CHILDREN & YOUTH – THE CHILDREN’S GOOD VALUES INITIATIVE

Children make up an integral part of the Foundation of Goodness’ target beneficiaries and we consider it a priority to support the boys and girls of rural Sri Lanka, brimming with potential yet lacking the right opportunities to achieve their dreams for a better tomorrow. These children often have families where both parents have to work hard to make a living, leaving the children alone. They face little guidance at home, pressure to leave school at an early age to support the family, hard living conditions and external influence that may not always take them down the better paths of life. Therefore, the Foundation of Goodness has reached beyond offering educational courses and sports training. We also have programmes to inculcate good values, manners, the right attitude, psycho-social support and environmental awareness.

As our Founder, Kushil Gunasekera, often says, “Passion and values combined, makes the outcome matchless”. One compulsory programme offered at every one of our Centres is the Children’s Good Values Initiative which focuses on inculcating good values in all our beneficiaries, working under a different theme every month. For example, the month of July saw our Centres islandwide follow the theme “Give Thanks for the Little and You Will Find a Lot”. Under this theme, the Village Heartbeat Empowerment Centres carried out special activities to teach the value of gratitude, such as through encouraging our youth to help others in any way they can. By lending a hand to someone else who is in need, by being thoughtful to others, by thanking others often, and by volunteering. One of our biggest principles is to give back to the community and all of our sectors engage in community aid projects every year. Other monthly topics include ‘Qualities to Master to be a Great Human Being’, ‘Be Free through Forgiveness and Reconciliation’ and ‘Together, Everyone Achieves more’.

In Sri Lanka, 14.6% of the total population are youth and 23.75% are children, many of whom reside in rural areas. International Youth Day 2020, under the theme “Youth Engagement for Global Action”, reflected on the importance of empowering youth and engaging them at the local, national and global levels. Our youth are the future, and we need to inculcate a life based on values so that the next generation of leaders are proactive, thoughtful and kind. We hope to provide our youth with opportunities to grow and engage in important discussions that may one day shape the future.