Life Skills Workshops 2020

Rural Sri Lankans often face a disparity in the quality of education they receive. In addition to this, they have no opportunity to learn essential life skills that are just as important to succeed in life. This includes public speaking, financial literacy and leadership skills. 

The Foundation of Goodness has recognised the importance of these “life skills” in addition to knowledge based education and therefore ensures that our beneficiaries all over the island attend regular life skills workshops.

For example, the women from the Women’s Empowerment Division attend financial management workshops. The boys and girls of the Children’s Goodness Initiatives attend workshops on public speaking, environmental awareness and good values workshops, while our psycho-social unit attends workshops on child psychology. In addition, our staff also attend numerous training on e-commerce, social media and project management. 

These life skills workshops are conducted by our Founder, Kushil Gunasekera and other recognised professionals in various fields who are keen on sharing their knowledge with others, especially those who would otherwise not have the opportunities to learn these essential skills.

Life Skills Programmes held this year:

Senior Corporate Trainer Athula Kithsiri conducted a motivational workshop for our Seenigama MCC Centre of Excellence team, while the Head Officer received training from Dr. Errol Wirasinghe. 

44 students of the Computer Class at the MCC Centre of Excellence participated in a workshop conducted by the Community Psychosocial team, Vindya and Suresh, under the guidance of our Chief Trustee/Founder Mr. Kushil Gunesekara, Mrs.Ruwanmali Jayasinghe and Mr. Ravi Weerasooriya the programme included students from our Microsoft Office, Hardware & Networking Classes!

64 students from the English Language class participated in a workshop with lessons on environmental action conducted by Thuru and long time friend and supporter Harin.

The 35 students of our bakery course at the Women’s Empowerment Centre participated in a “Life Skills Workshop” at the MCC Seenigama Business Skill Centre! The session was started by Founder Kushil Gunasekera on Life Values, while Mr. Vipula Jayarathna, the President of the Chamber of Commerce in Galle and Mrs.Sagarika also added their valuable advice and lessons.

A special thank you also goes to Mr. David Boehm for taking the time to conduct a special workshop, on the 10th of March, for our volunteers and beneficiaries at the MCC Centre of Excellence!

Our Village Heartbeat Empowerment Centres are often the “heartbeat” of the village. In addition to our educational and sports courses, the Centres often act as the premises for other value-addition activities.

The VHE Centre in Thirukkovil, Ampara, conducted a general knowledge and comprehension workshop for unemployed youth, on how to get past competitive examinations. Thulir, an education based organization from Thirukkovil conducted the workshop for more than 80 youth from the area and hope to conduct more in the future.

In lieu of Women’s Day, 160 ladies attending various courses at the MCC Centre of Excellence participated in a workshop with guest speakers including Keerthi Dunuthilaka, Chathuranga Welivita Pujitha Jayawardena and Rohana Yagamuni. 

Dr.Parami Gunasekera and Janaka Thotawatte of Humedica conducted an important lecture series for parents at the Aviva Community Hall on child psychology, during our Children’s Day celebration. 

In a world revolving around information technology and as more activities move online due to the pandemic, it is imperative that our Village Heartbeat Empowerment Centre coordinators, teachers and FoG staff, be tech savvy. Therefore, they participated in a series of workshops conducted by .LK and also by Cornerstone Solutions, Chrishanthan. 

A special leadership training was also conducted by the Director of the MCC Centre of Excellence, Thanuja, for all the staff of the Centre. This helped them work better as a team, express new ideas and gain key leadership qualities. 

The Foundation of Goodness strives to add value to the lives of every beneficiary, as we continue to bridge the gap between urban and rural Sri Lanka.