Young leaders of Sri Lankan heritage encouraged to explore, experience and understand country

Six young professionals of Sri Lankan heritage from the USA and Canada are currently in Sri Lanka under The Asia Foundation’s LankaCorps Fellowship, a unique opportunity that chooses young leaders to engage in social, cultural and economic development activities in Sri Lanka, while fostering involvement and understanding for these millennials to explore, experience and enjoy the country of their heritage for a period of six months.  

Now in its fourth cycle, the current LankaCorps Fellows are Heima Sritharan from the USA who has a post baccalaureate pre-medical certificate and a BA working currently at the Foundation of Goodness; Melinda Yogendran from Canada whose B.Sc in Ecology and Environmental Science matches her well into her work at the Carbon Consulting Group; Nina Marie Fernando from the USA now at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES) has a Masters in Religious and Cultural Studies which has enabled her to work as a multi-faith rooted community organiser and travel to Dharmasala, Mexico and Guatemala; Savini Ganhewa from the USA puts her BA in Ethnic Studies and Political Science to good use at the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA); while Sindu Sivayogam from Canada, currently at the World Bank and with The Asia Foundation’s Sub-National Governance Programme, is contributing her knowledge and skills on spatial planning and design after several years working at an architectural firm in Toronto and a Bachelor in Environmental Studies and Urban Planning; and, Shaaranya Pillai also from the USA whose specialisation in child and adolescent mental health studies and communications and multiple competencies in dance, vocal and music augments her experiences at her joint placement with the Family Rehabilitation Center and the Chitrasena-Vajira Dance Foundation.   

Country Representative of The Asia Foundation, Dinesha de Silva, who spent her formative years in the United States, reflects that the Fellowship encourages these young leaders of Sri Lankan heritage to live and work in Sri Lanka, enabling them to form their own perceptions and views about the country, while prompting a direct connection to the land of their heritage.  “We provide a trusted institutional framework where they can explore their roots, contributing to some aspect of Sri Lanka’s development, while maximising their education, background and skill sets.”

Explaining that the original vision was experimental and mooted by the former Country Representative, Nilan Fernando, who himself is an American of Sri Lankan heritage, de Silva analyses that growing up in an expatriate community can be challenging.  “There’s always a thirst to find your roots, a combination of longing and nostalgia, while striving to retain cultural and religious practices and traditions, and yet embracing new ideas and lifestyles.” 

However, she also mentions that depending on the circumstances under which these young people or their parents left the country, ideas and views are often frozen in time and memories are naturally coloured, by their own unique experiences. “We are hoping that the Fellowship will pique the curiosity of these young people, enabling them to explore their parents’ past and their heritage while not compromising their career aspirations and professional development.”    

Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Washington Prasad Kariyawasam sees the LankaCorps Fellows as an ideal tool to contribute towards the nation’s post war recovery, while also making a substantial contribution to post conflict reconciliation and development efforts. “I believe they can be roving ambassadors for Sri Lanka when they return to their home countries,” he deduces, saying, “They are in a position to educate their expansive networks about the realities in Sri Lanka objectively. With the first-hand experience they gain by living and working in Sri Lanka, they are in a unique position to dispel some prevalent myths and misrepresentations about Sri Lanka.” 

He adds that Sri Lanka itself gains an opportunity to use the experience, skills and work ethics these Fellows bring into the country, forging an ideal two-way learning process and mutual exchange of skills.

These thoughts are echoed by Los Angeles physician and ardent proponent and supporter of the LankaCorps Fellowship, Dr. Naj Nagendran, who says, “While the previous generation has their own biases, their experiences differ from the younger generation, who when they come to Sri Lanka, participate and interact, forming their own ideas about the country. Each of the Fellows I’ve engaged with have had very positive thoughts about Sri Lanka, possessing great enthusiasm to help their country of origin.”  

Nagendran believes that the benefit of the program is two-fold. “Firstly, Sri Lanka gains from the experience, skills and knowledge that these Fellows bring from overseas and secondly, because these young leaders form opinions objectively, the reasoning for their estimations are astute and well-founded. They have a living breathing experience of the current day Sri Lanka.”  

de Silva agrees wholeheartedly with these sentiments adding that the connections and links created across the Fellows from the USA, Canada, UK and Australia are fascinating. “The fact that they are able to interact with each other and see commonalities in their upbringing, understanding their families and identities in a more nuanced way and form cross country connections and friendships, are especially interesting aspects that have emerged from this program.”  

However, the biggest challenge faced by the LankaCorps program is ensuring sustainable funding for the program. “My vision is that overseas Sri Lankans and the Sri Lankan private sector and individuals will see the immense potential this program has, both tangibly and intangibly. While the country is looking at an aggressive development plan and can use these millennials’ expertise and knowledge advantageously, their takeaways from the program must also be considered within the larger national vision. Economic development goes together with social development, of which a vital aspect is post-conflict reconciliation and nation building. What better tool to promote the future growth and development of Sri Lanka, than using these Fellows to spread the word and engage our expatriate community to become a more engaged part of that nation building process?” she asks.

LankaCorps Fellowships are made possible in part by generous individual donations.  Donations can be made by cheque addressed to: ‘The Asia Foundation’ in SL Rupees or US dollars or on The Asia Foundation website at https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/1443429.