The Siripa Sevana rehabilitation centre in the Sudhagala village in the Kuruwita Divisional Secretariat division in the Ratnapura district marked its first year recently.
The Siripa Sevana quarantine centre which opened on June 23, 2022 commemorated its first anniversary which included an all-night pirith chanting ceremony and an alms-giving to the Maha Sangha.
The founder chairman and the Managing Director of the Siripa Sevana’ rehabilitation centre, Manoj Ganepalla, an experienced drug counsellor is the national director of Lanka Fundamental Rights Organisation, National Organiser of the Commonwealth Buddhist Council and a member of the World Federation against Drugs.
He told the Sunday Observer that during the past year, 135 drug addicts were admitted to the Siripa Sevana quarantine Centre and 60 of them are living a highly productive, happy and healthy lives while 75 inmates are rapidly recovering from the intoxication and drugs- friendly lifestyle under the supervision of four counsellors, two psychiatrists and a staff trained by the National Drugs Control Board, to face the challenge of rehabilitation of drug addicts.
“I started the Siripa Sevana with four inmates hoping to rehabilitate them to be responsible citizens or personalities. We, the Siripa Sevana staff, take a holistic approach to fulfill its propose of rehabilitating,” Ganepalla said.
The rehabilitation course for 120 days involves treatment. The whole process is based on the psychology of drug addition, conceptualised and executed with solid principles. We are dedicated to create a drug-free society. We are getting ready to accommodate a new batch of 30 persons on the waiting list, he said. Ganepalla said he set up the Siripa Sevana rehabilitation and quarantine centre having invested Rs. 2 million of his personal funds.
‘’We don’t get any government funds or foreign donations. However, it is not an easy task to maintain the Sripa Sevana rehabilitation centre providing inmates a comprehensive training, for a radical behavioural and attitudinal change in them. We depend on the contributions by the parents, kith and kin and the well-wishers of the institute and the inmates,’’ Ganepalla said.