Graduation Ceremonies for the Women’s Enterprise & Empowerment, Language, IT, Diving and Business Skills Courses Since it was first established in 1999 the Foundation of Goodness has worked towards providing rural beneficiaries with the necessary resources to help them succeed in life, to enable them to achieve their goals and escape from poverty at the same time.
The educational and vocational courses that we offer free of charge play a key role in achieving this ambition, and therefore, every batch of students that graduates from FoG fills us with delight and hope, knowing that we have provided them with the tools to secure a successful future.
2017 began with graduation ceremonies for the last group of students enrolled in the previous year. Both the Women’s Enterprise and Educational, IT & Business Skills graduation ceremonies took place on the 10th of January 2017, with the Women’s Enterprise & Empowerment graduation taking place in the evening and the Language, IT, Diving & Business Skills graduations taking place in the morning.
Friends, families and teachers along with FoG staff members were gathered on this momentous occasion as a total of 391 students received their certificates after successfully completing the courses from the Women’s Enterprise & Empowerment Centre (195 students from 58 villages), IT Centre (105 students from 51 villages), Business Skills Centre (68 students from 31 villages) and the Diving & Training Centre (23 students from 16 villages).
Among those wishing them well was Mr. Ashan Malalasekera from the FoG Board of Trustees who was the chief guest at the Language, IT, Diving & Business Skills graduation. and Dr. Jugta Kahai from USA who was the chief guest for the Women’s Enterprise Graduation. We were also incredibly priviledged to have special guest Karen England, an incredibly generous and kind hearted supporter from Malaysia join us at the event.
Dr. Kahai was one of the key people to help establish the FoG Medical Centre in 2005, following the Indian Ocean Tsunami and we were absolutely delighted to have her back with us. In her very inspirational speech, she said that while watching the Bridal Fashion Show organized by the beauty culture students, she was struck by how much a woman’s career resembles a marriage. In putting their newly gained skills to use, the graduates will be making a serious and long term commitment and its future is unclear. They may face problems and various setbacks down the road but through hard work and perseverance they can go a long way. Referring to her own work ethic, Dr. Kahai said she always looked at her patients as her own parents and siblings, giving them the same care she would give her own family. She advised all the graduates to do the same in their own careers, guaranteeing it as a key to their success.
Mr. Ashan Malalasekera took the time to urge the graduates to work towards a greater good, during his speech. Looking back on his own journey to help others, and speaking about all of FoG Founder Kusihl Gunasekera’s efforts to uplift others, he stressed on how important it was to combine personal success with generosity to others, so that as they rise, their whole community does so too.
We are greatly honored to have had the opportunity to touch 391 lives on their journey to success, and hope that these skills and experiences will help them improve their lot in life through their education, to carve out a professional niche for themselves in the job market or to establish their own cottage industries.
11th January 2017  |
