The
wonders of E-mail
Winner:
E-mail means Electronic-mail. It is the fastest mode of communication
in existence. It involves the use of the computer with internet
facility. In a computer with
this
facility the letter one wants to send to any place in the world is keyed
in and then at the press of a button or by clicking on 'send' with the
mouse, the letter reaches the mail box in the computer of the person to
whom the letter has been addressed to. Sending letters to people has
come a very long way from the time that man first learnt to write.
The earlier known communication through letters had messengers
running long distances with the letters. There were messengers on horse
back. Animals were also used for the purpose which included pigeons,
falcons and even dogs. Once the wheel was invented the post moved on
much faster on wheels.
The postal system became more organised and gathered more speed with
the invention of the aeroplane. To those who are able to avail
themselves of the E-mail service today, the postal system using even the
fastest of planes appears out-dated and primitive.
One wonders whether there could possibly be anything faster than the
E-mail service. It is hard to imagine anything that can be faster than
the wonderful E-mail service which we simply cannot do without today.
Praveenya de Silva,
Grade 8,Good Shepherd Convent,
Panadura.
Let's make this world a better place
Winner:

To make this world a better place we all should have a strong bond
among one another. A community begins from a small unit called the
family. So we should all have a tight bond between family members. A
tight bond means if one member of the family faces any difficulty, the
other members of the family should rally round to encourage him to face
this difficulty or the challenge, successfully. Family bonds can be
developed by working cooperatively, caring for each other and sharing.
So the foundation to make this world a better place begins from the
family.
Thereafter, the school plays a major role in a person's life. In a
school, a child learns how to associate with people who are around him,
her and also to face society which consists of people who are totally
different from his family. He gets a good education while improving his
good habits and qualities at school. Later he goes out into the
community, as an educated person, as well as a well disciplined person.
Then he starts to do social services in the community or the country
and is admired and respected by the world. If every individual follows
this policy, automatically a community would develop. Ultimately this
world will become a better place with more educated, disciplined and
cultured people who are committed to serving humanity.
S. Sindu Shamini,
Graded 10, R/Rathnaloka Maha Vidyalaya.
The value of
respecting
Winner:
The land where we live in is similar to the starry sky. As stars add
beauty to the sky, people living in this land too add beauty and meaning
to everything. As every star has its uniqueness people too are unique
and special in many ways. Not all the stars in the sky look the same,
they have many differences. People too are different from each other in
many ways.
This difference in people can cause various problems as we cannot
change the way people feel. However, to put an end to this, we have to
learn to respect each other. What we all want is a chance to be
ourselves, make decisions and be treated in a polite, decent way or in
other words to be treated with respect. To make this possible we have to
treat people the way we like them to treat us. We should always value
others' opinions and be sensitive to their feelings. Then this world
would become a nicer place to live in.
It doesn't matter what culture, race and social background we belong
to, to treat others with respect. Living with different people can make
our lives a lot more interesting, but only if we get along with each
other.
Mistakes do happen because no human being is perfect. But we have to
learn from our mistakes and move forward. Respectful people value
others, build up others and help other people to value themselves.
Keeping in mind the famous saying "It's not about what you've got,
it's what you make of what you've got," we should accept individual
differences and build up what we have got.
As stars add beauty to the sky, we all should add beauty and meaning
to our society and let others shine and glow by respecting them. This
will make us shine, and also make this world a better place for you, the
entire human race and me.
Thehani Perera,
Grade 10,
St. Lawrence's Convent,Colombo 6.
Our annual prize giving
Our annual prize giving was held recently in the college auditorium.
Mrs. Padmini Wijesinghe was the chief guest. A large number of children
who performed well in different fields received prizes as well as
certificates. The principal of our school Mrs. M.M.M. Abeyratne,
organised the annual prize giving after 24 years. The teachers, parents
and well wishers helped a lot in making it a success. We are eagerly
awaiting for the next prize giving.
Thisari Imesha Kannangara,
Grade 7E,
St. Mary's College,Matugama.
Weheragala
reservoir, a giant project
Winner:
The Weheragala reservoir was made by building a dam across the Menik
river, the fourteenth longest river in our country. The Menik river
begins from the range of Namunukula-Passara mountains in the district of
Moneragala, (Province of Uva). Its length is about one hundred and
twelve kilometres.It flows down and meets with the blue ocean at Kirinda.
About two hundred and seventy nine million cubic meters of water flows
into the sea without being used for anything.

In the rainy season, Kataragama and Sellakataragama are flooded by
the Menik river. But in the dry season, there isn't a single drop of
water to be found in Kataragama, Sellakataragama, Lunugamvehera and
Thanamalvila. In 1978 the Lunugamvehera project was launched to provide
water to the above places, by building up a dam across Kirindi Oya. But
that was not very successful. Then the government started a project
called Gal Amuna. But that too was not fruitful.As a solution to the
water problem, the Weheragala project was started. Now as a result of
this project, Kataragama, Sellakataragama Lunugamvehera and
Thissamaharama will have water throughout the year. What's more
Kataragama and Sellakataragama will not be flooded. Thirty thousand
acres of paddy lands too can be cultivated. It would supply water to
another twenty five reservoirs and farmers would be able to cultivate
during both Yala and Maha seasons.
Another ambition of this project is to supply more water to the Yala
and Lunugamvehera national parks. This would prevent wild elephants from
coming to villages in search of water and attacking villagers. Of
course, they have water in their parks even now, but it's not
sufficient.
The new reservoir got its name because it was built up at the place
called Weheragala situated in the middle of Yala National Park. The dam
is about two kilomtres long and 20 metres high. The width is about 18
metres. There are six iron sluice gates to release the water when
necessary. There is a canal about 23 kilometres long to send water from
the reservoir to the Lunugamvehera project. All these construction work
was done by local engineers.
The giant project was launched by President Mahinda Rajapaksa with
the laying of the foundation stone on June 5, 2005. The great reservoir
project was completed in four years and commissioned on July 11 2009, by
President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Uvini Uththama Edirsinghe,
Grade 7A,
Devi Balika Vidyalaya,
Colombo 8.
Your poems
His voice
Winner:
The dearest voice
I understood,
Stood apart from the rest
It was full of love, with...
A touch of confidence,
A drop of comfort,
A trace of promise,
A little amusement.
Strength and affection,
above all
He's everything to me,
and more
My darling appachchi !
K. B. B. M. Ashani Indrachapa Basnayake,
Grade 9,
Vihara Maha Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Kiribathgoda.
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