Testimonials by students
Health Promotion degree progamme is an invaluable and lifetime opportunity for me as I learn to to explore my life in an enthusiastic way. Unlike other academic programs, health promotion is not limited to single area of study and we get opportunities to learn about many things about the society ,environment and community in addition to the academic content of the program – Wimukthi Dhananjaya – 1st year
Health promotion program is a good learning opportunity where I learn to speak to hearts of people. So that I can improve my own health and happiness during the undergraduate program – Chinthani Dineshika – 2nd year
“Health Promotion is an art which uses the timber of science, to build the ship of knowledge to be sailed by the community in the ocean of health searching for a better port of wellbeing” . That is how I see this discipline and the program – A.H. Kaushani – 2nd year
Before I came to the university, I thought that health is only being free from diseases. But now I know that health is everything we do. Now, I learn and practice to be happy with whatever I do- Sandalika Senevirathna – 3rd year
Doctors alone won’t make you healthy, Nutritionist alone won’t put you in shape, Teachers alone won’t make you smart, Gurus alone won’t make you calm, Mentors alone won’t make you rich and successful, Trainers alone won’t make you fit. Ultimately, you have to take the lead and the responsibility of your health to save yourself. The Health Promotion program is an asset making people enabled in taking control of their own health through empowerment – Naradi Baduge – 3rd year
ஒரு பட்டதாரியாக ஆக வேண்டும் என்ற எண்ணத்தில் மாத்திரமே நான் இக்கற்கை நெறியினை தெரிவு செய்திருந்தேன். எனினும் பின்பு நான் உணர்ந்து கொண்டேன்; இது எனக்கு மட்டுமின்றி என்னை சுற்றி உள்ள சமூகத்திற்கும் பயன் தரக்கூடியது. Jathusha Kanmanirajah – 3rd year
Testimonials by parents
මෙම සෞඛ්‍ය ප්‍රවර්ධන පාඨමාලාව, හුදෙක් ලෙඩ රෝග වලින් තොර ජීවීතයකට වඩා එහා ගිය පැතිකඩ රාශියක් පෙන්වා දෙමින් දරුවන්ගේ ජීවීත අති සාර්ථක කිරීමට දායක වන වටිනා අධ්‍යයන පාඨමාලාවක් බව මගේ හැගීමයි. සෞඛ්‍ය අංශයේ රාජකාරියේ නියුතු පුද්ගලයෙකු හැටියට, මගේ දරුවා මෙම පාඨමාලාවට යොමු කිරීමට හැකිවීම මහගු භාග්‍යයකි. Mrs. R.M Seelawathi (Mother of Kaushani)
විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයට යන්න කලින් හිටියට වඩා මගේ දරුවාගේ ලොකු වෙනසක් අද වෙද්දි මං දකිනවා. කරන හැම දෙයක් ම සතුටින්, පිලිවෙළට කරනවා දැන්. එයාගේ සෞඛය ගැන වගේම හැමෝම ගැන හිතලා වැඩ කරනවා Mrs. Kanthi Senevirathna
Our ancient civilizations has thought us that it is important to pay attention on community health. The validity of this concept has increased by thousand times in the current context and Health Promotion has become the heart of it. Therefore i see the opportunity to study Health Promotion in this University for all Sri Lankan students, not only my son, as an excellent opportunity- Mrs. Kusumawathi Rubasinghe
Testimonials by international students
In 2018, I was honoured to take part in an international placement with the Health Promotion Division at Rajarata University. The six weeks I spent learning, living and working at Rajarata University were some of the best in my life! The team are wonderfully supportive, caring and inclusive, and went out of their way to give myself and my fellow student the most wonderful and memorable experiences – both professionally and personally.
The project we worked on was a pilot study assessing the nutritional status of reproductive-age women in rural Anuradhapura district. The work was stimulating, challenging and meaningful, with wonderful opportunities to learn from local students (who are incredibly experienced in field work!) and engage with the local community. I learnt so many skills through this placement that I hope to carry with me throughout my career in public health and I will always have the team at Rajarata to thank for that.
Little needs to be said about the food, accommodation and weekend travel opportunities as they can be summed up in one word – fantastic! But the best thing about this place is the people – be prepared to be filled with laughter and joy while you’re here and to leave with tears in your eyes and a hole in your heart. Thank you again Rajarata team – until next time!
Holly Edwards
Master of International Public Health (MIPH) Program, School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Australia.
I was very fortunate to spend six wonderful weeks at Rajarata University for my international placement with fellow student, Holly Edwards. We worked with Dr Lalith on a pilot study looking at the nutritional status of reproductive-aged women in rural Anuradhapura district. Through this study we learnt an abundance of new skills, from applying for ethics approval, writing project proposals, designing questionnaires, community engagement, collecting data in the field, analysing data and writing a final report. We were very lucky to later present our research at an International health promotion conference in Rotorua, New Zealand.
This placement has been life-changing to me. I’m writing this testimonial two years on, and still it is one of the best experiences of my life. The placement changed my career course as it sparked my interest in field research. This experience led to my first public health research job as soon as I returned home from Sri Lanka, and the skills learnt at Rajarata University are still useful and relevant to me now. I am therefore incredibly thankful to Dr Lalith and the supportive health promotion staff and students at Rajarata for everything they taught us during our stay.
I have nothing but positive memories from my stay. The staff and students were friendly and inclusive, the food was better than I could have imagined (egg hoppers every morning was a highlight), and the accommodation and pool were fabulous. We were fortunate to visit many of Sri Lanka’s beautiful locations on the weekends, where we were able to experience stunning nature and learn about the country’s kind-hearted people and wonderful culture. I fell in love with Sri Lanka during my placement and think about the happy memories often. I am certain that I will be back one day!
MATILDE PETERSEN
Master of International Public Health (MIPH) Program, School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Australia.
