Cricket World Cup winners to strengthen Nena Diriya

By Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

Hemas officials and '96 World Cup team members at the press conference pic: by Sumanachandra Ariyawansa

Celebrating 50 years in the consumer market, Baby Cheramy organised a fund-raising 20-20 cricket match reuniting '96 World Cup Champions under the Big Heart project to strengthen the Nena Diriya program.

"We want to engage in a socially responsible project to make a meaningful impact and embarked on an initiative to help support marginalised children. The 'Big Heart' project commenced last year and we are in the process of raising funds through numerous efforts to ensure education for children who have financial difficulties, Hemas Holdings PLC, Chief Executive Officer Husein Esufally said.

The objective is to promote education among children who are at the risk of dropping out from school due to poverty. All 14 players of the '96 World Cup winning team volunteered to be a part of the fund-raising, he said.

Hemas in a joint effort with the Ministry of Probation and Childcare Services undertakes early childhood development initiatives focusing on remote primary schools to help children with special needs. It had selected 35 primary schools to curb child abuse, create awareness and train teachers investing Rs 250 m. There will be a three-pronged approach to raise an additional Rs 5.1 m to support the education of 50 children over the next five years.

The captain of the '96 World Cup team, Arjuna Ranatunga said that although all players were engaged in charity work of varying degrees, this is the first time that the entire team contributed in a single effort.

"As education is the foremost need for a bright future we whole heartedly support the initiative and look forward to be a part of child education where financial constraints prevent them from furthering their studies," he said. A survey carried out recently has identified 122,000 children islandwide who need financial support to continue their education with the numbers expected to increase.