Since the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004, the Foundation of Goodness has treated the sea with the awe and respect it deserves. The rural villagers of Seenigama have given up a past of destructive coral mining to pursue more environmentally friendly ventures, knowing that the Tsunami was particularly hard on their village due to the destruction of the coral reef. 

The Dive for Good Centre in Seenigama was established to offer an alternate form of employment for rural youth through the provision of a professional PADI diving course, free of charge. This Centre also conducts weekly beach clean-ups, ocean bed clean ups and coral restoration efforts. 

We were also delighted to welcome the team from OceanBiome to the OYOB Centre of Excellence in Seenigama on their OceanRide tour, a bicycle ride around the coastal districts of Sri Lanka to promote marine conservation, create awareness for the local population about the importance of taking care of the ocean, and create responsibility when dealing with marine resources. 

An awareness session was conducted for 17 students from the IT beginners course and the Seenigama Children’s Good Values initiative on the importance of protecting the ocean. They learnt how the oceans are so important to life but are being polluted by plastics, causing a devastating effect on marine life through the prevalence of micro plastics on animals in the sea. They were also taught easy, everyday ways to protect the environment that they could practice.