Arts
Getting to know their country of origin
View(s):Each year, the Asia Foundation selects young leaders of Sri Lankan origin to experience, explore and enjoy the country of their heritage for six months. Hailing from the USA, Canada, UK, South Africa and Australia, they are all high achievers, most with multiple masters and extracurricular interests.
The LankaCorps Fellowship has just completed its fifth cycle. The Fellows have either returned to their countries of residence with a renewed vigour and understanding about Sri Lanka vowing to spread the message that Sri Lanka has moved beyond its war years to promoting peace, while others have opted to stay back and contribute their impressive pool of knowledge and skill to projects and programmes in the country.
As each of the Fellows have detailed at the various forums they have been speaking at, growing up in an expatriate community can be challenging.
2016 Lanka Corps fellows L-R: Savini Ganhewa, Nina Fernando, Hema Sidharan, Sheraanya Pillai, Sindu Sivayogam and Melinda Yogendran with Dr. Naj Nagendran (centre)
Country Representative of The Asia Foundation Dinesha de Silva says, “Depending on the circumstances under which these young people or their parents left the country, ideas and views are frozen in time and memories are naturally coloured, by their own unique experiences.
We do feel that the Fellowship has piqued their curiosity, enabling them to explore their parents’ past and their heritage while not compromising their career aspirations and professional development.
By living and working here, they are able to form their own perceptions and views about the country and have a direct connection.”
The Fellows have worked with organisations like the Foundation of Goodness, the Carbon Consulting Group, the Central Bank, ICES, Centre for Poverty Analysis, National Water Supply & Drainage Board, Emerge Lanka Foundation, Family Planning Association, Family Rehabilitation Centre, the Chitrasena-Vajira Dance Foundation and some have returned to launch their own organisations like Suneyra Lanka and Qualia Solutions.
However, the sustainability of the LankaCorps Programme currently hangs in the balance. Purely funded by the good offices of committed expatriate Sri Lankans including Los Angeles physician and ardent proponent and supporter of the LankaCorps Fellowship, Dr Naj Nagendran, De Silva urges the private sector to partner with The Asia Foundation to use the significant pool of talent and vast experiences they have for the country.