From south to north, friendship and trees take root
View(s):The Zoology Departments of Colombo and Jaffna universities launch an initiative aimed at combating climate change and strengthening bonds across the country
By Kumudini Hettiarachchi
North and south join hands to protect the environment
Seated cross-legged on the ground with kehel-kola as ‘plates’ and ‘pantippay’, a long narrow mat as the ‘table’, they were overwhelmed by the feast they were being lavished with……..hot, hot ulundu vadai, in addition to the usual vegetable curries and an unforgettable vambatu (brinjal) dish and a mix of kadala (chick-peas) and wattakka (pumpkin).
Even several days after, they smack their lips in satisfaction at the heavenly payasam (a sago-based sweet dish).
However, the traditional delicacies of Jaffna that these Colombo University students and teachers were being showered with by their Jaffna University peers not only at lunch on February 17 but also the night before around a blazing bonfire were not the highlights of a two-day visit.
The highpoint of this south-north bond would be the powerful campaign launched by the Zoology Departments of the two universities to combat climate change of crucial relevance both to Sri Lanka and the world.
The three ‘goodwill trees’ of ehela planted on that memorable Friday in the grounds of the Jaffna University which will grow tall and strong and burst forth into clusters of sunny-yellow blossoms will forever mark the friendship and amity of these students who have joined forces to fight the enemy of climate change.
Among the 60 students of the Zoology and Environmental Sciences Department who boarded the university bus willingly given by the Colombo University Vice Chancellor Prof. Lakshman Dissanayake, along with Prof. Wipula Yapa, Dr. Mayuri Wijesinghe and Dr. Sampath Seneviratne, were a handful of ‘doers’ from wide and varied areas and schools across the south of the country.
Taste of northern hospitality: Students enjoy a feast
Very much a part of the ‘Base for Enthusiasts of Environmental Science & Zoology’ (BEEZ) they included Nisansala Perera from Ratnapura, Hansani Gunasekara from Colombo, Akila Cooray from Wadduwa, Manuja Gunasena from Gampaha, Praneeth Ratnayake from Kalutara, Rameesha Wanniarachchi from Walasmulla and Jayani Gamage from Embilipitiya.
Across the country in Jaffna the livewires behind this ‘green project, goodwill and harmony campaign’ were the Acting Vice Chancellor Prof. G. Mikunthan; the Dean of the Science Faculty Prof. R. Vigneshwaran; the Head of the Zoology Department Dr. R. Gnaneswaran; and the Zoological Students’ Association’s Senior Treasurer Dr. Abyerami Sivaruban, President J.N. Kowshika and Secretary Sharanga Santhirasegaram.
The tiny seeds for this major tree planting project (‘Let’s go to Jaffna and plant some trees’) had taken root in June last year, when the Zoology Department, like in every other year, commemorated World Environment Week in Colombo under the guidance of Head Prof. Yapa and senior academic Dr. Nirmali Pallewatte.
Back and forth went the communications with support forthcoming from Ralph Gunawardena of AdeZ Sri Lanka, a company which promotes Sri Lanka as a tourist destination. “We decided on a project of national importance together with the Jaffna University’s Faculty of Science and the Forest Department,” says Prof. Yapa.
The project took the shape of 1,000 trees ehela, cashew, dang, guava, teak, mahogany, neem, cassia, pomegranate and mango in 50 schools in the five zones of Valikamam, Thenmarachchi, Vadamarachchi, Nallur and the islands in Jaffna, as support for a massive reforestation campaign to protect and enhance ecosystems and improve the capacity of these ecosystems as watersheds, economic drivers and crucial biodiversity habitats.
According to Prof. Yapa the ‘core’ objectives are to provide a platform to allow collaborations between the undergraduates of Colombo and Jaffna Universities built on nature and the need to protect the country’s valuable natural resources and spread the word on the importance of trees among schoolchildren in the Jaffna district while providing them with waste bins and stressing the importance of recycling to protect the environment.
And so, they went to Jaffna from Colombo on February 16, starting off at 6.30 a.m. singing, joking and laughing, arriving in the northern town by 4.30 p.m. The 1,000 trees, however, had gone earlier, in December. Having found sponsors and consulting the Forest Department, BEEZ had been told that the best trees suitable for Jaffna’s climate and conditions would be those obtained from its nursery at Kilinochchi, while transporting such plants from Colombo would also disturb their roots. So when the BEEZ students arrived in Jaffna, their counterparts there had nurtured and looked after them.
“This is the first time that Colombo University students visited Jaffna to carry out such a joint project with students there,” says Prof. Yapa, referring to the amazing welcome and fellowship that awaited them there.The welcome that awaited the Colombo undergraduates by 100 of their counterparts was warm, both literally and metaphoricallay, for burning merrily on the grounds of the Jaffna University was a huge bonfire.
“We sat around it and had our dinner,” says Praneeth.Dinner had been followed by a talent show including singing and dancing.The tree planting programme in the schools was the next day with the three ‘goodwill trees’ in the Jaffna University grounds donated by the Colombo VC and two main sponsors the People’s Bank and Rupavahini being the precursor.
The words of the Acting Vice Chancellor of the Jaffna University, Prof. Mikunthan will forever be etched into the minds of the Colombo visitors. “On your way back home, see how the palmyrah and bo trees grow side by side in co-existence along the A-9. This symbolizes the bond between the north and the south.”
This had been followed by the winners of the Essay and Drawing Competitions held among schools in the Jaffna district being awarded prizes and certificates along with E.M. Rajitha Lakshan Ekanayake, a third-year Zoology Special student of the Jaffna University for designing the winning logo for the programme.
Then three buses the university students boarded, a mix of Jaffna and Colombo participants in each, going in different directions to the chosen schools to spread the message about climate change and global warming and plant trees.
Back at the Jaffna University after this exhausting but satisfying foray everyone sat down to the sumptuous lunch, followed by two cricket matches with Colombo girls vs Jaffna girls and Colombo boys vs Jaffna boys vying for the Mobitel Trophies.
Laughingly, they discuss how the Colombo girls clinched a victory while the Colombo boys had to concede defeat most probably due to the heavy meal they had tucked into creating issues in the batting.
“We had lots of fun,” is said in unison, as they eagerly look forward to an invite extended to the Jaffna University students to come a-visiting to Colombo in June and participate in the Environment Programme.
Lifelong bonding and friendships spanning north and south, along with a sustainable programme to counter climate change will rise up from this simple initiative, like the trees put to soil on February 17, raise their branches to the sky and the sun.