13 February 2023, Colombo: Seylan Bank, the Bank with a Heart recently partnered with the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) to act as the Official Banking Partner for the Society’s Wild Kids project.
As a result of this partnership, the recent ‘How to be a scientist’ event at Diyasaru park under the Wild Kids initiative saw a massive success. The event was hosted by prominent educationist and scientist Nethu Wickremasinghe, together with Marine Biologist and Mammalogist Sajith Subhashana and Tharaka Kusuminda respectively. The experts were assisted by undergrads from the Young Zoologist Association as well.
More than 60 kids between the age group of 5 and 13 years participated in the highly interactive and educational event. WNPS took into consideration the mindset of children and curated the event to have a lasting impact accordingly. Kids were first asked to draw a scientist and had an interactive session to elicit as to how scientific observations can be done. Next, they were put into groups of their preferences and sent out into the wetlands to make observations and record them on field notes. They observed birds, butterflies, bugs, fish, frogs and plants with the help of the guide books, posters and other tools given to them.
Assistant General Manager, Marketing and Sales, Seylan Bank, Gamika De Silva said, “Seylan Tikiri is committed to providing our kids with unique educational and enjoyable experiences throughout the year. We believe that it is important to engage with all of our Tikiri Kids so that we can function as a partner who helps them unlock their potential. In this example of a partnership to this effect, special attention has been paid towards the vast ecology of Sri Lanka, all while inculcating the importance of conservation among these young minds,”
President of the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society, Jehan CanagaRetna added, “As the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society continues to work toward conserving nature in all its forms, having a valuable partner from the corporate sector of Sri Lanka certainly goes a long way in supporting our efforts and getting our purpose across to the masses. I am confident that this will be a longstanding partnership between our Society and Seylan Bank. Together, we will be able to foster a new generation of conservationists who will work to protect Sri Lanka’s abundance of natural life,”
The WNPS’ Wild Kids project was initiated with the objective of forming an interest in the environment and highlighting the importance of conversation through education and fun-filled activities. With the belief that children are the ‘drivers for change’ and conservation actions driven by children can play an important role in social development, Wild Kids is poised to be a continuous effort.
As a brand that lives its values, Seylan Tikiri conducts different activities throughout the year for the benefit of its Tikiri Kids. These activities encourage children to continue good habits as well as collect worthy experiences in their childhood while saving. Parents who would like to open the doors to a world of benefits for their kids below the age of 15 years are encouraged to open a Tikiri account by visiting the nearest Seylan Bank branch or by calling 200 88 88.