Having kicked things off last Friday (September 19) in Jaffna, the riders participating in the Pimp My Tuk Tuk Challenge have been riding their tuk tuks all over Sri Lanka, with the last ride set to take place today (25 September) – from Matara to Seenigama, before heading back to Colombo. 

 

 

Speaking at the media conference, Founder and Chief Trustee of the Foundation of Goodness Kushil Gunasekera expressed his sincere gratitude at this charitable venture by the PMTT Challenge team. “It brings me immense pleasure to see this event materialise, and for such a great cause too!” he said. 

 

 

 

The charitable activities conducted by the PMTT Challenge Team so far are many, and comprise a visit to the Vaalvagam Special Needs Children’s Home in Jaffna, where the drivers donated toys and stationery to the 36 children living in the home. Additionally, the children were gifted jeans courtesy of LiCC Jeans and footwear donated by Crocs. 

 

 

The next activity was the opening of the Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Plant in Mihintale, where residents of the area have long suffered from Chronic Kidney Disease owing to the presence of pesticides, and chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium and lead in the water source. This RO Plant will purify the contaminated water, thus ensuring that the villagers will have access to clean drinking water. 

 

 

In Batticaloa, the PMTT Challenge drivers presented the Punkudaweli Roman Catholic Tamil Mixed School with toys and stationery, and have pledged to donate computers to the school as well. During the Kandy leg of the tour, the drivers visited the Mahayyawa Elders’ Home, where they interacted with the residents and enjoyed a meal with them. Today, the drivers will visit the Foundation of Goodness’ MCC Centre of Excellence in Seenigama, on the last leg of their tour and the FoG Sports Academy. The group will witness the work carried out in all 30 empowerment activity sectors – which have benefited over 30,000 beneficiaries annually, completely free of charge. 

 

 

The PMTT Challenge is a ride combining tourism with charity, and the Sri Lankan leg of the Challenge was facilitated by the Foundation of Goodness, the proceeds of which will be donated to selected charitable developmental projects under the stewardship of FoG, in addition to ‘Food from the Heart’, Singapore. 

 

 

The PMTT Challenge first took place in India in 2013, where 21 drivers and 11 tuk tuks maneuvered their way across from Chennai to Goa. Following the immense success of this, the PMTT Challenge Team took it upon themselves to take on Sri Lanka with a much bigger group of 40 drivers and 20 tuk tuks. The PMTT drivers consist of several expats based in Singapore. 

 

 

The Foundation of Goodness was established in 1999 to bridge the gap between the rural and urban populations, with the devastation caused by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami giving the organisation a better chance to rebuild the village. The MCC Centre of Excellence, along with the FoG Sports Academy have 30 empowerment sectors offering services to villagers from near and far, free of charge. FoG has also extended its development activities and services to villagers in the North and East of Sri Lanka.