The Story of Marian Thushari Fernando
Pathum Uyana is a residential center for education and skill development for children and adults with disabilities. 'Pathum Uyana' means 'Garden of Hope'. The center is located in Moratuwa, in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. This project is a part of the Mother Charitable Foundation. The Pathum Uyana’s mission is to support children with disabilities and their family members with an education and skill development training module, from reading, art, and dancing to horticultural therapy. The carefully crafted vocational training aims to prepare every child with disabilities to become economically independent in the future.
Marian Thushari Fernando is a social entrepreneur. During her undergraduate agriculturist studies, she worked closely with the farming communities in Sri Lanka. She discovered that supporting people was more rewarding as you learned about their challenges and found solutions together that contributed to positively and directly impacting their livelihoods and communities. This rich experience and exposure at an early stage of her career path convinced her that her focus and energy should be dedicated to serving communities in Sri Lanka.
Her first assignment was to take care of children with disabilities during her last semester of undergraduate studies. A first-hand experience and a challenging project made her realize that education and skill development are important aspects of supporting people with disabilities, as are their families, who play an important role in their personal development.
Being a social entrepreneur has not been an easy journey. Social and cultural constraints did not facilitate women's entrepreneurship. However her perseverance and the encouragement of her family led to the creation of Mother Charitable Foundation, a registered charity initiative, with the objective of supporting the skill development of children with disabilities in Sri Lanka to contribute and facilitate their participation in their community.
Today, 1.5 million people with disabilities in Sri Lanka do not engage in any educational activity. It means that 95.7% of people with disabilities do not have access to basic, quality education in Sri Lanka. Awareness of education for people with disabilities is often neglected due to social stigma. As President, Marian is leading an education center for children with disabilities, and her ambition is to scale up 5% of funding to advance the education and skill development service for persons with disabilities in the western province of Sri Lanka in 2023.
'Pathum Uyana', the Garden of Hope, welcomes partnerships irrespective of size and shape. The foundation offers skill training to caregivers who are looking after people with disabilities and customized education training for children with disabilities by focusing on their personal development and journey.
If you would like to learn more about Pathum Uyana, please visit their website or follow their social media pages:
