Dilmah Celebrates International Woman's Day 2018

Dilmah is proud to be partnering with Viva Magazine to celebrate woman who are creating change for a better future. The heart of Dilmah is the work being done by the MJF Charitable Foundation, established by Dilmah Founder Merrill J. Fernando to fulfill his commitment to make his family business a matter of human service.

The MJF Charitable Foundation is funded entirely from the sale of Dilmah Tea around the world and the humanitarian assistance it renders to underprivileged people goes much deeper than an act of 'charity' alone, with a goal of empowering individuals to create a better future for themselves and their families.

The Woman's Empowerment Programmes aim to give women from marginalised communities and those who have children with disabilities a chance to embark on a livelihood on their own and to avoid the vicious cycle of poverty and disability.

The alleviation from poverty through empowerment of women is a matter close to the heart of the Founder and is an area in which the Foundation has endeavoured to make a difference. Hence the Foundation has included a programme of work dedicated to empowering women from underprivileged communities, who now have a chance to progress ahead in life with support from the Foundation.

The Women’s Development Program (WDP) took flight in mid 2013 with the Moratuwa Centre piloting a model system for women’s development replicable in the island-wide Foundation structure. The program aims for holistic development and upliftment of women, their families and the community.

This initiative also focuses on educating women on individual and community development, including finances, sexual and reproductive health, domesticity, mental and physical health and child development. Apart from centre-based activities, the WDP also conducts awareness programmes, the first of which addressed Breast Cancer awareness. Diri Piyasa -a non residential centre that provides counselling, legal, medical and vocational support to affected women- is another branch of WDP.

The foundation continues to support education for the less priveledged which has resulted in tremendous success stories such as Anuruddhika featured above who is a now a practicing lawyer. She was able to successfully complete her Bachelor of Law from the University of Colombo with assistance from the MJFCF Scholarship scheme which supports secondary and tertiary education of children from Dilmah Plantations. 

To learn more about the MJF Charitable Foundation visit: www.mjffoundation.org