From the role of a chemical compounder at Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics to Director of Education at the Ocean Legacy Foundation, Madhawa Bandara has had an interesting journey to say the least. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Bandara loves to help people. He enjoys hiking, camping, and all outdoor activities, and loves to live a simple, yet meaningful life. His home country, Sri Lanka’s present situation is heartbreaking for him to watch, as it is for most expatriates far from home. Together with his friends, Bandara has been helping with financial donations and presently the relief is directed towards cancer, kidney, and heart medicine.
Born in Chilaw, Bandara’s formative years were spent in Kurunegala. After completing his Advanced Level education in 2004, he worked in several Government organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGO) such as the World Bank and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). He’s been President of the National Youth Federation in Kurunegala, National Co-ordinator at Sarvodaya, and District Co-ordinator at the Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC), to name a few. With all of these posts, his goal was to develop the Sri Lankan people’s quality of life, with a specific focus on creating opportunities for the island’s youth.
We caught up with Bandara to ask him about his life in Vancouver, his experience working in ocean conservation, and his message to Sri Lanka. Here are some excerpts.
Tell me a little bit about yourself.
I grew up playing many sports, hiking, and engaging in other outdoor activities. Most importantly, I was connected to people from my childhood. I still care about those values. I love to help people and I do as much as I can. The first time I came to Canada was in 2006 for the Canada World Youth Exchange Programme with the National Youth Council. I represented the Kurunegala district. The Sri Lankan team completed its Canadian experience over a period of three months in Brandon, Manitoba but the second part in Sri Lanka was cancelled due to security risks at the time.
I came back to live in Canada in 2008. My first job was at Lush Cosmetics in 2008, as a product assistant in manufacturing. Then I became a chemical compounder in late 2008, and I finished my career as a senior compounder. I was also very interested in digital marketing and creating formulations for different products Lush didn’t have at the time. I started doing consulting and special projects with a few clients. That’s how I created what is now known to be the world’s longest-burning candle. This candle burned for over 800 hours (34 days).
I left Lush in 2019 to branch off on my own. Internationally, I work in water solutions for commercial and general consumer use. I worked with the Sri Lankan Government as well. On top of that, we just partnered with SELC College in Vancouver and we are about to create a partner college in Sri Lanka. We will be starting with a few online programmes. We are also going to provide opportunities to Sri Lankan students studying in Canada. We want to create a secure environment for Sri Lankan students, a support structure, and most importantly, we won’t be charging anything extra for our services.
Tell me about The Ocean Legacy Foundation and how you got involved with the non-profit.
The Ocean Legacy Foundation (OLF) is a Canadian-based non-profit organisation that was founded in 2013 with the goal to end ocean plastic waste. As an internationally recognised leader in plastic pollution response, OLF has rebranded its dynamic approach and solution-based platform in combating plastic pollution.
I met the Ocean Legacy team in 2016 at Lush. We became friends and I started working with them. In 2017, my good friend Rob Stewart died in a diving accident in Florida while he was shooting his third documentary. Rob was the creator of the documentaries Sharkwater, Revolution, and Sharkwater Extinction. I went to the funeral in Toronto and I made a commitment to myself to continue Rob’s legacy in any way I can. I came back to Vancouver to accept the Director of Education post and continue working until today.
Why are you passionate about oceans and curbing plastic pollution?
In my belief, and based on science, our oceans will be dead by 2050 unless we take action now. I want to create a positive impact on this sensitive global issue before it’s too late. I want to preserve this beautiful state of nature for the future generations.
How’s life in Vancouver, BC? What are the challenges and what are the good things?
I can strongly say life is amazing in Vancouver. I love to stay around the ocean, mountains, forests, and enjoy the multicultural environment. I feel like I have all those in Vancouver, and I can call it home. Living costs and the housing market have been pretty high in Vancouver, but at the same time we have to pay the price to have the best.
When it comes to race relations, what are the differences you see in Vancouver, BC when compared to Sri Lanka?
I would say people are more open and respectful to each other. That would be the key thing I can think of. In my opinion, especially with the new generation in Sri Lanka, things are changing in a positive way.
When it comes to professional and social settings, what (if any) are the challenges you have experienced in Vancouver, BC, as an immigrant?
I don’t think I had a challenge with that ever. I always try to be creative, outgoing, resourceful and try to be the best communicator possible. I feel like people accepted that well. I have seen some immigrants creating boundaries for themselves by being worried or scared to share their ideas; this could be due to language or cultural reasons. I think the Canadian community is ready to accept people as who they are so I think new immigrants can open up more.
What are your thoughts about the current crisis Sri Lanka is going through?
It is very sad what is happening in Sri Lanka. For a long time, politicians in Sri Lanka have been involved in corruption. It seems like the loans and donations we received for 50-60 years have been misused. In my opinion, we should create national concepts in all major sectors. Presently, whenever a new government comes in, they stop all previous government projects without looking at the big picture.
Also we need to create ways to bring money into Sri Lanka. Creating value-added projects and creating value-added imports instead of just importing ingredients can help Sri Lanka. To do so, all corruption should stop at all levels and everyone should be under the same law.
How important do you think is the role of expats such as yourself at a critical time like this?
It is extremely important to get support from expats. I believe there are lots of Sri Lankans in the global business environment who are willing to help Sri Lanka. We all are capable of bringing large investments to Sri Lanka. The issue we are facing in most cases is that the Sri Lankan government doesn’t have a proper vision or plan to work on these projects.
What are three things you would like to see change in Sri Lankan society, and why?
Violence needs to stop. We have to understand the value of life and property.
If we can come up with an action plan and creative ideas, that would help the country. If we look at the last many years, we always complain about almost everything. We have to look at the rest of the world and walk with it.
We should not be divided based on race, religion, and political parties. In my opinion, politicians try to gain power from these separations. When people get together as one nation, we can always look at the best outcome instead of personal gain. That will change the system.
Your message to the Sri Lankan people?
I want Sri Lankans to stay strong. Sri Lanka will never be alone. We are doing everything in our power to help Sri Lanka, we will overcome these issues. We should remember how we got here and make sure we don’t fall into this situation again.
Jennifer Anandanayagam is a journalist and editor with over 15 years of experience in Sri Lanka’s print and digital media landscape. She is also a freelance contributor with the SaltWire Network in Canada. She spends her time between both countries.
