Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

Great expectations
By Vidushi Seneviratne
Doing good for people in need. This seems to be the top priority of a certain group of young people. With their main community service project directed towards the wellbeing of prisoners, the Interactors of St. Bridget’s Convent have been channelling their efforts towards this cause for the last two years. In the meantime, the fund raising event that has been organised by the members of the Interact Club scheduled to be held soon, will be a colourful addition to the funds being collected for the betterment of these individuals.

Though many avenues of assistance for those in prison have been explored, the main focus of the Interactors at present is the education of the children of the prisoners. “Our first visit to the prison was back in September 2003,” says Rowena Wijesooriya, chairperson of the Prisoner’s Welfare Trust.

Explaining how the project got started, she said that the outgoing president of the club played a big role in initiating it. While the objective of the fundraiser is to sponsor fifty children, the project has already presented about twenty children with scholarships, with the funds collected through sponsorship and banners. The main sponsor for the project is One Sri Lanka, while Janashakthi, along with a few more organisations are co-sponsors.

The project comes under the flagship of Sister Immaculate, a former principal of St. Bridget’s Convent, Ms. Florence Marzuk, wife of the Commissioner of Prisons, the mother of the outgoing president of the Interact Club and Ms. Kumari, chief jailer of the women’s section of the Welikada prison.

The project is handled by a ten-member committee, consisting of seemingly capable fifteen and sixteen-year-olds, guided by teacher-in-charge Ms. Raywathie Koelmayer. With poverty being a huge issue for most people in the country, these women prisoners languish for years unable to pay fines, at times not exceeding Rs. 500. “When the mother in a family is not present at home, the children naturally get neglected, give up on their studies and basically the entire family goes through chaos,” says the mother of the outgoing president of the club.

According to Sister Immaculate, the main objective is to give the children of the prisoners’ a fair chance in education. “This is why we want to help these kids by sponsoring the education for as many as possible,” says Sister Immaculate, explaining further that through the project, each child will be eligible to an account at the National Savings Bank. “To make this process easier for the children, the money will be sent to a particular post office, depending on the child’s address,” she added.

The fund-raising event organised by the Interact Club scheduled will be a variety benefit show, which will include a food fiesta, music and other entertaining features. While the show will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. established local bands such as Septerra, Zenith, Siribara and Sylph, plus newer bands such as Imprint, will be performing.

The tickets for the show will be just Rs. 50 and there will be an optional bonus package courtesy Excel World including entertainment such as Strike and Laser Runner, which would cost Rs. 250. So make sure to head down to Excel World on May 29, and show your support to a section of society that deserves constructive and long-term sustenance.

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