A Name for a Hall – A Dream for a Children
I first saw this building at Ellewewa Kanishta Vidyalaya, a school nestled in the Polonnaruwa Dimbulagala area. It’s the “Praboda Chaturangani Hall“.
Right in front of it stands a statue of C.W.W. Kannangara. Behind that, you see the hall. My curiosity got the better of me, and I asked “Sir, why is this hall named after her?” then the best answer came from Sir Hemantha himself.
“Who is Praboda?” he asked me and I was waiting to hear the answer also from him.
“She’s a student who won first place in the All-Island Reading Competition. This was a junior school, and when Praboda Chaturangani took first place in the Grade 6 reading competition, I named this hall after her and had her come back to the school for the ceremony.”
A couple of years later, another one of our students took second place in the All-Island competition. The green hall next to this one is named after him. He said something that day that stuck with me: “The day this hall was named after Praboda akka, I decided I had to have a hall at this school named after me too.”
That is incredible.
Elle Wewa School (SFP 22), located on the Dimbulagala-Mahiyangana road, is now a primary school. But back then, it was a Grades 1-9 junior school that produced All-Island first and second-place winners.
You don’t have to wait until you’re gone to have something named after you. Praboda was just a student when this hall was named after her, and that recognition kept pushing her forward, along with countless other students after her.
The next generation often follows in the footsteps of the previous one. But not every Mahindodaya science lab built in front of a school can become a Mahindodaya University. This is a lesson in practicality, and it’s a model that others should follow.
The man in the photo below is the one who made it happen—the principal. We’ve been working with this school for two years now. We changed our food program SFP 22 when the government started providing meals. We give the students lunch at 1:30 PM because they have after-school classes for their scholarships. They then continue studying until 4:30 PM. From this school, a student named Ushira scored 184 marks and qualified to attend Royal College.
Their approach is different always. Instead of just abandoning the collection of youth books the school had when it was a junior high, they opened up a community library.
It’s easy to work with people who think differently, even if you haven’t met them in person. I met the principal for the first time in two years, and I still haven’t met Nalaka or Roshini, who have taken care of the school. Thank you both for still looking after the school even without meeting us.
“By Dr. Kiloshini Hendawitharana: Pirunu Kusak Pirunu Hisak.
