The National Trust will have its fourth quarterly tour of Colombo on November 27. "A comparative study of religious edifices - Colombo's Architecture of the 18-19th Century" taking in interesting sites in 'Old Colombo' is organized by Trustee Nirmala de Mel and introduced by Trustee Arch. Ismeth Raheem.
The tour will cover Wolvendahl Church consecrated in 1755 and and St. Peter's Church consecrated in 1836.
The next stop will be the Hindu Kovil built under the patronage of the Ramanathan family.
Next to the Catholic Church St James designed by an Italian friar and built in 1864.
The tour then visits the Christian Anglican Church built during the administration of Governor Brownrigg in 1830.
The last religious site is the Mosque supposedly built by Indian craftsmen for the Indian business community during the last decade of the 19th century.
The tour ends at the National Museum designed by Smither Friba and built in 1870.
The tour leaves the Post Graduate Institute of Archaeology (PGIAR), 407 Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 7, at 7.30 a.m, and will be back at the PGIAR by 6.00 - 6.30 p.m.
The cost Rs. 2,250 for members, Rs. 2,750 for non-members and Rs. 1,000 for children under 12 years. Rs 500 supplement for museum entry for Non Sri Lankan visitors.
Those interested are requested to make payment and reserve their place by contacting Devika at the Trust Office on tel : 2682730 or 3091275 (between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. on weekdays), Mob: 0777 621 332, or e-mail : ntrust@sltnet.lk or contact Lakshmi/Chithra at Quickshaws, tel: 2508368/9; e-mail footloose@quickshaws.com / tours@quickshaws.com on or before Wednesday, November 23.
Lecture on ivory carvings
The 35th lecture in the Monthly Lecture series of the National Trust of Sri Lanka will be held at ICTAD the Institute of Construction Training & Development "Savsiripaya" , 123 Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 7 at 6.30 p.m. on November 24.
Architect Ashley de Vos will speak on the methodology and workmanship of the ancient craft of ivory carvings.
Training programme for primary care physicians
"Nirogi Lanka" (National Initiative to Reinforce and Organize General Diabetes care in Sri Lanka ) is an ambitious project funded by the World Diabetic Foundation, in concurrence with the MoHGOSL (Ministry of Health/Government of Sri Lanka) and all stakeholders in managing Diabetes under the leadership of the Diabetes Prevention Task Force (DPTF) of the Sri Lanka Medical Association.
The College of General Practitioners of Sri Lanka (CGPSL), was invited by Nirogi Lanka of the Sri Lanka Medical Association to join hands with them to conduct training programmes for primary care physicians with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and the attitudes amongst the primary care physicians to empower them to provide better primary care to patients.
Fifteen family practitioners underwent training in the first group and 36 family practitioners were trained in the second group. The third programme is due to start in January 2012 and any doctor registered with the Sri Lanka Medical Council and providing primary care services in their community could enrol for this programme.
Those interested in joining the third programme can contact the College of General Practitioners of Sri Lanka (Tel.2698894).
The programme will be held at the SLMA House, on two Sundays a month in the afternoons from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. for about four months free of charge.
A participation certificate and/ or certificate of merit would be awarded at the end of the course with a per diem, to all participants.
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| Dianne M. Jeffrey, CBE, Chairperson of Helpage UK visited Sri Lanka with her husband Nic Jeffrey from November 6-11. During her short stay, she visited the HelpAge Sri Lanka head office, the HelpAge Eye Care Centre at Wellawatte and the HelpAge tsunami housing project at 'Samudraya Theeraya' Matara. |
First batch of Peradeniya Uni. MDP students
Twenty-eight students from 50 applicants are the pioneering batch of the new postgraduate degree programme, Master of Development Practice (MDP), launched by the Peradeniya University's Department of Economics and Statistics on September 24.
The MDP is part of a global network of over 20 similar programmes in 16 countries which have been developed in accordance with the recommendations of the International Commission on Education for Sustainable Development Practice and are sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation.
This is the first multidisciplinary study programme at Peradeniya that will bring together experts from a range of disciplines in the natural, social and health sciences and management fields said the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Prof. Anoma Abhayaratne at the inauguration of the programme.
The Head of the Department of Economics and Statistics, Dr. Ranil Abaysekara said that the programme was unique because it was firstly, inter-disciplinary, secondly, practice-oriented, bridging the ivory tower of academia and the real world of development and thirdly, partnership-oriented, building social networks that constitute a community of development practitioners who support each other.
The 28 students include employees of development non-governmental organizations, donor agencies, government ministries and the private sector as well as development entrepreneurs. Their academic background and work experience span a range of fields including advertising, agriculture, development communication, economics, education, engineering, food science and nutrition, law, media, psychology and sociology.
The degree programme was approved by the University Grants Commission in May 2011. For more details, please see www.pdn.ac.lk/arts/econ/mdp
Auction of rare maps and prints today
By Royston Ellis
Collecting maps and prints of the past has been a passion of mine since as a child I discovered maps of the world showing several countries coloured pink, signifying the spread of the British Empire. However, it was not just the colouring that attracted me, I became fascinated with old maps and prints because of what they revealed of life hundreds of years ago.
To hold in one's hand a parchment-like piece of paper with an original 18th Century copper engraving done over 250 years ago by Bellin, entitled "Carte de l'Isle de Ceylan," is to touch history. Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (1703-1772) was the Royal Hydrographer, an engineer in the French Navy and a member of the Royal Society, London. His map of Ceylan was issued in the Petit Atlas Maritime volume III and is delicately hand-coloured giving it a contemporary vibrancy.
I shall be sorry to let that map, and the other maps and prints in my collection, slip from my grasp. However, I have resolved that, after 30 years of collecting antique maps and vintage prints of Sri Lanka, it is time to let others enjoy them. The more practical reason is that these rare and irreplaceable pieces of engraved paper etched with memories of the past, deserve better care than I can give them.
For example, when I noticed one of my favourite prints, entitled "A White Man On The Black River (Kalu Ganga)" had disappeared from where it hung on my parlour wall, I discovered the hooks had corroded and it had fallen, breaking the frame. The sea air, passing traffic and trains, all have a corrosive effect on pictures from the past. They need to be cared for in a controlled, dry temperature, not the humid climate of my seaside cottage, itself over 100 years old.
To review my collection of antique maps and prints, is to delve deeply into the history of Sri Lanka. For instance, my oldest print, a set of four copper engravings on one sheet featuring village settlements and churches by Phillipus Baldeus, is a rarity depicting life in this country in 1700.
Equally fascinating is a more recent (1872) print captioned "A Ceylon Boat at Galle". It shows a lady with a parasol being rowed ashore in an outrigger canoe, with the original Galle Fort lighthouse in the background. The historically important visit of the Prince of Wales to Ceylon in 1875 is brought to life by prints from The Graphic showing the Prince inspecting Lord Buddha's tooth, while another has him riding on the footplate of a steam locomotive. His epic journey by rail through India and Ceylon is shown in detail in an 1875 map from the Illustrated London News.
Elephant fanciers would be intrigued by the 1840 print of a sagacious looking Ceylon elephant with two working elephants in the background. A print with more action is the exciting picture of bullock hackery racing in Colombo, apparently a popular spectator sport in 1887.
From another print, an advertisement for Lipton's tea dated 1892, we learn that "over one million packets" were sold weekly and "the finest tea the world can produce" cost a shilling a pound. It also reveals that Thomas Lipton was then the sole proprietor of eight "celebrated tea and coffee estates in Ceylon."
An astonishing print of a scene that might be raise eyebrows even today is entitled "The girl he left behind him: the Ceylon contingent leaving Colombo for South Africa." It shows a British soldier affectionately embracing a beautiful local belle in Victorian times, 110 years ago.
Photographic postcards over 100 years old convey the sites and views of the early 20th Century. A postcard of the venerable Galle Face Hotel mailed from Colombo in 1906 is captioned "The Hotel de Luxe of the East. J. Hoffer, manager. Seawater swimming bath. 250 apartments. French cuisine, Telegrams: Gallefacio." There is an inset photo of the exterior of the hotel with a revealing handwritten comment: "This is the only thing free in this hotel."
Original maps and prints of the last few centuries are to be treasured for the clues they give us about the customs and culture of those times.
There will be an auction of antiques, including old maps and prints, at the YMBA Auditorium, 15 Dharmarama Road, Wellawatte, today, Sunday, November 20.
Creating awareness
on Diabetes Day
The International Association of Lions Clubs will hold a seminar on Diabetes-Prevention and Care to mark World Diabetes day in conjunction with the Diabetes Association of Sri Lanka and Lions of District 306 AI today, from 10 a.m. - 12 noon at the Auditorium of the Diabetes Association of Sri Lanka, 50 Sarana Mawatha, Kotte Road, Rajagiriya (Opposite the Election Secretariat). The Chief Guest will be District Governor 306 AI-Lion Kapila Manamperi.
First batch of Peradeniya Uni. MDP students
Twenty-eight students from 50 applicants are the pioneering batch of the new postgraduate degree programme, Master of Development Practice (MDP), launched by the Peradeniya University's Department of Economics and Statistics on September 24.
The MDP is part of a global network of over 20 similar programmes in 16 countries which have been developed in accordance with the recommendations of the International Commission on Education for Sustainable Development Practice and are sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation.
This is the first multidisciplinary study programme at Peradeniya that will bring together experts from a range of disciplines in the natural, social and health sciences and management fields said the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Prof. Anoma Abhayaratne at the inauguration of the programme.
The Head of the Department of Economics and Statistics, Dr. Ranil Abaysekara said that the programme was unique because it was firstly, inter-disciplinary, secondly, practice-oriented, bridging the ivory tower of academia and the real world of development and thirdly, partnership-oriented, building social networks that constitute a community of development practitioners who support each other.
The 28 students include employees of development non-governmental organizations, donor agencies, government ministries and the private sector as well as development entrepreneurs. Their academic background and work experience span a range of fields including advertising, agriculture, development communication, economics, education, engineering, food science and nutrition, law, media, psychology and sociology.
The degree programme was approved by the University Grants Commission in May 2011. For more details, please see www.pdn.ac.lk/arts/econ/mdp
“Things and things 2011, sale for all
The Sri Lanka Women’s Conference will hold a sale to raise funds- “Things and Things 2011” on Saturday November 26 at the All Ceylon Women’s Buddhist Congress (ACWBC), 400 Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 7, from 9.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.. The committee promises to have a variety of interesting and useful items at reasonable prices.
'Bhaaratha Gee Vindhanaya' today
'Bhaaratha Gee Vindhanaya' a musical show organized by Walter Mendis presenting the music of Sarath Wickrama will be held today, Sunday, November 20 at 10 a.m. at the Colombo Public Library Hall.
The compere will be Balan. Entrance is free.
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