Reaching another milestone with ‘Grama Prabodhaya’

“Those who are less fortunate

Often don’t want to ask for help.

Hard times hit all of us at some point

Enjoy your good fortune

Let your fortune help others

People helping people make this world a better place!”

~ Catherine Pulsifer

It was a Sunday, the sun was shining brightly and there were smiles everywhere. This day will mark the beginning of a new journey of Rotaract Mora and the village Ranugalla. We, at Rotaract Mora has waited so long to see the unveiling of our visionary project ‘Grama Prabodhaya’ and today we will mark the beginning of the main project under ‘Grama Prabodhaya’ – Phase 1 by laying the foundation stone to build a Science laboratory and a library for Ranugalla Kanishta Vidyalaya, Monaragala.

The rural village Ranugalla which gives shelter to around 200 families lacks many necessary infrastructure facilities. The only school in the village is Mo/Ranugalla Kanishta Vidyalaya which provides education for around 200 students from grade 1 to 11. The school doesn’t have enough class rooms and halls to accommodate the growing number of students. They do not have a permanent English teacher at present. The school doesn’t have a Science laboratory even though practicals play a vital part in learning the Science subject. Nor do they have a proper library or good sanitary facilities. They do not have facilities for sports and yet the school has trained a volleyball team to play in all island inter school standards. And each year their students have managed to do well in the GCE Ordinary Level examinations despite the hardships they face. Though the school has only a few facilities for academics, the eagerness of the principal, teachers, students and parents have kept them going forward. In short, these students have the passion and the resolution to go an extra mile if assistance could be given. And that’s where Rotaract Mora steps in. And thus we have decided to make education the main focus in ‘Grama Probodhaya’ – Phase 1 and later on move to address other crucial issues in the village.

‘Intellect 2016’ the Science, Mathematics and English seminar series for students facing GCE O/L in December 2016 saw its successful conclusion in November. The students and the teachers were grateful not only for the academic knowledge we provided but also for the many motivational sessions that were conducted to encourage students to pursuit better futures for themselves through the path of education.

‘Bridge of Hearts’, the project to donate library books and sports equipment is currently an ongoing project which receives plentiful donations from Rotaractors and well-wishers.

And on this delightful day we laid the foundation stone to build a fully equipped Science laboratory and library for the school. In the hope that, with the provision of these two facilities the students have lacked for so many years, they will strive to do even better in their studies.

To mark this special event, the school has organized a ceremony at the school hall with the presence of all students, teachers and parents. The school principal addressed the audience remarking on the value and importance of this project to the school and the village. District Community Service Director Rtr.Ridwan Shariffdeen and President of Rotaract Mora Rtr.Chamal Kuruppu also addressed the audience remarking on the commencement of this new community service project and congratulated the project team for bringing the project this far. The students presented two musical items and a drama thus showcasing their artistic talents to the audience. At the auspicious time following the Buddhist rituals the foundation stone for the building was laid. It was a moment of joy and contentment for all present. The work of the building was thus officially started and we hope to complete it by March 2017.

We greatly value the support we received from MillenniumIT (Pvt) Ltd, who partnered with us to make this project a reality. And the hospitality, cooperation and the enormous encouragement we receive from the school and villagers kept us wanting to do better and better.

Bringing ‘Grama Prabodhaya’ this far was not an easy task. Travelling over 160 km back and forth to Monaragala periodically since the start of the project in August and successfully organizing the sub projects have been immensely time and effort consuming tasks for the project team. And there are many more milestones to cover before we can bring this project to the conclusion we envisioned. But we have promised these young sisters and brothers that we will help them pursuit their dreams and we will surely continue to do our part in it…