Author: Purnima Pilapitiya
A Recipe for Empowerment
Dilmah’s ECHS Graduates the Next Generation of Chefs The Empower Culinary & Hospitality School (ECHS), a joint initiative by Dilmah and the MJF Charitable Foundation, recently celebrated the graduation of 56 young culinary professionals. Decked in their chef whites, these new graduates are now taking their first steps into the hospitality industry. Bridging Standards and Values Established in 2016, ECHS was founded to be an inclusive, impact-driven culinary training facility. It provides professional training that combines practical skills, theoretical knowledge, and personal development for young people facing socioeconomic challenges. The school is accredited by the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS) and the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC). To date, ECHS has produced 352 graduates from low-income and vulnerable communities across its two facilities in Moratuwa (ECHS West) and Kalkudah (ECHS East). The institution is also proudly inclusive, having graduated 8 youth with disabilities since its inception. Holistic Training for Industry Readiness ECHS offers a Certificate Course in Cooking and a shorter 3-month Pastry and Bakery Course. The curriculum is meticulously designed for industry readiness, ensuring graduates are holistic working professionals. The training extends well beyond kitchen skills: A Crucial Solution for Sri Lanka’s Workforce By cultivating skilled professionals, ECHS actively supports Sri Lanka’s domestic labour force. This is crucial amidst growing challenges, as statistics show a significant outflow of skilled Sri Lankans seeking employment abroad — nearly 78% of departures in the first quarter of 2025 were in the skilled category. The ECHS model proves its value with the recent graduation seeing almost 100% employability. The school creates a pathway to sustainable employment, skill diversification, and entrepreneurship by offering international-standard training. Its success is clearly reflected in its alumni, who include national and international award-winning chefs, restaurateurs, and entrepreneurs. Notably, W. Dinesh from Kahawatte Plantations achieved national recognition by winning the Bocuse d’Or Sri Lanka (2017)!
MJF Foundation Contributes to National Health Policy
Progress Report! Our very own Subhani, MJFCF coordinator for Disability Advocacy & Sports and Maleesha, Speech & Language Therapist for the MJF Foundation Centre Moratuwa, joined a consultative meeting with the Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka, making active contributions to the National Strategic Plan for Healthcare Quality and Safety (2026-2030). It was a valuable opportunity to network with officials from government and private health institutions, broaden our collaborative reach, and educate participants on the impactful community work we lead! But that’s not all! These dynamic ladies were also invited by Ada Derana to share insights into disability and inclusive education and awareness.
The Good Heart Café – A Cafe of Hope, Kindness & Empowerment
The Swashakthi Bakery & Tea Room (SBTR) is a beloved and popular part of the MJF Foundation’s landmark MJF Centre in Moratuwa. A hub for small entrepreneurship and ready-to-eat delicacies, the SBTR recently got a brand new look and feel including an apt and re-energised christening. Newly painted in a cool, fresh green, and spruced up with nature’s ornaments (check out their spectacular living wall) the ‘Good Heart Café’ is a welcome pocket of home in the midst of Moratuwa town. The newly revamped café still stays true to its roots, supplied daily with freshly made food and drinks courtesy of the industrious ladies of the Foundation’s Women’s Development Programme (WDP) and the budding young chefs of the Empower Culinary & Hospitality School (ECHS). Open from 6.30 am, it’s a welcome addition for Moratuwa’s busy morning commuters. A quick pitstop at the Good Heart Café, and you’re on your way to school or your workplace with still-warm baked patties and freshly made sandwiches, or for those who prefer a more leisurely and heart healthy breakfast – home style string hoppers, rice, roti and more. SBTR was also a hidden gem for traditional sweetmeats, made with pure kithul honey, and made daily. The tradition continues with the Good Heart Café with their signature kevums, kevili and artisanal toffees selling out even before midday. What makes the Good Heart Café stand out, is the lush foliage of Dilmah’s One Earth Arboretum that nestles it. The greenery creeps into the café as well, providing diners with a calm, cool and relaxing interior where they can dine amidst the beauty of nature. It’s also becoming a welcome retreat for office goers with Work From Home Days, with several tables peppered with diners at work on their laptops while enjoying the stillness of the urban jungle behind the café’s glass wall. Next time you’re in Moratuwa town, head over to the Good Heart Café. Enjoy the stillness of nature while dining on dishes made with love and passion. Every product of the café is the reflection of a new skill learnt by a stay-at-home mother, the flavours of a young chef to be, created with passion and the promise towards a vision to share kindness with people and the planet. The Good Heart Café is open from Monday to Friday from 6.30 am to 6.30pm and Saturdays from 6.30 am to 1.30 pm at the MJF Foundation Centre, No. 340, Galle Road, Katubedda, (next to K Zone Moratuwa). Parking available inside the Centre.
Kalkudah’s MJF Centre: Nurturing Minds, Cultivating Community
Kalkudah on Sri Lanka’s beautiful eastern coast is a melting pot of culture, colour and the tight-knit spirit of community. At the MJF Foundation Centre Kalkudah, the sprawling 23-acre hub is always a buzz of activity. From excited 3-year-olds hosting their own little markets to young people learning new skills to women entrepreneurs taking the next step in a new journey – the Centre is a resource hub with something for every member of the greater community. Here’s a roundup of some of our recent events! A Celebration of Abilities: The Rainbow Programme Sports Meet 250 enthusiastic participants, including supportive parents and local government officials, all gathered for a day of spirited competition and camaraderie. This was the scene at the annual sports meet for the Rainbow Programme in Kalkudah. The Rainbow Programme, an award-winning initiative by Dilmah’s MJF Charitable Foundation, is a beacon of hope, providing holistic education and crucial skills training for children and young people with Down Syndrome and other developmental disorders. Its impact in Kalkudah is particularly profound. Beyond our direct programmes, we also actively collaborate with state agencies and universities, establishing essential resource hubs and offering therapeutic services for children and their caregivers and opportunities for undergraduates in the field of special education and healthcare ensuring a sustainable impact. Little Dreamers, Big Lessons: MJF Preschool Market Recently, the students of the MJF Preschool in Kalkudah created their very own ‘Marketplace for Dreams’. This unique one-day market brought together 140 kids, parents, and teachers for an incredibly interactive learning experience. It was a delightful way to teach our youngest dreamers the value of money, decision-making, and essential social skills – lessons that will undoubtedly serve them well as they grow up. The preschool at our MJF Foundation Centre Kalkudah is the newest addition to our preschool programmes across the west, south, and now east of Sri Lanka, collectively supporting 232 little ones. What makes our preschool at Kalkudah even more special is that it stands out as one of the few pre-kindergarten facilities available in the surrounding region, providing invaluable accessibility to resources and education for both parents and children. Empowering Women, Fuelling Futures Empowerment takes many forms, and in Kalkudah, we’re dedicated to uplifting women in the community. We recently had the privilege of inviting 37 rural female micro-entrepreneurs in the food industry from the Eastern Province to a comprehensive 4-day training programme. Held at our Empower Culinary & Hospitality School in Kalkudah, these inspiring women learned new techniques and recipes for local dishes and juices, enriching their culinary skills. But the learning didn’t stop there. Our own Finance and IT instructors provided crucial knowledge on costing, financial management, savings, and even leveraging technology for advertising. To top it off, the local Public Health Inspector shared some vital information on food hygiene, ensuring their businesses thrive with both skill and safety. Our community initiatives didn’t stop there. Coconut Shell Crafting For the Community 23 participants (21 women and 2 men) from 09 villages joined students and teacher from the Rainbow Programme to learn crafting of coconut shells. Over days, they were taught skills to carve toys, jewellery, cups, mugs, flowers, and vases using coconut shells. The success of the 5 day workshop is a reflection of the passion to learn and drive to succeed amongst the resilient communities in the surrounding villages. Learning through impact, we have already formed coconut shell craft groups at the village and centre levels to continue skill development, promote income generation, and strengthen community-based livelihoods! Check out https://www.facebook.com/MJFCF/ and https://www.instagram.com/mjffoundation/ to learn more about how we #MaketheWorldABetterTea.
Unpacking Empowerment Through the Small Entrepreneurship Programme
What is empowerment? In 2004, our Founder Merrill J. Fernando reached out to small #entrepreneurs who lost their livelihoods in the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami. This marked the beginning of the Small Entrepreneurship Programme (SEP) – an initiative that has since supported around 2,100 rising small businesses, female entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs with disabilities, and rehabilitated prisoners. One example is L. P. Anton – a struggling craftsman who used to travel to Colombo Friends in Need Society from Ambalangoda to get fitted for prosthetic limbs. We met him and supported him through the SEP with tools to expand his workshop. Today, Anton’s craftwork adorns some of Sri Lanka’s largest handicrafts and souvenir shops. The progress of his career as an artisan has not only given him the opportunity to educate his two children but also allowed him to train four other artisans in his workshop. But the SEP is much more than a grant-based programme. It involves in-depth evaluation before each grant is bestowed as a fixed sum in the form of equipment. Through close monitoring for the next two years, we ensure that beneficiaries grow not only their businesses, but their networks and their opportunities too. This is what makes the SEP a success story of #empowerment. This June, we visited almost 90 budding small entrepreneurs in Kalkudah, on Sri Lanka’s eastern coastline. But empowerment doesn’t stop there. We also understand the need for skills development, networking, and bridging the digital literacy gap. We recently invited 37 rural female micro-entrepreneurs in the food industry of the Eastern Province to a 4-day training programme. At our Empower Culinary & Hospitality School in Kalkudah, they learnt new techniques and recipes for local dishes and juices. Our own Finance and IT instructors educated them about costing, financial management, savings, and using technology for advertising while the local Public Health Inspector shared some important information on food hygiene. This June we commemorated #WorldMSMEDay2025 by recognising the need for skills and knowledge sharing to create better accessibility for small #entrepreneurs to grow their dreams. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @mjffoundation to learn more about how we #MaketheWorldaBetterTea.
World Environment Day with the MJF Foundation🌍🙌🏼
Caring for our planet and empowering communities go hand-in-hand at the MJF Charitable Foundation. On #WorldEnvironmentDay this year, our hearts were full witnessing the incredible efforts of our MJF Centre teams in Weligama and Kalkudah! #Weligama in Sri Lanka’s south and #Kalkudah on the eastern coast are surrounded by villages that depend heavily on agriculture and fishing for their livelihoods, so environmental conservation and climate resilience are important to them. 🌴🌳🌊 From the curious hands of our preschoolers to the determined spirit of our Rainbow Programme youth, everyone joined forces for tree planting along riverbanks and thorough community clean-ups to improve our Centres and public spaces. Together, we’re nurturing both nature and the people who call these beautiful places home – which is at the heart of Dilmah’s mission to #MakeTheWorldABetterTea
When the Global Dilmah Family Visited the Heart of Dilmah…
Just a week ago our MJF Centre in Moratuwa was buzzing with the energy, smiles and enthusiasm of over 300 members of our Global Dilmah Family!🌍🫱🏼🫲🏼🙌🏼 A key part of the Dilmah Partner Conference and School of Tea programmes was visiting what we consider the heart of Dilmah. They spent productive afternoons understanding the work of the MJF Charitable Foundation and learning about the purpose behind our Founder’s mission to #MakeTheWorldABetterTea. They assembled wheelchairs, learnt skills from our artisans and had impromptu cricket matches with our beneficiaries! It wasn’t only an afternoon of fun, but an opportunity to connect, learn from each other, and understand how and why we are a business that serves humanity. ✨🌈🌍
When Budding Young Chefs Meet Culinary Experts
At the Empower Culinary & Hospitality School (ECHS) we believe that following the right recipe is just as important as learning through practice and mentorship. We were excited to have culinary experts from Resplendent Ceylon to inspire our budding young chefs. Chef Nishantha Pushpakumara, Head of Culinary Standards, Resplendent Ceylon, Ishara Wijesinghe, Executive Chef, Cape Weligama and ECHS alumni Chef Wijaya Kumara (Gold Medallist, Iron Chef – 2022) also from Cape Weligama spent the day mentoring our ECHS students with an inspiring masterclass. Launched in 2016, the ECHS is Sri Lanka’s only Worldchefs certified culinary training facility and one of several empowerment programmes conducted by Dilmah’s MJF Charitable Foundation. As an inclusive learning environment, the ECHS has produced over 280 culinary professionals who have become restaurateurs and entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka and abroad.