Hi everyone,
I’m Bawantha Thiilan Rathnayaka, a software developer from Sri Lanka, and I’m excited to share that I’ve joined the OpenMRS Fellowship Program 2026 as a Backend Engineering Fellow.
My journey with OpenMRS didn’t begin with this fellowship.it began with a genuine belief in what this community is building. Over the past two years, I’ve been an active volunteer contributor by fixing bugs, participating in community discussions on Talk and Slack, and mentoring contributors through Google Summer of Code (GSoC).
Being selected as a fellow is an opportunity I’m truly grateful for, and I see it as a reflection of the support and encouragement this community gives to those who contribute.
My Fellowship Project – Metadata Extraction Tool
During my fellowship, I’ll be working on the Metadata Extraction Tool, a Java-based utility that reads metadata from a live OpenMRS instance and exports it into Initializer-compatible CSV files, making it easier to replicate existing OpenMRS configurations across different deployments.
Project Repository:
Project Discussion - Metadata Extraction Tool
What I’ve Been Working On
Over the past few weeks, my focus has been on understanding the project and preparing a solid foundation by:
- Meeting with the GHSD technical team to clarify the project scope.
- Deep-diving into the OpenMRS Initializer module and related architecture.
- Setting up my local development environment.
- Designing the initial Java class architecture for the metadata extraction process.
What’s Next
In the coming weeks, I’ll be focusing on:
- Finalizing the metadata domain extraction scope with my mentor.
- Breaking the project down into Jira epics and implementation tasks to track progress more effectively.
- Implementing the core extraction logic domain by domain, starting with foundational metadata such as Locations and Encounter Types.
- Writing comprehensive unit and integration tests to ensure the generated CSV files are valid and fully compatible with the Initializer module.
- Documenting the tool so that the wider OpenMRS community can easily use, extend, and contribute to it beyond the fellowship.
I’ll also be sharing the Jira board and task links with the community soon so everyone can follow the project’s progress and provide feedback along the way.
Project Mentors and Technical Team - @ibacher @wikumc @jayasanka
