Established in 1999, the Foundation of Goodness has been working in Sri Lanka for 23 years to bridge the urban-rural divide through its holistic community development model, by providing access to training, facilities, resources and infrastructure that help to upskill and empower underserved communities. While the Foundation of Goodness (FoG) flagship venue and project headquarters is located in Seenigama, Hikkaduwa they have now branched out by way of 14 Village Heartbeat Empowerment Centres located island-wide and in 2021 alone reached 68,000+ beneficiaries from 900 villages, free of charge.
As the nerve centre of the village, the Foundation of Goodness strives to provide rural beneficiaries with access to skills that will enable them to develop to their full potential and achieve their ambitions to obtain a better standard of life through both mid and long-term programmes. FoG also delivers a range of emergency and crisis relief projects during calamitous occasions varying from natural disasters like floods or landslides to other calamitous emergency situations like the Covid-19 pandemic and economic crisis, in response to the urgent needs of the hour.
In order to ensure the longevity of the humanitarian programmes that they deliver, the Foundation of Goodness is developing sustainable income generation initiatives, the proceeds of which will be directly utilized to empower the local communities. A broad range of unique experiences are delivered by the Foundation of Goodness happy and friendly staff who are all members of the local community, and who bring a depth of experience and knowledge about the activities, many of which have compelling stories tied to them.
The best example is the Dive for Good experience. The Foundation of Goodness offered an exciting range of dive experiences for everyone from novice divers to seasoned experts, with great ease of access to notable dive points in the region and all the dives are conducted by our Dive for Good staff members who conduct free of charge professional dive training programs for the local youth.
The Dive for Good Centre, which has graduated close to 500 local youth as professional PADI licensed divers, was set up in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, which impacted the Galle region far worse than most other coastal areas due to the depletion of the natural coral reef due to coral mining.
As a result, coral mining was banned but the villagers needed an alternative source of livelihood to incentivize them not to return to this destructive practice. This was the reason for establishing the Dive for Good centre which diverted the local youth to more gainful methods of employment by utilizing their diving skills. Now they are coral protectors and make an income through dive tourism, showing off our beautiful coral reefs which have got a new lease on life.
To learn more about FoG and the impact it has had, visitors can also take a tour of the Centre of Excellence and learn more about the village that was built up in the wake of the tsunami tragedy, and while they are there, they can participate in a delicious Plates of Goodness program by cooking delicious village delicacies before enjoying the meal they prepared. The Goodness Nature Cruise gives them an opportunity to take in the natural beauty and diversity of the Hikkaduwa Lake and its mangroves or visitors can have truly immersive experiences in the village through volunteering or participating in a sports tour, testing their skills against the FoG cricket, netball and volleyball players.
Visitors with a whole day to spend can also take the one-day tour by Tuk Tuk to visit six locations along the beautiful Southern coast of Sri Lanka including a turtle hatchery, a moonstone mine and a forest monastery.
The Goodness Excursions are a great way to experience authentic Sri Lanka while giving back to the community that you visit, creating memories while changing lives.
Sri Lanka Travel Feneteko