6 Lankan students attend World Tsunami Awareness Day 2017 in Okinawa
View(s):Six Sri Lankan students from the Galle District were among 150 students from around the world, who attended the High School Students Islands Summit on World Tsunami Awareness Day 2017, held last week by the Okinawa Prefectural Govt and Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education. This was to commemorate World Tsunami Awareness Day, which fell on Nov.5, as adopted by consensus at the United Nations General Assembly.
The Summit aimed to encourage students to become leaders who actively engage in minimising the impacts of earthquakes and tsunamis, and play leading roles in the field of disaster risk reduction in their countries. The event embodied its theme of “Yui Maaru”- Mutual Support and Bond between People, in the Okinawan dialect. Students from island countries which have similar natural environments across the globe, were given the opportunity to discuss and make presentations on the theme of ‘Disaster Prevention and Mitigation’.
The representatives from Sri Lanka comprised 6 students from 4 National Schools in the Galle District. Tharusha Liyanagamage and Thisara Rukmal from Richmond College, Irosh Withana from Mahinda College, Dileesha Thisarangi and Kaori Hettiarachi from Southlands College and Devdini Rathnayake from Sanghamita Balika Vidyalaya. They were accompanied by Teacher-in-Charge Ms. Madushika Ranasinghe.
The Sri Lankan team made a presentation on “Replanting of Mangroves in Coastal areas along the Gintota Bridge in the Galle District, Sri Lanka”. The presentation emphasised the importance of protecting the coastal belt as a measure of preventing and mitigating coastal erosion that might occur as a result of tsunami and other natural disasters. The students also took part in a commemorative tree-planting ceremony and a cultural performance.