Nuwan, Eshan, Chamika, Suresh,… can be proud of their personal and professional progress!
Beginning of January 2012, they successfully launched a 52 feet sailing catamaran in the Sri Lankan waters: the concrete result of their talent and efforts.
Six years ago, these youths arrived at the Building A Future Foundation on the southern coast of Sri Lanka with in their hands only goodwill and eagerness to learn. Boat building, marine electricity, sail making and mast making are the areas that they had chosen to be trained in, by local and foreign professionals, within our Foundation.
Upon the successful one and a half year “on the job” training they were rewarded with a certificate locally recognized that allowed them to propose their skills to the Nautic industry in Sri Lanka.
Today more than 70 youths have a sustainable employment in export oriented or local companies specialized in the production of fishing or leisure boats and in the making of sails and masts. Their professional development clearly has a positive repercussion on their personal life increasing their self-esteem, confidence and motivation and improving their economic situation benefitting the family at large.
One significant example is the export oriented company Barramundi Boatyard Pvt Ltd which is established in Sri Lanka since 4 years at the initiative of the Founder of the Building A Future Foundation in Koggala Free Trade Zone.
The availability of skilled and talented labor was one of the motivations to establish the boatyard in Sri Lanka instead of other places in Asia. The boatyard needed specific labor profiles that master epoxy and carbon construction, marine electricity to manufacture its 47 to 52 feet sailing catamarans. The company also specifically trained their workers in advances techniques such as vacuum infusion in order to have all the skills in house in a state of the art factory.
All the areas of training at the Building A Future Foundation form interlocking value chain. As an example, high profile 19 m carbon masts for Barramundi catamarans are supplied by Solar Impulse Pvt Ltd, one of the spin offs set up by the Foundation to provide employment to skilled trainees.
At the end of March 2012, Nuwan, Eshan, Chamika, Suresh and their colleagues will launch a 4th and a 5th catamaran that they have built at Barramundi. We can only wish them that this will be the beginning of a long list.