Making ‘Beyond dreams’ a reality for special children
They walked and they talked, this ‘Royal College Group of 81 Walkers’ and as they gained kilometres around Independence Square in Colombo every Saturday morning, they zeroed-in on what they could do for Sri Lanka. With a dire need of the country’s special young ones being a one-stop, state-of-the-art Centre for Autism and Neuro-divergence at [...]
The fall of the Wall and the dawn of unity
As I switched on the radio, I was pleasantly surprised to hear “Wind of Change,” a song I loved as a schoolgirl since it first aired on TV in the early 1990s. This iconic track by the German band Scorpions is renowned for its compelling blend of historical footage and the band’s emotive performance. Hearing [...]
From an abandoned mission house to Asia’s very first girls’ boarding school
It was on a fine April morning in 1820 that the founding missionaries of Uduvil Girls’ College, stepped into the abandoned premises of a Franciscan monk in Uduvil. The mission house on the premises had no windows or doors. Undeterred, the missionaries, Rev. Miron, Harriet Winslow, Rev. Levi and Mary Spaulding, set to work to [...]
Letters to the Editor
Thoughts on governance and nation building As the country concludes another general election, here are some thoughts on governance and nation building needed at this hour. Transparency: Governance should be open and honest. Decisions, policies, and actions need to be clearly communicated, with accessible information that allows people to understand how and why decisions are [...]
APPRECIATIONS
Our dearly beloved Amma, it’s your 100th birth anniversary Cecilia Pauline Gertrude Fernando (“Dottie”) On November 22, you would be celebrating your 100th birthday at your heavenly abode amidst a choir of angels. Although you left us on January 9, 2007, we strongly feel that you still continue to guide all of us spiritually. As [...]
Memories of the Camino
I often reminisce about the time I walked the Camino de Santiago. It was 13 years ago that together with my adult son I walked this 800-km pilgrim trail stretching from the foothills of the French Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela in Spain’s northwestern region of Galicia The journey took us six weeks, walking over [...]
The tree that puts on a blazing red show when the weather turns hot
Delonix regia Common/ English name: Flamboyant Family: Fabaceae (The bean family) (Sinhala name: Mai mara; Tamil name: Mayaram/ Neruppu vahai) This is a common, decorative tree. It is grown mainly for its beauty along roadsides. Many of these trees were lost when Baseline Road was widened several decades ago. This tree was introduced in the [...]
WNPS lecture: Raising awareness on illegal wildlife trade and biopiracy
This month’s Nations Trust Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) lecture aims to shed light on the dark underworld of wildlife trafficking and highlight the need for collective action to protect our natural heritage. ‘Stolen from the Wild: confronting the crisis of illegal wildlife trade and biopiracy’ is the title of the lecture to be [...]
WCIC members walk the talk at Ramp Up 2024
For a second consecutive year, the Women’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce (WCIC) presented Ramp Up 2024, their effort to empower women entrepreneurs in fashion. Held on November 12 at the Hilton Hotel Co-lombo, the show was aimed at helping women build export brands through engagement, empowerment and enrichment. In a novel touch, Chamber of [...]
Innovation reigned at SLDF
The Sri Lanka Design Festival, sponsored by Sri Lankan Airlines and organised by the Academy of Design in Sri Lanka, took place from November 7-10 at its new venue – the brand new Cinnamon Life, City of Dreams in Colombo. The annual festival in its 15th year had as its theme ‘Innovation Island’ and over [...]