Hemas opens 35th Piyawara pre-school in resettled village
Hemas Holdings recently opened its 35th Pre-School in the resettled village of Silawathei, Mullaitivu Town. This is the second such Community Pre-School, the first one being at Ambalnagar.
This was also a great moment of pride and satisfaction for Hemas, indeed a landmark event in the decade old history of Piyawara in Sri Lanka.
The primary CSR project of Hemas Group, Piyawara was launched in 2002 in collaboration with the Ministry of Child Development. Considered one of the best public-private sector initiatives in the country, it currently operates 35 pre-schools island wide by providing education for over 3,000 children on a daily basis.
“Piyawara is in its landmark 10th anniversary year. This has been a very rewarding journey as we have touched the lives of over 3000 little children across the geographical divide. On behalf of the Hemas Group and Hemas Outreach Foundation, we thank the Sri Lanka Army for its unstinted support and for facilitating this project. We see massive development taking place in the region and are happy to be a part of this nation building process by supporting the national plan. We also place on record our deep gratitude to all our donors and trustees for their support,” said Chairman Hemas Outreach Foundation Abbas Esufally.
Post-war 2009, Hemas operated temporary pre-schools in Menik Farm, Vavuniya and provided all facilities. As a long term measure to support the community in the North Hemas has also built ‘Model’ Pre-Schools in the key cities of North and ‘Community PreSchools’ for the marginalised communities in the resettled villages of the Northern peninsula.
The Hemas Outreach Foundation provides training to all the pre-school teachers while all ‘Piyawara’ pre-schools are monitored and sustained by Hemas and the Ministry with teachers appointed by the Local Government or Rural Development Societies.
Piyawara stands today as a successful initiative, a sustainable and ongoing project by Hemas and the Children’s Secretariat … demonstrating the success of govern- ment - private sector partnerships in addressing national issues and going beyond the geographical divide.
Executive Director of Hemas Outreach Foundation Shiromi Masakorala said, “Piyawara has, at all times, given us a deep sense of fulfillment. The local community too is very appreciative of this initiative.”