Munchee CSR programs reach out to more schools

Munchee Samaga Gamata Sarana village outreach program completes four more community service projects.

The foremost CSR initiative of Munchee, has reached-out to four more remote villages under its Munchee Samaga Gamata Sarana program.

The four villages that benefited under this program are Katuwana in Hambantota, Yayapara in Eheliyagoda, Kumbuka in Horana and Diyagaha in Matara.

Munchee Samaga Gamata Sarana, the CSR program for village rehabilitation and development was launched mid last year with the objective of generating social incentives to needy rural communities.

This program has now flourished into a well structured social value generation and community integration program and the latest initiatives bear witness to same.

In Katuwana, which is a very remote village situated in Hambantota district, Munchee constructed a 40ft well that supports a purified pipe-borne drinking water system to Katuwana Primary School.

The project was completed with the financial support of Munchee and technical and resource inputs of Munchee field sales staff and villagers.

The next CSR initiative was also targeted at a school in Kumbuka (in Horana electorate) where a fully equipped library was constructed with Munchee's contribution.

The Kumbuka Primary School is considered a progressive school in the area where year 1 admissions have seen a 60% increase during the past few years.

The third school that benefited under the Gamata Sarana initiative is Diyagaha primary school in Matara.

Munchee donated a fully equipped computer lab to this school along with a building.

More than 1,000 primary school students have benefited across all these three projects. Apart from the educational and infrastructural support that has been extended, Munchee has also granted scholarships to students of three schools under the Munchee Tikiri Shishyadara program.

This is an extension of the already existing Munchee Tikiri Scholarship initiative that supports talented, yet under-privileged children.

Through this program more than 2,000 students across the country have already been benefited.

Yayapara is another remote village in Eheliyagoda electorate that benefited under the Gamata Sarana initiative.

This village consists of more than 50 families but finding water for their day-to-day use was a challenge.

As such under the Munchee Gamata Sarana initiative the field sales force of Munchee along with the villagers, renovated a 90-year-old well and handed it over to the villagers for their use.

Speaking about the Gamata Sarana initiative, Nandana Wickramage, Group Director & Head of Marketing & Sales, CBL said, 'We have observed that social incentives can greatly improve the economic dynamics of rural societies and if we could integrate the underprivileged rural communities with the adjacent larger society, a fundamental improvement could be made in their lifestyles.

With the launch of the Gamata Sarana initiative with a collaborative approach between the Company, its sales force and village communities, has helped reinstate traditional values of the village culture such as unity, co-operation and mutual support, which we think are important for collective development of these villagers.'

Gamata Sarana initiative is not only an infrastructure development program, but also a social integration and value addition program according to I. M. Khan, General Manager Sales, CBL. He said 'identifying, leading and participating in Gamata Sarana initiatives has brought out the hidden aptitudes of the Munchee sales force where they are encouraged to use their skills in creative planning, material sourcing, cost effective practices, team working and community outreach.

These initiatives help the sales force blend-in with the communities they are catering to and become part and parcel of their development process'.

Through the Gamata Sarana program, Munchee will extend its corporate goodwill to most needy villages by improving the village infrastructure, initiating livelihood development programs and supporting the education of schoolchildren.