Rathgama feels the pulse…

Opening of the Second Village Heartbeat Project , Monroviya Estate, Rathgama

The village heartbeat model as the name suggest, is the nucleus of the philosophy and ethos of the foundation’s commitment to narrow the gap between urban and rural Sri Lanka. Though the concept is simple, creating and sustaining massive empowerment centers in every village is impossible. However, the creation of a basic center with the access to the absolute essential for empowering rural communities is not only possible, it can prove to be a game changer in the fight against rural isolation and poverty.

That being the goal we strive to replicate this model in rural villages across the Island. The second Village Heartbeat project was just launched in Rathgama. FoG was requested by Lanka Japan Friendship Society to take over the rather run down community centre at Monroviya Estate, Rathgama. FoG decided to replicate the now successful village heartbeat concept which is in operation at Udumulla, a small poverty stricken village close to Seenigama.

Help Sri Lanka a charity from Australia was the main sponsor of the project with Mr. David Cruse also from Australia being the co-sponsor. Help Sri Lanka has further decided to sponsor the running of the project for the first year. Their generosity and commitment to serve humanity inspires us and fuels our passion to serve.

The centre consists of a computer room, library, community centre, volunteer accommodation and a play park for the children. All of which are beyond the dreams for a rural village community. We believe that by providing these opportunities these communities will break away from the trap of poverty and the mentality that comes along with it. Our experience thus far has been, the communities embrace this opportunity and take massive strides towards their progress as individuals and as a community.

Around 300 delighted villagers attended the opening ceremony on 23 October 2010. They showed their enthusiasm for the project by bringing ‘Kavun, Kiribath ‘ etc for the visitors. LJFS was represented by three members of the society who were absolutely pleased with the transformation of the abandoned community centre. Already around 240 youth have applied for various classes. The English and computer classes have already commenced. Transformation of this community has already begun.

Thank you for your support of the Foundation of Goodness and our quest to transform rural Sri Lanka.

2010.11.10