Sanjiv Mendis Memorial Foundation enters into
partnership with SOS Children's Villages Sri Lanka:
Financial support for VTC
Nipuni Wimalapala
The Sanjiv Mendis Memorial Foundation entered into a partnership with
SOS Children's Villages Sri Lanka to provide financial support to
upgrade the SOS Vocational Training Centre (VTC), Anuradhapura.
The Sanjiv Mendis Memorial Foundation chairman Ricky Mendis presented
a cheque for Rs 8,064,022 to SOS Children's Villages Sri Lanka Board of
Directors President Sandhya Weerasinghe at a meeting last week. The
donation will be utilized to equip the SOS VTC, Anuradhapura with modern
machinery and apparatus to provide vocational training for youths from
families living under the poverty line in the Anuradhapura district.
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From left: The Sanjiv Mendis Memorial
Foundation Accountant Ravi Ruberu, Directors J S Mather,
Charmaine Mendis, Ricky Mendia, SOS Children’s Villages, Sri
Lanka President Sandhya Weerasinghe, National Director
Ananda Karunarathne and SOS Children’s Villages, Sri Lanka
former President Malsiri Dias at the presentation. Picture
by Saman Sri Wedage |
SOS Children's Villages Sri Lanka National Director Ananda
Karunarathne said this facility was started as a fully-fledged
Vocational Training Centre and therefore, initially it was able to
provide quality training to vulnerable youths.
"However, with the development of new technology and curricula,
today, the VTC is unable to deliver up to date, training that keeps pace
with modern and future technological requirements, mainly due to lack of
contemporary machinery and apparatus. Re equipping the SOS-VTC,
Anuradhapura with modern machinery is a timely requirement and SOS
Children's Villages Sri Lanka is thankful to The Sanjiv Mendis Memorial
Foundation for making this donation to improve the effectiveness of the
SOS-VTC, Anuradhapura," he said.
Mr. and Mrs Ricky Mendis, parents of the late Sanjiv Mendis,
established the Sanjiv Mendis Memorial Foundation in 1991. The
Foundation has in the past organised islandwide art competitions and
awarded Gold medals for excellence, in addition to supporting many
charitable causes, primarily those that were of special interest to
Sanjiv himself.
SOS Vocational Training Centre (VTC), Anuradhapura, which is an
ancillary project of SOS Children's Villages Sri Lanka, was initiated in
1997 as an extension of the work that SOS Children's Villages Sri Lanka
was doing (when the peace talks were in progress) with the war affected
families at Wahalkada and Kapachchi. Subsequently, due to obvious
reasons the VTC started to cater only to the youth (O/L dropouts) in the
Anuradhapura district that are from families living under the poverty
line.
This VTC was registered under the Tertiary & Vocational Education
Commission of Sri Lanka (TVEC) in March 1999. Training courses offered
by the VTC, Anuradhapura include, welding (arc and gas), and motor
mechanism. Since the inception of the VTC, 368 youths have successfully
completed training and found jobs, locally and abroad or started
self-employment that provides sustainable income for their families. The
Sanjiv Mendis Memorial Foundation Director Charmaine Mendis, SOS
Children's Villages Sri Lanka Board of Directors immediate past
President Malsiri Dias, SOS Children's Villages Sri Lanka National
Director Ananda Karunarathne, The Sanjiv Mendis Memorial Foundation
Director Selvam Mather and Ravindra Ruberu, were present.
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