Award-winning Sri Lankan director Christy Shelton’s “Kunchanada” (කුංචනාද – elephant trumpet) is a tribute to daughter Sarah’s enduring love for the gentle giants of this world by her parents Dr. Lakshman & Mrs. Thusitha Makandura, the producers. The resulting forty-episode masterpiece has been featured on Sirasa TV since the 20th of March, 2023, at 7.30 pm. This teledrama ranks the most in the Sri Lanka Drama Society for TV. You can find it on Sirasa TV’s Youtube Channel here https://www.youtube.com/@SirasaOfficial. Sarah Makandura (MBA) is Co-Owner & Manages MedSpa Deluxe L.A. Clinic in West Covina, one of the largest in Los Angeles. She has been an animal lover since her young days and inspired the story scripted by Christy Shelton Fernando. The tele series grapples with the rough currents of the elephant-human conflict enacted daily on the rural landscapes of Sri Lanka when a young woman returns to Sri Lanka in
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The 85th annual session of the Sri Lanka Shishyopakara Samithiya was held on 11th December 2022 at the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress Center, Colombo 07, with Dr. Walter Jayasinghe M.D. accompanied by Mrs. Aeshea Jayasinghe in attendance as Chief Guest. Sri Lanka Shishyopakara Samithiya was founded by a group of prominent Buddhist Monks and a group of philanthropists from Galle, the capital city of Southern Sri Lanka, in 1936 with the principal objective of helping students with financial difficulties who enter universities for their higher education. Over the past 85 years in service, Sri Lanka Shishyopakara Samithiya has given away over 3,500 scholarships to deserving students to complete their university education with the funds it raised purely through contributions of their members and other well-wishers. Learning about this excellent social service by Sri Lanka Shishyopakara Samithiya, Dr. Walter Jayasinghe, M.D., came forward to assist the organization with a substantial financial
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This book draws upon transcriptions of recordings at a retreat conducted by Venerable Mahathera Madawela Punnaji at the Providence Centre, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (June 16-25, 2006). The book contains daily sutta-based discussions, guided meditation practices, Q & A sessions, participant sharing, and feedback over a nine-day residential retreat for seasoned and beginner meditators to serve as a user’s guide to Samatha practice. Since this meditation practice aims to enter the four levels of deep tranquility and also called Tranquility Meditation. Those who have become adept at tranquility meditation can proceed to the Seven Steps to Awakening which according to the author, is the real “Insight Meditation”. 

The Editor, Dr Mahendra Wijayasinghe, Ph.D. was a close friend and student of Bhante Punnaji. For over three decades, Venerable Punnaji was an annual visitor to his home in Edmonton, Alberta. With the support and generosity of the Sri Lankan community and Canadian Buddhist
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Sri Lanka Foundation International, USA, donated to the V2U Organization founded in Canada to support the second project in Mahiyanganaya, to prepare land for raising crops to cultivate a field which Keenathumulle Chuulawansa Thero spearheaded in five different locations. Agriculture is an important part of the Sri Lankan economy, engaging one-third of the working population. However, most farm households have limited knowledge of production methods and also face a financial struggle to access land for cultivation. These obstacles constrain their ability to compete in the market and increase their incomes. In response to these challenges, Sri Lanka Foundation International and V2U Community Organization are partnering on the Supporting Opportunities in Livelihoods Development projects, which trains farm households in the eastern regions of the country on improved agricultural practices. 

 The Chairman of the Sri Lanka Foundation International, USA, Dr Walter Jayasinghe’s vision for this Project is a multi-faceted initiative to rebuild
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The Sri Lanka Foundation (SLF) Awards Ceremony 2022 celebrated 25 exceptional Sri Lankans from over four continents. This one-of-a-kind event was streamed online live and hosted over 450 guests attending the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles on Sunday, November 13th, 2022. For the Sri Lankan community worldwide, this event continues to be the most prestigious awards ceremony, which recognizes those in the Sri Lankan community whose work has had an essential impact on the lives of others. In putting on the SLF Awards Ceremony, Sri Lanka Foundation hopes to show the community’s gratitude for the awardees’ creativity and outstanding achievements, increase awareness of their accomplishments, and, most importantly, inspire the younger generation to achieve excellence in their chosen fields. With this purpose at heart, it has been growing since its inception in 2003, boasting the most significant number of awardees celebrated, and with a tremendous demand for attendance that
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Born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Dr Deepthi Jayasekara attended Ananda College, Colombo from 1970-1982. He was a College Prefect, a member of Ananda orchestra (Ananda Udawa) in vocals and violin, a Boy Scout and a member of English/Sinhalese debating teams. Having graduated in 1982 with highest Advanced level results 4 A’s, he received the prestigious Thomas Amarasuriya academic award and a Mahapola academic scholarship for medical school. Dr Jayasekara graduated from the prestigious Colombo Medical Faculty, University of Colombo with honors in Human Physiology and pharmacology. He played music for the medical students’ band called “Medix” which topped Sri Lankan music charts many times. He subsequently completed his internship at National Hospital of Colombo in General Medicine and Surgery. Dr Jayasekara migrated to USA in 1995 to pursue a post-doc research fellowship in HIV and clinical pharmacology at UCSF (University of California, San Francisco). While conducting research and juggling a
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Dr. Jayaweera received his M.D. degree from Sri Lanka and trained in medicine in Sri Lanka, Great Britain, and Loyola University of Chicago. In 1992, he came to the University of Miami after serving as senior registrar at Birmingham University in the United Kingdom. He began his work in Miami on HIV and infectious diseases and worked with the inner-city minority population infected with HIV while there and helping others. He believes that “we must place others’ interests above our own,” which makes a better place to live and benefits all. His focus has been on research that is centered on understanding the factors that impact communities of color and minorities, which have been long ignored, and finding solutions to improve their health outcomes. Even his research has pivoted depending upon the needs of the community. He was frequently teaching and speaking about HIV prevention and education in inner-city black
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Ashley Palipana is a 11 year old scout at St John First Aid Cadet, born in Essex, UK to Sri Lankan parents. He is a kind, caring and helpful young man who loves to make new friends and talk to people within the community. He attends Belmont Castle Academy. He helps other children in school by being a peer mediator in Math & English. He is also a team captain and a peer mediator who helps people when they have problems. His dream is to be a Neurosurgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital for children and would love to save lots of lives. He won British Citizen youth Award along with twenty youngsters from around the country for having their unique and inspiring story. He is a great role model amongst his peers. He is a creative member of the community, involved with scouting endeavors with theme side scouts, attending
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Sumudu Herath Mudiyansalage is a student of Royal College, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Soon before his school graduation in 2010, he was ranked second in the country for GCE AL examination in physical science stream. After he completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka, he was awarded a prestigious Cambridge Trust Scholarship to pursue his doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge. Further, he bypassed the Master’s degree requirement due to his exceptional performance in Bachelor’s degree. He received the Gold Medal for the Most outstanding graduand in both academic and extra-curricular activities of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa. In addition, he was awarded the Gold Medal for the first rank in Civil Engineering where he achieved a record-breaking GPA of 4.12(/4.20) which remains the highest in department history. At the same convocation, he received 11 more awards for all-round excellence. Some of his
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Zainab Ifthikar is passionate about medicine, and through her ongoing efforts, she wants to serve many underprivileged communities across the world. Moving to Saudi Arabia (where Zainab was born), she and her family have not forgotten their Sri Lankan roots. They constantly support the country at any time of need, through their organization, the MEI Foundation. She was only 16 year’s old when she launched an awareness program on acute kidney diseases prevailing in the North Central Province of her native country, Sri Lanka. Ifthikar fell in love with the magnificence of human biology. She says, “the adrenaline rush of understanding the mind-boggling intricacy of how we function is just inexplicable; like finally, everything made sense in the world.” She is also a people’s person, and enjoys interacting with others, expanding her network, and helping those around her. Hence, she wanted to choose a career that would both fuel her
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