‘Little Minds Strong Values’: Addressing ethics and values through music therapy

Saturday, 19 October 2019 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The combined Rotary/Atlas teams for Little Minds Strong Values. In the middle is Atlas Axillia Director – Marketing Shaan Wickremesinghe, with Rotary Club of Colombo Metropolitan Past President Rukshan Perera

Atlas Axillia Co. has joined hands with the Rotary Club of Colombo Metropolitan as the exclusive stationery sponsor for its ‘Little Minds Strong Values’ project.

Spearheaded by famous composer, singer and Past President of the Rotary Club of Colombo Metropolitan, Rukshan Perera, ‘Little Minds Strong Values’ is an outstanding Rotary initiative that seeks to cultivate responsible Sri Lankan values in children through the use of music therapy – Sinhala and Tamil engaging video animated songs with embedded values to inculcate ethics in children at an early age.

With the blessings of the Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, Phase II of the project initiated by the Rotary Club of Colombo Metropolitan, has begun distributing 5,000 DVDs and pen drives to schools, temples, churches and other assemblies of children throughout the country, free of charge. The initiative is leveraging its association with Atlas Axillia Co. to take advantage of the company’s already well-established association with children to support their efforts.

The full set of child-friendly animated music videos can be accessed worldwide at www.RotaryColomboMetro.org/LMSV, to help instil the right values and attitudes in our children. Schools, places of worship and other child-centric organisations may request a free DVD by clicking ‘Request a free video’ on the website and providing their contact information.

The Rotary Club of Colombo Metropolitan undertakes to serve all genuine requests with a DVD and the Lyrics Book free of charge. For further information, please email [email protected] or call their hotline on 0766111932.

Teachers and parents are also further encouraged to support children to participate in the island-wide Annual Ethics and Values Competition with attractive awards for the winners. More information about the competition can be found on the website.

Rukshan Perera said, “I think there is a dramatic link between music and morality. We are using music as a medium to fulfil the need to inculcate intrinsic responsibilities in relations between children and make them aware of each other, based on a set of values and ethics. This is a long-term sustainable project that is attempting to reverse the distressing trend of a decline in values and ethical standards that we are seeing in Sri Lanka. The Rotary Club of Colombo Metropolitan is proud of its partnership with Atlas Axillia Co., which is helping us to reach a wider audience through their well-oiled distribution channels.”

Atlas Axillia Co. Director-Marketing Shaan Wickremesinghe added, “We at Atlas have spent the last 60 years shaping Sri Lanka’s future leaders by ensuring access to world-class tools for learning that are accessible to all Sri Lankans. In addition to this, we have also consistently conducted numerous outreach programs and championed non-profit initiatives for children, teachers and community upliftment in general. Therefore, we are proud to be associated with ‘Little Minds Strong Values’, which is an ambitious, timely and admirable project conducted by the Rotary Club of Colombo Metropolitan.”