HFC Outreach Programme hosts children from Vakarai
View(s):They came, they saw and they had fun. For some children from Vakarai, 41 in all, it was their first experience of the metropolis.
The invitation to come to Colombo was extended by the Outreach Programme of Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya, whose students had, in August, visited the Vakarai Arundathy Primary Tamil Vidyalayam (Grades 1 to 5) with nearly 150 on its roll. The HFC students had not only held a seminar for children sitting the Grade 5 scholarship examination but also organized a sports meet including squad, drill et al.
It was then that HFC Principal, Sr. Chandani Jayasuriya, and teachers invited the children from this school to visit Colombo and that’s what they did from October 15 to 17 along with their Principal Mohana Sunderam and a few teachers.
Happy together: HFC girls with their young friends from Vakarai
Providing accommodation to the 41 children at HFC itself, the Outreach Programme students had looked after their every need including the morning’s ablutions of the littlest ones, combing their hair tenderly and powdering their faces.
Then it had been time to show them both the cultural and fun sights of Colombo – Nelum Pokuna, Town Hall, BMICH, Independence Square, harbour, passing by the majestic Parliament set amidst the beauty of the Diyawanna Oya and the Zoo. A ride on the escalator at Majestic City had them in fits of laughter, with the rows and rows of shops making their eyes go wide with wonder.
On their last day in Colombo, it was a ‘Common Assembly’, giving the Familians a glimpse of children living far away from the comforts of Colombo and the Vakarai children a taste of the traditions of a ‘big’ school.
When they did leave the precincts of HFC, they had been showered with gifts. School bags, books, pens, pencils, erasers, water bottles, uniform material, clothes and socks, with a promise of a pair of shoes for each and every child, with the sizes being faxed by the Principal when he gets to Vakarai.
The HFC Outreach Programme had been unstintingly supported by all the teachers, the Prefects’ Guild 2013, the Health and Nature Club, the parents of children who are receiving First Holy Communion this year, the Past Pupils’ Association, the Parent-Teacher Association and all the students. Two parents of HFC students who helped coordinate the Vakarai programme were Brigadier Athula Kodipilli and Colonel Roni Fernando.
The Outreach Programme which is in its 10th year was begun by then Principal Sr. Canice Fernando and a former Vice Principal Sr. Mangalika Fernando.
Supported strongly by current Principal Sr. Chandani, the Outreach Programme has extended a hand of friendship to remote schools in Deniyaya, Moneragala, Bibile, Nasikudah in Kilinochchi, Muthupanthiya in Chilaw and Sippikalana in Katana. The Outreach Programme students and teachers along with Sr. Chandani were the first school to visit and interact with the displaced women, men and children being housed at Menik Farm in Vavuniya when the conflict was ending.
A water-filter and digital camera have also been presented to the school but the most poignant had been the school bell, with Principal Sunderam’s words ringing in the ears of all present.
Far away in a Vakarai school, the sound of Holy Family Convent will be heard every school day, he had said with emotion.
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