Roshan Mahanama sponsors Hemas’ Piyawara pre-school in Veheratenna
Saturday, 21 December 2013 00:00
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Celebrated Sri Lankan cricketer and well-known ICC international match referee Roshan Mahanama recently laid the foundation stone for the 39th Hemas Piyawara Pre-School. Present on the occasion were Minister of Child Development and Women’s Affairs Tissa Karaliyadda, Hemas Outreach Foundation Executive Director Shiromi Masakorala, Commander Security Forces Wanni Major General Boniface Perera, General Officer Commanding 62 Division Brigadier Devinda Perera and several others.
Situated in the resettled village of Veheratenna, 20 km interior off Kebethigollawa, this community pre-school will serve nearly 136 little children. It will be constructed by the Sri Lanka Army’s 62 Division on a voluntary basis.
The little village of Veheratenna houses 500 farmer families who suffered many hardships during the war. They have now returned to their former farming lands yet eke out an existence amid great physical and financial hardships.
Roshan Mahanama, the Brand Ambassador of the Hemas Outreach Foundation which runs the Piyawara Project said, “It gives me a tremendous sense of indescribable joy and fulfilment to be of help to these little innocent children and to the Piyawara Project. The right to education is the right of every child. I am honoured to join hands with Hemas and take the Piyawara project forward.”
With the end of the war, 35 little children from Veheratenna enjoyed the luxury of a basic education in a small building constructed by the Sri Lanka Army. However, the existing school is not large enough to accommodate the total of 136 children of the area, hence the donation of this new school. Minister Tissa Karaliyedda assured the villagers that his Ministry would train more teachers in collaboration with Hemas and help them in every possible way.
Beyond bricks and mortar
Hemas Outreach Foundation Executive Director Shiromi Masakorala said that the Piyawara Pre-School concept is aimed at assuring a sound early learning for the little children of Sri Lanka. “This project goes beyond bricks and mortar and takes a holistic approach to pre-school education in Sri Lanka.”
“Setting up a pre-school in a remote area which is recovering from decades of conflict was a rather formidable task. We do place on record both the moral and logistical support extended to us by the Government and the Sri Lanka Army in getting this project off the ground,” said Hemas Outreach Foundation Chairman Abbas Esufally.
The first Hemas Piyawara pre-school was set up in Kurunegala in 2002 with two teachers, and 22 children on roll. Today, more than a decade later in 2013, Piyawara spans the length and breadth of Sri Lanka with 38 pre-schools, over 100 teachers and enriching lives of over 3,000 children.
Piyawara stands today as a successful initiative, a sustainable and ongoing project by Hemas and the Children’s Secretariat, demonstrating the success of government-private sector partnerships in addressing national issues and going beyond the geographical divide.
