Help SP&EC to stay afloat and sustain our community impact

Help Support Spa Una & Eco Café

Who we are

We are a massage spa and eco cafe located in Unawatuna, Sri Lanka. Our mission is to build an environmentally conscious brand. We have eliminated plastic consumption in our own cafe and we provide a water filter where the entire community can come fill their water bottles for free in an effort to reduce more plastic ending up on our beaches. Additionally, we serve a vegan only menu as these food items are proven to have the lowest demand on environmental resources. And we are also a massage spa providing affordable and holistic stress and pain relieving treatment options. We like to think of ourselves as a haven for wellness.

Why we need your support

Sri Lanka has a seasonal tourist industry and our region is currently in its low season however this season has been “lower” than previous years and lower than anyone anticipated. We are a team of seven people and we are experiencing some difficulties meeting our operating expenses based on the drop in business and also due to some unforeseen expenses (ex: broken refrigerator, roof leak, etc). If we close our doors, all seven of these employees will be without jobs and will not be able to support their families as it will be impossible for them to find jobs elsewhere at the moment due to the low season. These are good people with children to care for, with aging parents to care for, etc. and surviving the remainder of the season will be an extreme hardship for them.

On top of being the primary caregivers for their families, these employees are special due to the fact that they are considered to be what society would label as the outcasts. They have not had educational opportunities, they have been forced into a life where they have had to do some unspeakable things just to survive and they came to me with very minimal job skills. However we are going to great lengths to change that and have decided to give them a chance, to train them and teach them various job skills such as cooking, gardening, barista, table servers, construction, massage techniques, customer service, etc. And I personally give them free English lessons which I can only hope will open up some additional opportunities for them in the future.

We are also currently trying to keep up with the demand of adopting a family. A 17 year old girl came to us begging for help. She told us that her father recently passed away, she has three younger siblings at home and they are struggling with not having enough to eat. We agreed to scrounge up enough money so that twice a month we can provide a box of dried food and basic hygiene items for her and her family. And after coming a few times to collect her box, we noticed that the girl’s belly is noticeably larger. I committed the cardinal sin and decided to ask her if she is expecting a baby and after trying to hide the shame, she eventually burst into tears and explained that she had been sexually violated after her father had passed away and now she is pregnant, alone and poor. My heart is absolutely broken for this girl and I am trying to ensure that I can at least assist in getting her the pre-natal care that she needs and deserves.

So, in addition to working hard on having a positive impact on the environment, we are also working tirelessly to improve the lives of those that we have the capacity to help. And in third-world conditions, we strive to pay our employees a decent and livable wage, to provide on the job training so that they can develop transferable work skills, and most importantly - to offer a safe and secure work environment where our staff isn’t threatened with exploitation.