Page 12 - Hemas_Piyawara_Book

Back in 2002, when we took stock of
our philanthropic efforts, we realized
that we were doing many things but
not making a significant impact. In our
discussions with multiple stakeholders,
we saw a clear ‘needs space’ in Early
Childhood Development. Our vision
was to create a best in class model in
partnership with the government so
that we could shape the minds of our
children in their most formative years.
It is out of this that Piyawara was born.
Husein Esufally
Chairman of Hemas Holdings PLC
4 Hemas Piyawara - A Journey to the Future
The initial request of the government was: “Upgrade 10 preschools in 10 districts
to model schools.” The districts were Anuradhapura, Badulla, Batticaloa, Gampaha,
Jaffna, Kurunegala, Matale, Matara, Polonnaruwa and Ratnapura. The Children’s
Secretariat had the plan for model preschools but was facing challenges in setting
them up at ground level.
“Go ahead,” said the then Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Hemas Group, Husein
Esufally, without a moment’s hesitation when the framework was presented to the
Board of Directors. When launched in 2002, the funds for the project were channelled
from the CSR budget of the Hemas Group.
For Piyawara itself, the first step was training teachers and in August 2002, 20 teachers
from the 10 districts underwent an 11-day residential programme.
It was in January 2003 that the official launch of Piyawara took place at a 5-star hotel in
Colombo, in a simple but moving ceremony with CEO Esufally from the Hemas Group
and then Minister of Social Services, Ravindra Samaraweera, placing their signatures
on the agreement.
Under the agreement, the government provided the land and structures for the
Hemas Group to renovate and refurbish the preschools and hand them over to
the authorities who then provided the teachers. Thereafter, the Hemas Group
together with the ministry would monitor the progress of these preschools,
while also conducting annual teacher training programmes and parental
awareness campaigns.
The Hemas Group went a step further by setting up Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs)
in the newly-built preschools, with an initial donation of Rs. 50,000 to each as seed
money to build up their own funds. The PTAs are expected to attend to minor repairs
while also expanding their fund to be utilized for maintenance of the preschools.
For the Hemas Group, meanwhile, 2003 was a landmark year as it was having an Initial
Public Offering (IPO) and Husein was keen to strategise and ‘offer’ something to meet
a national need, not just a one-off CSR activity such as cleaning a hospital or painting
a bus halt here and there. This further strengthened the commitment to Piyawara.
Before embarking on this long journey which has lasted over two decades and is
wending its way forward into the future with the Hemas Group as the bulwark, for
Shiromi and Nalika Jayasuriya of the same division, the reality check at ground level in
June-July 2002 came as a very disturbing experience.