Asian International School and Elizabeth Moir School volunteers with FoG

Asian International School and Elizabeth Moir School, Colombo have been regular visitors to the Foundation of Goodness (FoG) for many years. Each year, students visit FoG to experience village life first hand and gain insight into rural life. They are also able to engage in our holistic rural development model and interact directly with their peers from the southern coast.

Asian International School

In March this year a group of students and teachers from Asian International School, Colombo dropped in at the MCC Centre of Excellence. They learnt about the unique community development model in practice at FoG, touring the premises and seeing first-hand the activities that go on within the Centre.

The AIS students treated our FoG Children’s Good Values Initiative to some delicious tea-time treats and spent time interacting and engaging in some fun arts and crafts.

The group then rolled up their sleeves, grabbed some paint and got busy with the walls of the Goodness Shop, giving the store a refreshing finish with a new coat of paint.

Later in the day the students engaged in friendly games of cricket and netball with our FoG players. The day spilled over with laughter as everyone braved the heat in the spirit of goodness, engaging in social service and making friends.

The visit culminated on an emotional note, with the surprise party the students had organised for their teacher Mrs. Damayanthi Fonseka who was retiring later this year. Mrs. Fonseka who is also the sister of FoG Founder and Chief Trustee Kushil Gunasekera, had been instrumental in introducing AIS to the Foundation, facilitating the annual visits.

Elizabeth Moir School

Elizabeth Moir School visited us in February where the students and teachers toured the MCC Centre of Excellence and interacted with the Lahiru Preschool students. The field visit to FoG enabled the students from Colombo to understand the issues facing their rural counterparts and gave them the opportunity to volunteer in our community development activities. The visit to the Lahiru pre-school was especially heart-warming with the Elizabeth Moir Students gifting the FoG kids with vouchers for school shoes.

Following the tour of FoG, the students volunteered to clean up the Seenigama beach. FoG conducts regular beach clean ups to ensure a plastic free and clean coastal space for the community. The boys and girls picked up shovels and bags and enthusiastically engaged in some community service.

The afternoon was spent working on arts and crafts with the FoG Children’s Good Values Initiative. The colourful creations reflected the fun filled day full of laughter and joy. The Elizabeth Moir volunteers still had more to give, because next, they got their hands dirty polishing and painting the chairs at the FoG community centre. It was a busy day, packed with activity but the cheerful smiles on the faces of the volunteers was evidence of the incredibly rewarding experience of giving back to the community and practicing volunteerism.