Eight professors from Sri Lanka will be visiting NIU for leadership and development training.

They will arrive in DeKalb Monday to participate in a three-week outreach program for non-governmental organizations and development of local leadership.

“The program will help the professors further their knowledge of good leadership and experience the workings of a democratic government,” said Jaya Gajanayake, director of the Sri Lanka project.

The project was made possible by a $200,000 grant from a U.S. Department of State grant given to the NIU International Training Office to further their efforts in Sri Lanka, Gajanayake said.

“The professors will take the knowledge of our government home and apply what they have learned in their classrooms and pass on the prospects of American government to the non-government leaders in Sri Lanka,” Gajanayake said.

The professors will tour the NIU DeKalb and Naperville campuses, the DeKalb mayor’s office and a Chicago City Council meeting.

“Visiting the city council meeting in Chicago and the DeKalb mayor’s office will help them learn more about the American government,” Gajanayake said.

Strengthening civil society and developing local leadership in Sri Lanka is the main goal of the program, Gajanayake said.

“The fact that we have received a grant from the U.S. government to continue this training is great, and it will make NIU more visible on the world map,” Gajanayake said.

Sri Lanka facts

Full name: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Government type: Republic

Population: 19.9 million

Land area: 25,332 square miles

– slightly larger than West Virginia

Location: Southern Asia, South of

India in the Indian Ocean

Source: www.cia.gov