Janaki Kuruppu’s laudable initiative:

A noble mission for Mother Lanka

Ruwini Jayawardana

Her quest is a noble one: Rekindling pride and patriotism in hearts that have been torn by the misfortunes and horrors of life. It is a little more than a year since she began, but she had broken all barriers today reached millions to ‘make Sri Lanka a better place’ for all.

Armed with determination to pursue what she believes in, Janaki Kuruppu launched Mother Sri Lanka in 2009. The project is backed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa and it is he who is responsible for the name ‘Mother Sri Lanka’ written in English, Tamil and Sinhala, and the tagline ‘My Family of 20 million People’. The vision of the movement is to instill the idea that we are one nation and to inspire positive thinking and positive change among Sri Lankans.

“Mother Sri Lanka does not have a political agenda though the President leads the trust. It is all about building patriotism, encouraging people to think positively about Sri Lanka and motivating them to contribute towards the betterment of their country. You can talk about change to others only if it starts with you. We began the movement when the country was at the height of the crisis. People were suffering from terrorism and financial difficulties. Today we have entered a new stage after three decades of terrorism. People can unite and engage positively to re-make their future and turn the page away from all the tribulations and lost opportunities of the past,” Kuruppu opined.

Though the Mother Sri Lanka Trust is for all Sri Lankans coming from all walks of life and all ages, one of its main target groups is children. It started with only a handful of individuals but today many volunteers have joined in.

Mother Sri Lanka’s latest project Apen Ratata - Rata Nagumata (What can I do for my country and how can I give back to my country?) involves working with students from 2,600 schools. The children were asked to make presentations of their ideas on how they can contribute to build the nation.

Every school which took part submitted a team of eight. The competition was conducted in Sinhala, Tamil and English where the teams submitted their projects as drama, dance, song, speeches, Power Point presentations or any other form under the themes that were handed over to them. Forty two schools made it to the finals of the competition conducted in collaboration with the Education Ministry. The finals will take place at Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo, on June 17 and 18. The winners will receive awards at a special function organised at Temple Trees. The program is funded by the private sector.

“The children from the North and the East presented many plays on their turmoil: the battle between separatism and union. Students from grade Six to 12 volunteered to take part in the project and they all spoke from their heart. They were not given prior coaching when submitting their presentation,” she stressed the uniqueness of the project.

Though the project had started off in Sinhala and Tamil half way through the program international schools requested them to include an English category as well. Thus 22 International schools too took part. The competition was held in all nine provinces and the best made it to the finals.

Stage two of the program comprises setting up Mother Sri Lanka clubs where students will continue with the patriotic and social welfare work while improving creativity and logical thinking. “It is a continuing process because the children will be showcasing their projects and spreading the message to others. It is very rewarding to watch the plays take form because you feel you have achieved your objective. What we really wanted was to plant a seed in the children’s mind to think about their country in whatever they do. The children in the North proved that they wanted to learn from past mistakes and be a part of the future together with all communities,” she added with enthusiasm.

After more than 15 years of expertise in the private sector Kuruppu joined the President’s office two years back. She is now the Strategy and Perceptions Management Unit Director at the Presidential Secretariat .

She was honoured with the ‘Most Outstanding Sri Lankan Award 2010’ at the International Association of Lions clubs 5th Annual District Convention District 306 - A 1 - 2009/2010 recently for her contribution towards the betterment of society.