About us

Our Vision
"The vision of the Horizon Lanka Foundation is to make rural Sri Lanka as technologically advanced as any metropolis whilst retaining its culture and sense of community."

Our Mission
"The mission of the Horizon Lanka Foundation is to empower the rural community through enhanced ICT awareness while preserving its proud traditions and cultural values, by utilizing the unique infrastructural resources available optimally. This constitutes a pioneering testing ground and launching pad for innovative technologies, widening avenues of employment for the rural youth through expansion of Business Process Outsourcing opportunities, and facilitating mastery of the English language, serving as a model to be emulated by emerging e-Villages throughout Sri Lanka."

Our Story
The Horizon Lanka Foundation (HLF) was established in 1998, as a result of the determination and vision of a young English teacher called Nandasiri Wanninayaka from the village of Mahavilachchiya. He helped start a handwritten English language newspaper with the students of Saliyamala School, at which he was working at the time. Having read the newspaper, the United States Embassy in Colombo donated the first computer to Mahavilachchiya. Unfortunately, Mr Wanninayaka had to leave his post at the school due to some resistance to change and progression from conservative teachers. But the village children’s thirst for knowledge led them to the door of Mr. Nandasiri Wanninayaka, their former English teacher in the public school. Thus began an after-school club providing children with further education in English and ICT. A Sri Lankan couple named Mr and Mrs Gaminitilleke, who then lived in Japan, helped the Foundation by providing a lot of initial help and support. Since then, the Foundation has become increasingly popular for many children of the village, and they have continually reaped the rewards of attending such an establishment over the years. Since 1998, the Horizon Lanka Foundation has grown and expanded; as well as providing a comprehensive education to the village children at Horizon Lanka Academy, they have expanded into the “Information Age.”

Horizon Lanka’s innovative ways of teaching English have resulted in scores of students getting A’s and B’s for the English language, making their grades higher than their mother tongue in the national level exam, the Ordinary Level. A group of students were also able to get into National Universities and other higher educational institutions.

The Horizon Lanka Foundation is also responsible for creating a project called Digital Butterflies, http://digitalbutterflies.wordpress.com, which is bringing PCs to the homes of the villagers of Mahavilachchiya. So far, around 50 homes have been provided with a computer, and this figure is increasing on a monthly basis. 50 more PCs have arrived at the Horizon Lanka Foundation from one of our donors in Switzerland, and they too were distributed among the villagers. There are more than 10 laptops provided through Horizon Lanka’s Digital Ambassadors Project, http://digitalambassadors.wordpress.com, in addition to the existing desktops.

Now the Foundation serves the entire community with its computer lab and other facilities. In 2001, the website www.horizonlanka.net was launched by the children of Horizon Lanka Academy, opening a new window to the outside world. By 2004, Horizon Lanka got 24/7 internet access using RLL technology, the first Sri Lankan rural village to get such a facility, even before telephone access was available for the village.

By early 2006, Horizon Lanka got a two story building facility through Mr and Mrs Charles, a family with Sri Lankan roots, and the building was well equipped with the USAID-Geneva Global joint venture. In November 2006, Horizon Lanka Foundation was able to secure a grant from UNDP to build Sri Lanka’s first mesh internet network connecting 28 students’ houses and 2 public schools with Internet.  Later that year, Horizon Lanka was able to get Sri Lanka’s biggest mobile operator, Dialog, to cover the village with a mobile telephony network at a time when some bigger towns were unable to gain such a facility.

By early 2008, some youths were able to obtain jobs in Colombo in the field of Information Technology. A big demand for the youth of Mahavilachchiya has been created because of the high level of experience they have gained through the training at the Foundation. In the summer of 2008, the Ministry of Education in Sri Lanka studied the Horizon Lanka model and decided to replicate the model in all 9 provinces with the professional support from Mr. Wanninayaka, the Founder of Horizon Lanka.

In the National Budget for the year 2009, 100 million LKR was allocated to replicate the Mahavilachchiya e-village model islandwide. In 2010, the government replicated the Horizon Lanka e-village in 50 rural areas through the “e-Village Replication Project.”

With the departure of Mr Wanninayaka from Mahavilachchiya in early 2006, the project underwent some management and financial problems. A new program embarking on the rebuilding of Horizon Lanka was launched in July 2010 with the help of local and foreign volunteers, and some new and existing financial donors.

Who We Are
We are an organization registered as a Guarantee Limited under the Companies Act of Sri Lanka, No. 07 of 2007. We are a not for profit organization that reinvests any earnings in to the development of the village and, in future, other villages of Sri Lanka. The organization is comprised of a team of Founder Members, and a Board of Directors is elected annually at the Annual General Meeting to run the operations of Horizon Lanka. The majority of the Founder Members are youth and parents of the children in Mahavilachchiya, while there are some professionals who are included due to the necessity of their experience to run the organization effectively.

What We Do
We primarily teach ICT and English to the children and youth in Mahavilachchiya, while focusing on areas such as sporting talents, personality development, public speaking, and fine arts, amongst others. We are also looking for funding to work on projects that benefit the community at large, allowing for the development of not only attendants at Horizon, but the older residents of Mahavilachchiya aswell.

Where We Are
The Horizon Lanka Foundation ran well until the end of 2005 under its founder, Nandasiri Wanninayaka, with great success and national acclaim. But as a result of his relocation to a far away city due to personal reasons, the organization ran without a designated leader from January 2006 to June 2010. It also faced a financial crisis, incurring debts of around 1.5 million Sri Lankan rupees (13,324 US$) during this period. In the meantime, Mr Wanninayaka was invited by the Ministry of Education to render his services to the e-Village Project. So, Mr Wanninayaka decided to step down as the Chairman of the Board and make way for a new Chairman and Board of Management to rebuild Horizon Lanka, since he found it difficult to run Horizon Lanka from a distance. He still contributes to Horizon Lanka in the capacity of a consultant and advisor.

Two volunteers, Ranil Dissanayake and Chaminda Samaraweera helped Mr. Wanninayaka by volunteering to compose a business plan to take HLF out of trouble. Plan Sri Lanka and Lak Saviya Foundation aided the HLF by agreeing to sponsor part of the expenses for a period of one year, from July 2010 to June 2011. Horizon Lanka expects donations, sponsorships, and CSR projects to match the rest of the budget for the period mentioned above.

Our Partners
Our partners for the period of a year from July 2010 to June 2011 are Lak Saviya Foundation and Plan Sri Lanka, which sponsor some expenses, and AIESEC, Global Vision International and Zuvy, by providing foreign volunteers and visitors. The Information and Communication Agency of Sri Lanka sponsors the connectivity while John Wilson Partners providing legal advice free of charge. Global Giving provides us with an online donation gateway.

Our Thanks
Horizon Lanka is where it is today due to generous contributions made by various individuals and organizations. Since the majority of the individual donors want to remain anonymous, we refrain from mentioning their names here. Only the names of the organizations are listed below. If a donor or contributor to Horizon Lanka has been missed here and requests a mention, please contact us through info@horizonlanka.net so that we can make the necessary changes.  
The contributors list in alphabetical order:

Andrews Travels – The Managing Director of Andrews Travels, Sri Lanka donated 25,000 LKR to Horizon Lanka’s first building in 2001.

Dialog Telekom
1. Dialog Telekom provided 5 low-cost mobile packaged to 5 Horizon Lanka staff members in 2002-2003.
2. Dialog Telekom provided mobile coverage within a 50 meter radius around Horizon Lanka building in 2004 at a time the village did not have access to any telephone network
3. Dialog Telekom donated computers and a teacher’s salary worth 500,000 LKR in 2006.
4. Dialog Telekom provided mobile access to the whole Mahavilachchiya village in 2007 on Horizon Lanka’s request.

Dian Gomes, Sri Lanka
Mr Dian Gomes did a personal donation by sponsoring a Horizon Lanka exhibition in Colombo in 2004

Explorers Foundation, USA
Explorers Foundation donated money to cover part of the cost of the Internet tower in 2004.

Eurocenter DDC, Colombo, Sri Lanka
1. After Mr Mano Sekaram, the CEO of Eurocenter DDC, Colombo visited Horizon Lanka in 2007, he agreed to train three of the Horizon Lanka girls who had finished their Advanced Levels on professional web designing and project management totally free of charge. Two of the girls are already employed in private sector companies now.
2. In 2008 Eurocenter DDC donated a set of used computers to Horizon Lanka Foundation.

Geneva Global, USA
Geneva Global assisted Horizon Lanka by providing a grant of 40,000+ US$ to buy IT, educational and sports equipment during the years 2005-2006.

HoperTravels, Belgium
Mrs. Greta Suffys of HopperTravel has donated books, computers and related equipment, scholarships to students and money to Horizon admin affairs from 2002 to 2006.

ICTA, Sri Lanka
1. ICTA pays Horizon Lanka Internet bill from 2005 January onwards up to date.
2. ICTA sponsored two staff members study tour to Chennai, India in 2006
3. ICTA provided 5 PCs to Horizon Lanka in 2004.

IDM, Sri Lanka
IDM offered free scholarships to Horizon Lanka students to study at IDM IT teaching centers. Around 10 students were benefited. 2 students still continue the courses there free of charge.

John Wilson Partners, Sri Lanka
John Wilson Partners do Horizon Lanka’s registration related legal activities totally free of charge since 2005.

Lak Saviya Foundation, Australia, Sri Lanka
1. Lak Saviya Foundation (LSF) sponsored some of the teacher salaries till 2006.
2. LSF donated a generator to Mahavilachchiya hospital on our request
3. LSF donated books, etc. to Horizon Lanka from time to time.
4. LSF donated 50 flashlight torches to strengthen the security vigilance in and around Mahavilachchiya and Tantirimale in 1998.
5. LSF sponsors the allowances of the English teacher’s and the ICT teacher’s salary since 2009 January.

Lanka Software Foundation, Sri Lanka
Lanka Software Foundation donated a set of used laptops and desktop computers to Horizon Lanka in 2008

LearnAid, Kuwait
1. LearnAid, Kuwait donated Horizon Lanka computer related equipments.
2. LearnAid donated part of the Internet tower costs in 2004.
3. LearnAid donated books to Horizon Lanka
4. LearnAid offered scholarships to Horizon Lanka students
5. LearnAid assigned one of the HL students to do its website with a fee as mark of encouraging the student and recognizing her talents.
6. LearnAid donated money for the students to buy PCs under Digital Butterflies project.

MAS Holdings, Sri Lanka
Under the direction of Mr Dian Gomes, Slimline Pvt Ltd of MAS Holdings sponsored Horizon Lanka Academy’s Head Master’s allowance till 2006 December.

Microimage, Sri Lanka
1. MicroImage sponsored a computer teacher’s salary till 2006 December.
2. MicroImage provided employment for two of the Horizon Lanka’s past students in 2007 and 2008

Openworld, USA
1. Openworld, USA donated money to cover part of the cost of the Internet tower in 2004.
2. Openworld, USA has helped Horizon Lanka with microscholarships, equipment, etc. from time to time.
3. Openworld, USA sponsored one of the staff members in 2006

Virtual Tour – Aerial Picture of Horizon Lanka and Mahavilachchiya