 the organisation was registered under the Voluntary Social Services Organisations (Registration and Supervision) Act No. 31 of 1980.[2] During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, its volunteers distributed medical supplies, protective equipment and food to hospitals and families, according to the organisation.[2] From 2021 it began carrying out projects funded by international donors.[4]
In April 2026 it marked its 12th anniversary with "SAVE Day 2026", which included a blood donation awareness walk and a blood donation campaign.[3]
Focus areas
[edit]Save a Life organises its work around two sectors:[1]
- Health – voluntary blood donation, preventive health, sexual and reproductive health and rights, menstrual health and nutrition.
- Environment – ecosystem restoration, climate action, plastic waste reduction and circular economy work.
Four cross-cutting areas run through its programmes: gender equality, children and youth development, economic empowerment, and lasting peace (including peacebuilding, human rights and social cohesion).[1]
Programmes
[edit]The organisation runs nine long-term programmes:[6]
| Programme | Area of work |
|---|---|
| CARE | Relief and essential support for children and families in hardship, including school meals |
| DEGREE | Scholarships and mentoring for students from low-income families |
| SHE | Women's health, menstrual health and empowerment |
| RISE | Livelihoods, skills training and social enterprise |
| RECAP | Ecosystem restoration, including mangrove planting, and climate action |
| RECYCLE | Plastic collection, recycling and circular economy |
| PULSE | Voluntary blood donation and public health |
| HARMONEY | Coexistence between people and animals, and animal welfare |
| RESCUE | Emergency response and disaster recovery |
Blood donation
[edit]Voluntary blood donation has been part of the organisation's work since it was founded.[2] In February 2026 it held a campaign at the Faculty of Arts, University of Jaffna, with the university's Philosophical Society. The campaign had 58 donors, 41 of them women.[7] In September 2026 it ran a four-day blood donation camp alongside the annual festival at Nallur. The camp was held with the Jaffna Municipal Council, the Jaffna Medical Officer of Health office and the blood bank of Teaching Hospital Jaffna, with support from Diakonia, and 236 people donated blood.[8]
Other programme activities
[edit]In March 2026 the CARE programme began a six-month meal programme at three preschools in Urumpirai.[9] In April 2026, under HARMONEY, the organisation began fitting reflective collars to stray dogs to reduce road accidents.[10] In 2025 it opened a materials recovery facility, the Jaffna Recycling Hub, to collect and sort PET bottles for recycling.[11]
Projects
[edit]Since 2021 Save a Life has carried out donor-funded projects, mostly in the Northern Province.[4]
Environment and climate
[edit]- Promoting agroforestry and coastal biodiversity conservation (2021–2022), funded by the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme and UNDP. It planted mangroves, palmyra and agroforestry crops at Paramankirai in Poonakary.[4][5]
- Updating landscape strategies and building the capacity of civil society partners (2023–2025), under the GEF Small Grants Programme, covering the coast from Mannar to Jaffna.[4]
- Empowering communities through accountable governance and environmental rights (2024–2025), a waste management project funded by USAID.[4]
- Green Futures (2024–2025), a climate education project funded by the United States Embassy.[4]
- Plastic Zero Initiative (2024–2025), funded by the World Bank through the PLEASE project of the South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP), with UNOPS. It covered beach clean-ups, waste management coordination in Jaffna District and plastic-free policies in institutions.[4][12]
- Empowering women and youth through sustainable seaweed farming (2025–2026), funded by GIZ in Valaippadu, Kilinochchi District.[4]
- Mangrove Guardian (2026), funded by ChildFund, on the northern coast.[4]
Health, gender and youth
[edit]- Healthy Lives, Healthy Choices (2023–2025), a sexual and reproductive health and nutrition project funded by Diakonia, in three phases.[4]
- Menstrual Dignity: A Pathway to Empowerment and Equality (2023–2025), funded by the Embassy of France with the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka.[4]
- Empowering women and girls in Jaffna to respond to gender-based violence online (2024–2025), funded by the Embassy of the Netherlands.[4]
- P.O.W.E.R. (2025–2028), funded by Diakonia.[4]
- Mindlink (2026–2027), funded by the Australian High Commission.[4]
- Promoting inclusive technical and vocational pathways for youth in climate-smart and green sectors (2026–2027), funded by WUSC.[4]
Governance, rights and peace
[edit]- Fostering inclusive governance and social cohesion by strengthening the voice of health workers in local authorities of Jaffna (2022–2023), funded by The Asia Foundation. It supported sanitation workers and helped set up a welfare association for them.[4][5]
- Youth for democracy and inclusive governance (2023–2025), funded by Search for Common Ground.[4]
- Fostering a torture-free, human rights-assured, peaceful and democratic Sri Lanka (from 2024), with the Right to Life Human Rights Centre, under which Human Rights First Aid Centres were set up in Jaffna and Mannar districts.[4][13]
- VOICE – Strengthening free expression in Northern Sri Lanka (2026–2028), funded by the Embassy of the Netherlands.[4]
In 2022 Save a Life was one of the joint third-place winners of a "Bike to Work" proposal competition held by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Sri Lanka for World Bicycle Day.[14] It then ran a cycling promotion project in the Jaffna Municipal Council area.[5]
Initiatives and networks
[edit]- SAVENTORS – the organisation's volunteer and youth leadership movement. The organisation reports more than 1,500 volunteers.[15][1] In April 2026 it launched a chapter at the University of Jaffna.[16]
- Sri Lanka Environmental Action Network (SLEAN) – a network of environmental organisations, activists and youth groups started by Save a Life.[15]
- International Climate Justice Forum (ICJF) – a platform for climate justice advocacy from a Global South perspective.[15]
- World Palmyrah Day – an observance promoted by the organisation to highlight the environmental, cultural and economic importance of the palmyra palm in northern Sri Lanka.[15]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 "About". Save a Life. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Our Journey". Save a Life. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
- 1 2 "Save a life..." Daily Mirror. 15 April 2026. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 "Projects". Save a Life. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "Save a Life". Vriddhi. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
- ↑ "Programmes". Save a Life. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
- ↑ "Jaffna blood donation drive..." Daily Mirror. 26 February 2026. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
- ↑ "Blood donation during Nallur Festival". Daily Mirror. 22 September 2026. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
- ↑ "Jaffna preschools receive six-month meal support". Daily Mirror. 17 March 2026. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
- ↑ "Save a life initiative boosts stray dog safety". Daily Mirror. 22 April 2026. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
- ↑ "Save a Life Launches Jaffna Recycling Hub Material Recovery Facility". PLEASE Project. 26 September 2025. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
- ↑ "Save a Life". PLEASE Project. South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme. 4 November 2024. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
- ↑ "New Human Rights First Aid Centers Established in Jaffna and Mannar Districts". Right to Life Human Rights Centre. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
- ↑ "Netherlands Embassy marks World Bicycle Day through encouraging Cycling to Work". The Island. June 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "Initiatives". Save a Life. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
- ↑ "Student volunteer initiative launched at Jaffna uni". Daily Mirror. 20 April 2026. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
External links
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