Concordia

Concordia Winter 2021

Rajiv Radhakrishnan (1990- 1997): The Mathagal Centre and the Foundation of Goodness

Now in 2021, the Mathagal centre along with ten other similar facilities across the island are going from strength to strength. More and more children are accessing opportunities that were not available 20 years ago. And as testament to the Foundation of Goodness’s success, some of its graduates have gone on to play Sri Lankan representative sport. Kushil Gunasekera has done wonders for Sri Lanka with the Foundation of Goodness. He has brought communities together, given children a new hope, and his integrity has always been above reproach. Sri Lanka need people like him to take the country forward. I remember my grandfather, having moved to Colombo in his twilight years, telling me just before his died in 1993 that on a clear day you can just about see India from his/my house, Mathagal being only 15 miles from India. After 40 years I look forward to one day returning and seeing the land across the Palk Strait from whence my grandfather and our ancestors came.

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A charity cricket match at the Old Merchant Taylors’ Cricket Club in 2009 was the beginnings of a very personal relationship for Rajiv Radhakrishnan (1990-1997) with Sri Lankan charity, Foundation of Goodness. Motivated by family connections to Sri Lanka and the will to support a cause to improve the standard of living for the impoverished, I reached out to Kushil Gunasekera who has dedicated his life to improving the standard of living of the impoverished in Sri Lanka. Kushil is also a former committee member of the Sri Lankan cricket hierarchy and manages cricket legend Muttiah Muralitharan. He set up the Foundation of Goodness in 1999 and it has grown positively ever since. The FOG has centres across the island where educational classes, sports facilities and medical care are provided to rural communities free of charge. In 2014, as the domestic security situation improved, my maternal grandfather’s home in the northern town of Mathagal became accessible again. Previously occupied by family, I inherited the house and land and immediately thought to lease the property (for free of course) to the Foundation of Goodness for what has become the Mathagal Centre.

Development