John Keells Foundation commences Child Abuse Prevention Awareness for School Children
24 Mar, 2016
As part of John Keells’ commitment to mitigate child abuse, and in commemoration of International Children’s Day (1st October) and International Day of the Girl Child (11th October), John Keells Foundation organized a child abuse prevention programme for students of schools in Colombo 02 on 12th October 2015. The event was graced by Mr. W.M.J.Wickramanayaka, Director of Zonal Education and Principals of the respective schools.
 |
 |
Chief Guest was Mr. W.M.J.Wickramanayaka, Director of Zonal Education
“The current situation in Sri Lanka is rampant with cases of child abuse, thus the need for such programmes is essential in educating our children and protecting them from becoming victims of abuse. I am thankful to John Keells Foundation for continuing to support the educational opportunities of our children in meaningful ways.”
Carmeline Jayasuriya, Head of Operations, John Keells Foundation delivered the opening address
“This initiative is an important aspect of our involvement in gender based violence and child abuse. Under Project WAVE (Working Against Violence through Education), we have sensitized over 6,000 John Keells staff in less than a year. It is our hope that we can prevent or mitigate child abuse instances by educating our children on how to recognize and respond to potential child abuse issues.”
135 children from Grade 8 and Grade 9 from all five neighbourhood schools in Colombo 02- Al Iqbal Muslim Balika Vidyalaya, Holy Rosary Sinhala Vidyalaya, Holy Rosary Tamil Vidyalaya, Siri Sariputta Maha Vidyalaya and T.B. Jayah Maha Vidyalaya, were present.
 |
 |
The session was conducted by Hans Billimoria of The Grassrooted Trust who made the programme very interactive.
 |
 |
Active participation was a core component in the programme with several activities, group work and discussions around child abuse taking place. Children were encouraged to speak about their own experiences and question the trainer about anything they did not understand.
 |
 |
What is child abuse, indicators of abuse, preventative methods, who to inform and where to go for support in cases of abuse and ways to create awareness were all discussed during the programme. A special section on cyber exploitation and violence was also included.
 |
 |
The children also worked in groups to design a poster based on what they had learnt
 |
 |
John Keells volunteers Thilina Weerasekera (JKH) and Asangi Wickramaratne and Shashi De Silva from Cinnamon Red assisted at the programme and distributed snacks to the children after the event.
 |
 |
 |
: John Keells for Green Environment