Throughout its 40-year journey, SOS Children’s Villages Sri Lanka has contributed immensely to the Sri Lankan community with over 12,000 direct beneficiaries and over 50,000 individuals who have been positively impacted through a range of social programmes. To mark this significant milestone, SOS Children’s Villages recently hosted its 40th Anniversary celebrations at the National Training Center of SOS Children’s Village in Piliyandala with the highlight being the launch of a commemorative postage stamp and special First-Day Cover issued by the Department of Posts Sri Lanka.
The event was graced by Chief Guest and President of the Board of Directors at SOS Children’s Villages Sri Lanka – Nandasiri Ponnamperuma, the Postmaster General of Sri Lanka – Ranjith Ariyarathne, Ambassador – Roshan Mahanama, National Director – Divakar Rathnadurai and other members of SOS Children’s Villages Sri Lanka.
Speaking at the event, Divakar Rathnadurai – National Director, SOS Children’s Villages Sri Lanka said, “We at SOS Villages Sri Lanka are truly honoured to have this commemorative postal stamp issued on our 40th anniversary and are thankful to the Department of Posts and the Postmaster General of Sri Lanka for this special acknowledgment. SOS International was founded with a firm vision of “Every child belongs to a family and grows up with love, respect and security” and we have successfully taken on this universal purpose and responsibility to contribute to the upliftment of children and youth of Sri Lanka and are proud the legacy we have created so far. I take this opportunity to thank all SOS Mothers, supportive staff, Village Directors across our 6 locations in Sri Lanka and all stakeholders for their contributions in our efforts towards strengthening the lives of children and youth in our country.”