Doing good and creating a positive impact in this world is something we all aspire to do. Our religion, whether it be Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam or any other, preaches nothing but love, compassion and the utmost importance of doing good deeds. But the real question is, although we are taught about this theoretically what action is being practised to reinforce this notion. Are children as well as adults held accountable and constantly encouraged to do good deeds and put out positivity into this world? The answer to that is up for debate. However, today we are going to talk about a man that’s trying to make a difference and create a positive impact in this world through a programme which he has titled “ A World of Good. ‘’ 

Nalin Fernando, a philanthropist, is the brains behind the ‘A World of Good’ programme. The core concept behind this initiative is to encourage children to do good deeds every day and acknowledge and appreciate the fact that they did it. It also focuses on enhancing the self-appreciation or the feel-good factor within children by allowing them to make a positive contribution to society every day. The initial focus group for this programme will be children aged 11 or in other words children who are in Grade 6, as Nalin believes that they are of an impressionable age to make an impact on the world. Also, following the pressures of the Grade 5 Scholarship Exam, Grade 6 is a year with less, if not the least, exam pressure.

The idea is to print a specially designed book with 144 pages which include 1 week to a page, providing an opportunity for each child to record 1,008 days of good deeds. Each day the child will be encouraged to write down the best good deed that he/she did during that day before going to sleep. This will help them feel positive/empowered and more fulfilled with their lives as they are reminded every day that they are capable of making even a small impact on the world that they live in. What constitutes a good deed? Anything from helping a friend to learn a new lesson to sharing their food with a friend in school, the simplest things can be written down and appreciated. 

The launch of the *A World of Good* programme to provide FREE books to Grade 6 Students is on 22.02.2022.  This includes 250+ National Schools across Sri Lanka. Initially with 36,000 books given FREE (10%+ of the Grade 6 student population) of which 25,000+ books will be donated by Nalin personally & another 10,000+ by friends/well-wishers, so that the children could write their ”best good deed done each day” before going to sleep. Hopefully, commencing from 2023, with corporates too joining in. The 'A World of Good' books will be given FREE to all 360,000 Grade 6 children in Sri Lanka. The potential for doing good remains and in fact, many of us do good each and every day but do not reflect and take cognisance of it. 

This specially designed book is dedicated to the “Teachers of the World”. Having recently concluded discussions with the Ministry of Education, Nalin hopes to make this event an annual distribution where books are distributed free of charge to all Grade 6 students across the country. 

This is truly a commendable initiative and we certainly hope that this endeavour ends up doing “A World of Good” for all children in Sri Lanka.

If you would like to learn/hear more about this project “A World of Good” or wish to support this initiative, you may WhatsApp: 0777888429.