Hemas Piyawara enriches lives of underprivileged children
The Hemas chain of Piyawara pre-schools has, since its inception in 2002, enriched the lives of underprivileged children across Sri Lanka through a focused early childhood care and development (ECCD) programme.
Piyawara now has 44 such pre-schools across the country with over 3500 children cared for by over 150 teachers daily. This goes on record as being a sustainable and successful model enriching the lives of the most vulnerable communities in Sri Lanka.
It continues in its quest with the recent addition of three more pre-schools benefitting underprivileged communities in Mahasenpura and Dehikindagama in the Monaragala district and Bogaswewa in the Vavuniya district.
“Investment in ECCD is a healthy way of developing the human capital of Sri Lanka. It is our mission to nurture young children with a solid foundation by giving them the opportunities to grow into successful individuals, who in turn add will empower society. Our mission is to nurture young children with good care in order to provide a solid foundation for a life long journey. The initial foundation provided by Hemas Piyawara resonates throughout their lives. This in turn gives us immeasurable joy as their lives are a testimony to the success of this selfless endeavor,” said Hemas Outreach Foundation Executive Director Shiromi Masakorala.
Launched in 2002, the ‘Piyawara’ programme is the primary Corporate Social Responsibility project of Hemas Holdings PLC in partnership with the Children’s Secretariat of Ministry of Women and Child Affairs. The project focuses on key aspects within the framework of ECCD providing a holistic approach to pre-school education, teacher training, parental awareness programmes, emergency intervention during disasters, child protection and more.
The 42nd and 43rd ‘Piyawara’ community pre-schools were declared open in Dehikindagama and Mahasenpura respectively by Hemas Outreach Foundation (HOF) Chairperson Abbas Esufally with Trustees Sue Evans and Azira Esufally in attendance.
Children in these underprivileged localities did not have a pre-school for many years and were using the village community centre and temple premises with bare minimum facilities as a temporary pre-school. The Dehikindagama preschool was funded by Der Touristik, Germany while the Mahasenpura pre-school was funded by Reiner Meutsch Stiftung fly and help/ families Kogler, Horn, Doppers, Muhmel from Germany.
Meanwhile the 44th Hemas Piyawara Preschool was declared open in Bogaswewa, Vavuniya by Trustee of Hemas Outreach Foundation/ Group Director Hemas Holdings PLC Shaktha Amaratunga together with Wanni Security Forces Commander Major General Kumudu Perera.
The residents of the Bogaswewa area were resettled post-war under difficult conditions. The pre-school was run in a mud hut with 20 children. With the opening of this new pre-school, a huge need in the area has finally been addressed with the total number of children increasing to 57.
The Sri Lanka Army played a key role in assisting the Hemas Outreach Foundation to build the pre-school and keep expenditure at a bare minimum with the soldiers even going the extra mile to make bricks for the construction of this school. The school was funded by Der Tourcontact Germany through Fly and Help Germany.
‘Kaiya’ in Sinhala means ‘gathering of people for co-operative work to achieve a common goal’. Thus ‘Kurulu Kaiya’ is a gathering aimed at promoting environmental responsibility through the celebration of the wonder of birds.
‘Kurulu Kaiya’ is organised by the ‘Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka’ (FOGSL) which is affiliated with the Department of Zoology of the University of Colombo and is the local representative of Birdlife International which is the most wide-spread environmental organisation in the world.
NDB is pleased to partner with FOGSL to sponsor this event which will contribute to raising awareness on Sri Lanka’s rich biodiversity and thereby promote environmental sustainability. The venue for this event is ‘Diyasaru Park’ at Thalawathugoda which spreads over 60 acres on Kotte marshes, with over 50 species of birds including a number of migratory birds. The wetland biodiversity of the park also includes butterflies, dragonflies, reptiles and fish. FOGSL organised many interesting activities on December 16th and 17th 2017, including nature walks for kids and adults along the trails of the ‘Diyasaru Park’, to observe wetland biodiversity. The Philatelic Bureau also launched a first day cover depicting four endemic birds of Sri Lanka.
Wetlands are vital for human survival. They provide values that no other ecosystem can and are indispensable for the countless benefits or ‘ecosystem services’ that they provide humanity, ranging from freshwater supply, food and building materials, and biodiversity, to flood control, groundwater recharge, and climate change mitigation. Wetlands are also a haven for birds. However urban wetlands are under pressure. Studies demonstrate that wetland areas and quality continue to decline in most regions of the world. As a result, the ecosystem services that wetlands provide to people are compromised. Therefore it is important to promote awareness on their importance and thereby help conserve our environment. Protecting wetlands can protect our safety and welfare.
It is with this focus that veteran ornithologist and President of FOGSL Professor Sarath Kotagama initiated this event. FOGSL has also initiated a project to conserve urban wetlands by utilising birds as an umbrella group.
In line with this, FOGSL also held the 18th P.B. Karunaratne Memorial Bird Educational Exhibition on December 14th and 15th 2017 at the Zoology Seminar Room, University of Colombo. This exhibition with the theme of ‘Wetlands’ provided information on wetlands and the ecology of birds including endemic species. Professor Kotagama also launched his book ‘Birds of Sri Lanka, an Illustrated Guide’ on December 14th 2017 at this exhibition amidst a gathering of eminent personalities including the Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo, IUCN Country Representative and foreign bird enthusiasts. This book which is an updated version of Professor Kotagama’s initial book, will be a useful resource for ornithologists and also for amateur bird watchers. The book describes all 501 species recorded to date in Sri Lanka and is illustrated in colour. Speaking at the book launch Professor Kotagama said: “The number of endemic birds has been debated in the past, however it is now confirmed as 33 and could be even higher in the future.”
Professor Kotagama believes that observing and keeping a record of birds is very important since birds are good indicators of environmental changes. For example, an increase of crows would indicate a polluted environment and an increase of birds such as the ‘sunbird’ would indicate an environment of good quality.
In some cases, birds can be used as indicators of biodiversity. The intimate linkages between some bird species and their habitats make them useful for identifying ecosystem health. As such, they can be indicators of deteriorating habitat quality and environmental pollution. Combined with their ability to signal the eminent outbreak of diseases, birds are incredibly useful as indicators to both the fields of environmental science and to human health.
As a responsible corporate citizen, ‘Environment’ is one key focus area of the bank’s sustainability agenda with a focus on internal and external stakeholders.