Rotary opens fifth school rebuilt after tsunami in colourful ceremony
Saturday was a special day for the students of Uswathun Hasana School and the people of Galle.
when Rotary Sri Lanka opened its fifth school rebuilt after the tsunami of December 2004.
Rotary Sri Lanka is rebuilding 25 schools across the country which were affected by the tsunami in an USD 18M programme. With a view to turning the tragedy into an opportunity, Rotary Sri Lanka together with its main partner the Standard Chartered Bank, is rebuilding bigger and better schools with all modern facilities.
On Monday, nearly 500 lucky students will continue their education in the new model school with a state of the art Computer Center, fully equipped laboratory and well stocked library.
There was a festive atmosphere all around the town of Devata in Galle where the newly built school Uswathun Hasana MV is located. The Principal, staff, students and parents were all gathered to greet the visiting dignitaries who were then conducted in a procession to the site of the new school.
PDG Mani Seneviratne and his wife Sherwani whose district (Australia Dist 9790) co-ordinated the sponsorship of the entire project, were the Chief Guests at the colourful opening ceremony.
Guest of Honour and Trustee of the Rotary Foundation, PDG K. Ravindran and his wife Vanathy, District Governor Bobby Senaweera and wife Nina, PDGs Lucky Pieris and Krish Rajendran.
DGN Thariq Thulba, SCB’s Romany Parakrama and Project Chairman Gamini Gunasekera of the Rotary Club of Kolonnawa were among the many dignitaries present on the occasion.
“Today is a very happy occasion for both my wife and I” said PDG Seneviratne, a Sri Lankan
now domiciled in Australia. “When the news of the tsunami reached us in Australia we immediately contacted the Rotarians in Sri Lanka and rushed some emergency aid to them.”
“However, we wanted to help in a bigger way and when we heard of your Schools rebuilding programme we decided to sponsor the entire cost of at least one school,” added Seneviratne
who garnered the support of five other districts in Australia towards the sponsorship of Uswathun Hasana.
District Governors Desmond Lawson (District 9630), Bruce Allan (9680), Bruce Barber (9700), Cathy Roth (9780), and Denis Hyland (9810) all joined forces with Seneviratne to raise the entire
cost of the project.
Chief Guest Ravindran in his address said that Uswathun Hasana was the fifth school to be opened in the Schools Re-awaken Project and each time he attends an opening ceremony he marvels at the work that Rotary has achieved through the collective efforts of its members.
Ravindran thanked PDG Mani Seneviratne and the other sponsors for their support and also the Lead Club – the Rotary Club of Kolonawa who handled the project management of the construction. Ravindran also presented Seneviratne with a special plaque in appreciation of his willing support towards the project.
The potential of the students was then aptly displayed when Azrima a student of the school delivered an eloquent Vote of Thanks.
