About Us
The Mother Sri Lanka Story
Mother Sri Lanka is the story of how the people of one resilient island nation in the Indian Ocean did not allow thirty long years of terrorism drown their hopes and dreams for their motherland. It is the story of a small group of patriotic citizens who wanted to tell their family of twenty million to hold their heads high in pride, believing in themselves. The story of how a country can overcome bloodshed and rise from the ashes of war, learning from the mistakes of the past, uniting under one flag, as one nation, as one people who believe in their country.
- Our approach is holistic. We touch the lives of our future generation from pre-school, through school to university. Our aim is to make them believe in themselves.
- We believe that economic empowerment is a great equalizer. Hence, our work with urban and rural communities covers gender equality, livelihood development
- We have a bottom up approach starting at grass root level with a network across all 25 districts of the country
- We operate with minimum overheads and hence giving the maximum returns to our partners
- An organization that is transparent in our work and our finances with an unblemished track record since 2008
- It is a unique movement started by a group of professionals from private & public sectors
- We urge you to join us on this journey of love, towards building a better Sri Lanka
The Mother Sri Lanka (MSL) movement was started in 2008 by the Mother Sri Lanka Trust which is a non-profit, independent charity using a unique operational model of private funding, public sector infrastructure and managed by a team of professionals from all sectors. The movement is managed by a group of patriotic, dedicated passionate individuals from the public, private and non-profit sectors. In 2016, the Board and the Management of the Mother Sri Lanka movement expanded its’ scope and established the Mother Lanka Foundation which is set up as a non-profit organisation responsible for the movements programs and activities.
The foundation and the trust carries out work under the brand name “Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා” (read as Mother Sri Lanka, and mean to represent the Motherland) with the logo/name written in all three languages and the tagline “My family of twenty million people” has being designed to resemble a movement for everyone from all ethnic and religious groups to work in unity to build a successful future for all.
Our Motto
“I must change for my country to change”
Our Vision
Our dream is to see the people of this land believe in themselves and hold their heads high as citizens of one proud nation.
Our Mission
To be a catalyst to generate “Good Citizenry” behavior patterns among Sri Lankans through their Spiritual, Educational, Socio-Economic and Cultural development.
Our Focus
- To inculcate and promote ‘responsible citizenry behavior’ that supports nation building
- To Empower Sri Lankans by engaging in livelihood development activities
- To rekindle the pride of being Sri Lankan
- To heal the hearts and minds disillusioned due to the war and instead, build reconciliation and peaceful co-existence among all ethnicities in the country
- To promote the overall welfare of children and engage in the promotion of their rights, benefits, education, health and other related issues
- To promote gender equality and the empowerment of women thereby enabling them to play a positive role in nation building
Our Values
- Proud to be Sri Lankan
- Responsible citizens
- Integrity
- Diversity
- Ethical
Message from the Founder
Dr.Janaki Kuruppu
Founder, Chairperson
When I was well into the rat race of the private sector, I had the realization to do something beyond myself and my family, for the benefit of my motherland. With this in mind, I joined the Public Sector in January 2008, at a time when the country was in the grip of war and crises. On the one hand, within the country we were facing the gruesome realities of terrorism, and on the other, a global financial crisis, a food crisis and an oil crisis, added to the gloom and doom. There was an acute lack of positive thinking and whoever had the means, were looking for ways to leave the country and ‘abandon ship’ so to speak. With our future so bleak, I couldn’t help but wonder about the prospects of our country, and if we would ever have the will to overcome. I felt deeply, the need to do something to make Sri Lankans believe in Sri Lanka and themselves, that together we could seek the light at the end of the tunnel. This is what inspired me to start the movement our very own Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා!
Needless to say, it was an uphill task, as I had to face negativity and sheer indifference. Yet, I was determined. Although I had the passion and skills to do this, of deep pockets I had none, and I could not do it alone. So I found generous philanthropists and equal minded and passionate people to lend a hand. Then as if by design, within only one year into the program, our motherland’s fortunes changed. Peace became the new buzz word and as a result we have been able to take our message to over 3 million children, youth and adults in our family of 20 million people. We are proud to say that we were able to achieve this with a small team, with total funding from sponsors and without any significant infrastructure of our own. I earnestly believe this level of success was achieved as it came from deep within our hearts.
Mother Sri Lanka is a journey of love. The journey which initially focused on positive thinking about the country during the war, expanded to reconciliation and mending hearts and minds after the war. In 2016, we entered into a new phase with expanded scope into uplifting the lives of the not so privileged among us. We will continue the movement as long as there are those who believe in our cause.