Children are a nation’s true wealth and its future! As formal education system in Sri Lanka does not yet provide for early childhood education one of the topics of Adoptie Sri Lanka vzw is the construction of 21 preschools, 5 of them with full provision of working expenses: salaries teachers, uniforms, shoes, book cases, notebooks and other operating costs.
Hereunder you will find an (updated) article of our preschool in Vana Meekanda, written by the late Deshamanya Amaradasa Gunawardana, former president of Sri Lanka-Belgium Association, who passed away in 2020.
VANA MEEKANDA
The very first project handled by Sri Lanka-Belgium Association was the development of an abandoned, neglected poor hamlet in the administrative district of Gampaha. This hamlet situated on the top of a hill is called Andagala Kanda. This literarily means the hill of the shape of an eel. We developed a liking to the hamlet enveloped by thick jungle and started calling it Vana Meekanda, which means ‘the hill of bee honey’. It is about 65 kilometers away from Colombo on the Colombo – Kandy (A1) Road. The distance from the main road A1 to this hamlet is about 5 kilometers. The land is rocky and with hardly any arable land. We first visited this place in May 2000. The approach road was narrow, winding and rugged. Out of the 43 families only four families possessed a proper dwelling house. The others lived in huts and temporary structures. Unemployment was rampant. There was no school close by. Hence our first priority was housing and education.
The only encouraging factors we saw was the availability of a voluntary organization called ‘Sarvodaya Development Society’ and the availability of electricity over the hill in the hamlet.
Since this was crown-land we managed to get the necessary approval for the usage of the land. An estimate was prepared for the construction of a building to run a preschool for about 40-50 children. We also prepared a standard plan for a house with a capacity of about 700 square feet. Estimates were prepared to construct a preschool, 15 new houses, to improve 13 houses and to construct 28 toilets. These proposals with the relevant estimates were handed over to president Gaston Dillen and managing director John Van Dijck of Adoptie Sri Lanka vzw Belgium when we met them on 9th November 2000 in Mount Lavinia Hotel. The projects and the estimates were approved by Adoptie Sri Lanka vzw on 29th November 2000. There was a separate plan for a scholarship scheme for all school going children in the village, being 67 at that time. The estimate for this scholarship scheme was approved to be sponsored by Mr. John Van Dijck and his wife Line with their personal funds. Construction of the preschool commenced in February 2001. The building was ready by the end of the year and the preschool was declared (soft) open on 30th December 2001. The scholarship scheme commenced on 5th May 2001 with 20 students. Till 31/12/2024 we have supported 2.310 children from Vana Meekanda and adjoining villages under this scheme. We remember that we met late Mr. Gaston Dillen on 5th February 2001 to discuss the logistics and management of these projects.On 11th August 2002 the school was officially opened in presence of members of the boards of directors of SLBA and of Adoptie Sri Lanka vzw. The hamlet of Vana Meekanda did not have a person with educational qualification of G.C.E. Ordinary Levels. Therefore we had to employ a qualified lady from a neighbouring village as the teacher in charge. The students are supplied by the donors with uniforms, shoes, books and stationery. The midday meal was prepared by the organisation of the mothers of the children. Two drinking water schemes were funded by Mrs. Aline Michiels-Martens in May 2002 and February 2003 and another Belgian family sponsored a sanitary project for 28 families.
A shrine room was constructed along with the school building as a place of worship for the villagers, A sampling of the sacred Bo-tree in Anuradhapura was ceremoniously brought to the village and planted by the shrine room which is venerated by the villagers.
A library with a large number of books was established to get the villagers used to the habit of reading. The school going children in the villages made the best use of this library.
In September 2013 a Dental Health Camp was held in the school with the participation of 8 doctors and in October a General Health Camp toke place with 10 doctors, having examined and treated 100, resp. 300 patients. In January 2015 a new pair of spectacles was donated to 50 visually impaired people.
Since the opening till the end of 2024 hundreds of village children have been registered in Vana Meekanda preschool and enjoyed an excellent preparation for later studies, given by three motivated lady teachers. Helping underprivileged children to become worthy citizens will always inspire us!
THUNTHALAWA
This was our second village development project which is a counterpart of our Vana Meekanda Development Project. Thunthalawa is the name given by us to a non existing village. There was no village by this name in the list of villages in Sri Lanka. We got three isolated areas as in the midst of rubber plantation estates in a hilly area of Eheliyagoda about 60 km away from Colombo. This was the emergence of the village now called Thunthalawa. There were about 50 families living in these three settlements in this hilly locality. Basic amenities were almost nil.There was no school, no source of employment and no health facilities. When we of Sri Lanka-Belgium Association visited this village in 2006, there was no proper road to reach some houses.
Initially on 12th October 2006 we proposed several projects to Adoptie Sri Lanka vzw Belgium regarding the development of this settlement. That included the construction of a preschool, a scholarship scheme for children who attended schools away from their village, a drinking water project and a program to build a toilet for each house.
Adoptie Sri Lank vzw approved at first only two projects, namely the preschool and the drinking water project. The estimated cost of the preschool building and the fully equipped playground was Rs.1.838.000.The drinking water scheme claimed Rs. 275.000. The Rural Development Society (RDS) in Miyanakola Tenna is the caretaker village level organization of these two projects. Two preschool teachers selected from the village were given a training for four weeks spending Rs. 24.000. The preschool with 12 students was declared open on 14th October 2007. This preschool was named “Line Van Dijck preschool” because it was funded by Mr. & Mrs. Van Dijck, through Adoptie Sri Lanka vzw. Following the pattern in Vana Meekanda preschool these children were given uniforms, shoes, school bags, umbrellas, water bottles and all the books and stationery necessary. A midday meal is also provided. The drinking water project was declared open in August 2010. The cost was Rs. 243.568. The three sectors of the project are expected to supply pipe-borne drinking water to 50 families in this locality. The RDS has provided individual pipelines to most of the houses.
Adoptie Sri Lanka vzw made yet another donation to construct two new houses for two families in Thunthalawa . The fortunate recipients were selected by the RDS and approved by our association. The donation from Belgium was 4000 Euros which is equal to Rs. 660.000. This donation was made through Adoptie Sri Lank vzw by Madam Christine Nouts and Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Houthave. On their behalf the keys of the two new houses were handed over to the recipients by Mr. and Mrs. Van Dijck on 24th April 2013.
The last donation in 2013 to Thunthalawa was the inauguration of the scholarship scheme. The RDS selected 103 students attending 10 different schools from this locality. This scheme commenced on 24th June 2013. The donation made by Mr.John Van Dijck personally for this scheme for the first year was 1875 Euros, which is equal to Rs. 300.000. Meanwhile the programme supported already 1287 students from Thunthalawa and adjoining villages.
Since the opening in October 2007 till the end of 2024 hundreds of village children have been registered in Thunthalawa preschool and enjoyed an excellent preparation for later studies, given by the two lady teachers.
Helping underprivileged children to become worthy citizens will always inspire us!