SFP 126 – Sinha Pura College, Mullaitivu
A message arrived yesterday: “Sinha Pura College won third place in the All-Island Music Competition for the Eastern Province.”
Where is Sinha Pura? I thought it was near Padavi Sri Pura, or at least somewhere in the Mullaitivu district, but I hadn’t truly looked into its exact location. There wasn’t a strong reason to. But when Sumudu asked me where Sinha Pura was yesterday, we went back to figure it out.
It turns out that Sinha Pura 11/12/13, these schools are all located in Mullaitivu, close to the Kokkilai Lagoon.
Our involvement began when the principal of Sinha Pura College requested our help to provide meals for the children. This was at a time when the government wasn’t providing food. Responding to his plea, we started giving meals to all the students from Grade 1 to 6. Later, after the government began providing meals again in an organised manner, we shifted our support to the students from Grade 6 to 11.
This whole operation is run by people like Kasun. I didn’t know Kasun personally; it was Kapila who introduced us. Kasun and his charity, ‘Aus we fight hunger’ by Dharmaraja College OBU Australia, have been working with us to provide meals to this school for over a year now. This is one of the three largest schools we work with.
The principal of this school is one of the most dedicated principals I have ever met. He is always the first to reply whenever I send him a message. After some time, he made another request.
“In our school, everyone only does Art as an aesthetic subject. It’s not because everyone loves art; it’s because we don’t have a dance teacher or a music teacher. I want these children to have the chance to explore another aesthetic subject.”
“What can we do?” I asked him.
“I decided to bring in someone from the village who knows music to teach the children as a volunteer teacher. Could you, Doctor, help us by providing a small salary as a token of appreciation?”
My friend from school, Achala Wannigama, helped us with this project. She agreed to cover the expenses for the music teacher.
Yesterday, the music teacher sent a small message to our group. They had won third place in the All-Island Music Competition for the Eastern Province. Should we be happy?
Yes, absolutely! We should be ecstatic. Children who only ever knew that art was the only aesthetic subject they could study are now learning music. Saying a child doesn’t need aesthetics to grow is like adding more chilli to a dish without any flavour. Aesthetic subjects are essential for a child’s creative development.
Many people may not agree with me on this, but cutting aesthetic subjects from the school curriculum is like systematically killing all the soft skills a child has.
We were able to play a small part in this achievement. We are currently enjoying this moment of happiness and invite all of you to join us in congratulating them on this small victory. This is a perfect example of what can be achieved when a full stomach meets a full mind.
What are we at Pirunu Kusak Pirunu Hisak doing now? We are still working in a small way at schools like this, tucked away in forgotten corners, to help the children there. You may not be able to see the food being provided, but we are working to build a generation of children who learn as they eat.
Thank You
1. To Kasun and the ‘Aus we fight hunger’ team from the Dharmaraja College OBU Australia, who have been feeding and looking after these children for over a year, since May 4, 2023.
2. To Achala Wannigama, for setting aside a small amount of money for the music teacher.
3. To the music teacher, for coming forward to teach these children without expecting any payment.
4. To the principal of Sinha Pura College, for fighting so hard to preserve aesthetic education for his students.
“Pirunu Kusak Pirunu Hisak” – A Full Stomach, A Full Mind.
