Sri Lanka Federation of University Women

Dr. C. Selvie Perera

Advancement of women: The Sri Lanka Federation of University Women (SLFUW) was founded by an enthusiastic group of women in 1941. Inspired by noble ideals, at that time they were either graduates of foreign universities or foreigners who had made Ceylon, as Sri Lanka was then known, their second home.

That group included Clara Motwani, the founder president of SLFUW, Doreen Wickramasinghe, Hilda Kularatne nee Westbrook, Marjorie Westbrook and Susan George Pulimood. Also in the group was Grace Paul, a founder member and the first Sri Lankan President (1944-1946).

At present, the SLFUW is the only organisation in Sri Lanka that is made up of and represents women graduates of the country. it remains a non-political, non-governmental, charitable body affiliated to the International Federation of University Women.

The initial meetings of the Federation were held in the homes of members.

Later the meetings were held in the office of the UNDP and also in a schoolroom at Havelock Road. This was before moving to a small office in the headquarters of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS).

It was in 1996 when the SLFUW obtained the land in Kitulwatte on lease from the Urban Development Authority. The president at the time, Dr. Lorna Devaraja, writing in Growth and Development, the SLFUW publication, has noted: "It is necessary to place on record the part played by Nirmala Williams in obtaining from the UDA the land at Kitulwatte to construct our headquarters. President Dr. Lorna Devaraja and Manel Abeysekera the secretary signed the official documents of the lease in December 1996."

Since its inception, the SLFUW had completed several successful projects related to community development, awareness raising on women's health, skills training and leadership development for undergraduates. Plans were drawn up for a resource Centre in January 1996 but because of financial constraints, the Centre, originally intended to house several NGOs, remained a dream.

It was at this juncture that the Federation faced problems created by a squatter. He was eventually evicted, thanks to the efforts of Seela Ebert, Lalitha Senarate, and Cressida Senanayake. When Seela Ebert was elected President, 'the Kitulwatta Project' as it had come to be known, was to be the major focus for the year. But, as Ebert in her Annual Report noted, "To collect the much needed funds, a brochure was prepared by Dr. Selvie Perera and mailed to all our members and well-wishers. Regretfully no response was received from the members."

With much difficulty we were able to raise Rs. 100,000 that year. However, 3.5 million rupees were required for the low-cost building we proposed to have constructed by Mr. Prasanna Kurukulasuriya of Instyles Ltd.

It was at this stage that Dr. Selvie approached Mr. Merrill Fernando of the MJF Charitable Foundation, who magnanimously agreed to fund the entire project. Mr. Fernando wrote "Considering that a Resource and Training Centre of the level you propose would help a large number of people, I made the decision to meet the cost of construction of the Building as presented. In so doing, I place my utmost confidence in you and your team to make this R & T Centre an example to similar projects. I am grateful to you for providing the MJF Trust an opportunity to make this contribution."

In June 2005 through the efforts of our Treasurer, Chintha Munasinghe, the Shinnyo-en Buddhist Order in Japan agreed to provide additional financial assistance toward the establishment of a Resource Centre to improve the educational and vocational skills of university women.

As the building neared completion, we realised that the very large garden space required professional landscaping.

Deshamanya H.K. Dharmadasa stepped in with a generous donation towards its cost in the memory of his late wife Mrs. Meelin Dharmadasa.

August 5th 2006 was a red-letter day in the annals of SLFUW when we moved into our own premises. The Resource and Training Centre was ceremonially opened by Mr. Merrill Fernando and Rev Yutaka Okano of Shinnyo-en on Saturday, 5 August.

In addition to the financial contributions made by the members, SLFUW's own professional expertise also came in handy during this project.

We are indeed grateful to Engineers Dr. Premila Sivapragasapillai and Lanka Hathurusinghe and Architect Karuna Thenuwara in the Building committee who offered their time and expertise during the project. They have helped make a long-held dream become a reality.

The message from the IFUW President, Dr. Mary Powell, published in our 50th Jubilee Newsletter reads. "IFUW is extremely proud of all the SLFUW has accomplished in their 50 years.

It has made a significant contribution to education and advancement of women and girls through its ongoing programme of workshops, Symposia Forum discussions and scholarships. The R and T centre for Women is an outstanding effort to reach out to the less privileged than yourselves.

May you build on your past accomplishments to even greater achievements." We have finally achieved our objective, thanks to President Jayanthi Liyanage who faced and successfully overcame many problems to complete this project.

The new research and training centre has equipped the SLFUW with much needed training space, and the association looks forward to a new era in our development activities for women.