September Highlights
A special episode on the Plates of Goodness cooking programme filmed with FoG Founder Kushil Gunasekera and Danu Innasithamby was featured on HiTV.
Foundation of Goodness’ Triathlete Lakruwan Wijesiri has become the first ever Sri Lankan triathlete to participate in the Asian Games. Lakruwan joined the Sri Lankan delegation who travelled to Indonesia for the 18th Asian Games which took place from the 18th of August to 2nd of September. Lakruwan also took 1st place at the National Triathlon Championship in Sri Lanka and has won 6 out of the 8 local triathlons.
A biogas unit was donated to the MCC Centre of Excellence for the use of our staff and students by a kind-hearted donor as an environmentally friendly cost-reduction initiative to support the Foundation of Goodness.
An ICT Volunteer Workshop for Educators - featuring Google for Education 2018 was conducted at the MCC Centre of Excellence by Dr. Nimalaprakash Skandhakumar, Lecturer at the University of Sri Jayawardenepura for 20 IT Teachers from the region.
The 13th group of patients have successfully undergone cataract
We were delighted to welcome a team from Hilti Svenska AB (Sweden) to the Foundation of Goodness for a very special volunteer visit. The group had funded the construction of public toilets at the Akurala Temple and helped with painting the building before handing it over to the villagers. They had also brought along some toys to gift to our little ones at the Akurala Child Resilience Centre, which really put a smile on the kids' faces.
Village Heartbeat Empowerment Centres:
The Foundation of Goodness Village Heartbeat Empowerment Centres are designed to empower rural disadvantaged villagers, especially through English and IT which are essential to reduce the levels of poverty. Other programmes also include life skills & values, educational subjects, vocational training and sports to help them make better progress in overcoming the disparity between the urban and rural communities.
Sports
A big congratulations to FoG cricketer from Devapathiraja College, 17-year-old Kaveesha Dilhari who was selected for the National Ladies Cricket Team facing India for 5 T20 and 3 ODI matches. During the third ODI against India, she picked Harmanpreet Kaur's wicket and scored a vital 12 not-out in Sri Lanka's successful chase of 254 - their highest in ODIs - off the penultimate ball of the game.
We were delighted to have the opportunity to present high-quality TT Rackets to some of our outstanding young TT players with the help of our kind donor Shaktha Amaratunga.
These girls need all of our support and encouragement to continue their successful journey. Pictured above (left to right) are: Diwya Dharani:
* Sri Lanka Schools U12 A Division Runner-up (All Island Inter-School Team Championship 2018)
* All Island Open Ranking U12 Girls' Singles Runner-up 2018 (WWG Table Tennis Championship) Sanduni Prabuddhika:
* Sri Lanka Schools U14 A Division Champion
* South Asian Games Silver Medalist * Maheepala Herath Challenge Trophy 2018 - All Island Open Ranking U18 Girls Singles Runner-up Himalsha Savodi:
* Sri Lanka Schools U14 A Division Runner-up (All-Island Inter-School Team Championship 2018)
Imalsha Sewmini:
* All Island Open Ranking U10 Girls Singles Runner up (AGSEP 2017)
The Foundation of Goodness Ladies Cricket Team has qualified to continue playing as a Division I team in 2019 while the Club Seenigama Cricket Team have qualified to play in the Provincial Tournament, having won their District Tournament. If they win the Provincial Tournament, the team will be promoted to Division II in 2019.
The monthly cricket coaching camp by Hemantha Devapriya sponsored by Tokyo Cement was conducted for 40 cricketers and 8 coaches at the Sports Academy in Seenigama while the 10th North/ East Coaching Camp took place in Batticaloa with 50 students and 3 coaches attending.
Other special coaching camps conducted this month included Former Ananda College Cricket Captain Deepal Dharmasekera organising a cricket coaching programme in Seenigama using Spintech and Zwingo Balance equipment which are the latest trend in the game (The equipment was donated to FoG at the end of the programme) and a Right Arm Leg Spinners coaching session conducted by Ravi Weerasooriya from Australia.
Cricket equipment donated to the Foundation of Goodness by various well-wishers were donated to Puthukulam Maha Vidyalayam School in Vavuniya, Abayatissa Maha Vidyalaya in Wathugedara and to up and coming young cricketer Kavindu Nadeeshan from Dharmasoka College- Ambalangoda (pictured above).
Foundation of Goodness will be assisting other organisations supporting Special Needs Children's programmes in Moneragala, Kilinochchi, Jaffna and Ambalanthota. With leadership from Dr. Naj Nagendran, we will be liaising with Serendip Children's Home in building a programme in the North with the Ministry of Education and similarly in the South, we will be working with Methsewa Foundation in Moneragala as well as the CIMA Students Society and Schools Relief Initiative in the UK at a school in Ambalanthota, developing a fully equipped modern classroom.
The Community Psycho-social Unit conducted educational sessions on good hygiene habits for the kids at the Baranasooriya Boys’ Home and Anula Girls’ Home and a programme on mental health awareness for the kids at Sumana Vidyalaya in Kuligoda.
A Life Skills & Values workshop was conducted for 50 students from the Computer Training Centre with special guest speaker H. A. S. Mendis – Counsellor and Former Manager NDDCB motivating the students in addition to sessions conducted by FoG Founder/ Chief Trustee Kushil Gunasekera and the Community Psycho-social Unit.
14 Village Welfare projects (which are in addition to the monthly ongoing sector programmes) amounting to Rs. 222,337.50 (USD 1,300/-) divided among areas such as healthcare, education and general welfare were facilitated this month to uplift the living standards of rural villagers to ease their burden in addition to the ongoing campus style of operation in place with the help of our donors.
The Foundation of Goodness is delighted to have 6 volunteers with us this month from Germany, USA, UK, Australia and Sri Lanka, all of whom are adding value to our work.
FoG's Village Heartbeat Empowerment Centres in the North carry out a variety of programmes every month. For more of our activities in the North and East, please visit the North Journey So Far Update (Click for more).
TOTAL BENEFICIARIES SO FAR: 400,000+
Major Upcoming Events:
17 international teams are scheduled to visit the FoG Sports Academy over the last 3 months of the year for community aid sports tours. Special programmes commemorating Children's and Elders' Day- 1st October. ICE (Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship) Workshops to take place in November. Establishing the 11th and 12th Village Heartbeat Empowerment Centres are in discussion over the next 3 months. MCC Cricket & Golf Tour to take place during the upcoming England cricket series in Sri Lanka- November 2018. Gifting of 75 solar units to families without electricity. Potential partnership with Sports Ledger Foundation. Establishing a bat repair unit in partnership with Kingsgrove Sports - Sydney, Australia. Benchmarking the Special Needs classroom at Kilinochchi Primary School. 'Apps for Good' Research & Development activities carried out by the Rural Action App Business Team. Concept development underway to create a 'Good Life Institute' with the focus being "Better Than I Used To Be". Potential collaborations with sports legends, organisations and entrepreneurs. Muthiah Muralidaran Sports Memorabilia Museum to be established in Seenigama. New and innovative enterprise avenues for sustainable income generation underway to attain proposed self-sustainability by the year 2020. Foundation of Goodness' 20th-anniversary project plans under development for 2019.
Features:
Features:
Features:
04th October 2018 |
