Battles and conflicts between humans are common in the world and is nothing new, especially to us Sri Lankans who have witnessed such battles from ancient times. Even during the time of our ancient kings, many battles were fought as is recorded in our history books.

In modern times too we experienced such battles and the ethnic war is an example. It was a battle between a certain section of Tamils and the rest of the population. The LTTE terrorist waged war against the Government and the people. This battle lasted for nearly 30 years.

Long, long ago all Sri Lankans lived peacefully on this little island, but what has happened to them now? The country has spent a lot of time and money due to this unnecessary conflict.Many people who could help to make the country a beautiful place died because of this ethnic war.

The money which was kept to develop the country was spent on the war. Lots of innocent children too died and valuable places were destroyed.Today we are lucky to see the end of terrorism. Now there are no bomb explosions in our country. It is nice to see the Northern children holding pens and books instead of guns. They can sleep better now because there is no one to disturb them or recruit them as child soldiers. People in the North too could get back to their agricultural activities as we have won the war against terrorism.

They could now practise their religions and observe their cultural festivals and live peacefully with their family members. People can do their jobs without any fear.

It would be easy to develop the country now that we can promote education, agriculture, irrigation etc. in the country.So, as Sri Lankans it’s our duty to develop the country as much as we can and not destroy it.

Nasma Nasar, Grade 10-D, Sacred Heart Convent, Galle.

No life without trees

Trees are very important for the existence of human beings. Trees take in carbondioxide and give out oxygen which is essential for humans to survive. Plants also produce food for humans and animals.

The leaves of trees absorb water which evaporates into the atmosphere. When the evaporated water is condensed it falls back to the Earth as rain. In turn the rain water is absorbed by the roots of trees and again evaporated through the leaves to the atmosphere. That is why people say that trees make rain.

Trees are grown in a number of places. Some are grown in jungles like Singharaja. Others are grown in man-made gardens like Peradeniya Botanical Gardens. Certain trees are planted in home gardens. There is a popular tree planting campaign named “Ruk Rekaganna” initiated by Irangani Serasinghe, the famous actress.

People clear jungles for construction purposes and also cultivation. As a result, when the human population increases, the plant population decreases. This is a big problem to fauna and flora of the country.However, there are several programmes to protect trees. The Government has also set up a separate department called “Forest Conservation Department’ in order to protect these jungle resources. Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) too have introduced several programmes to conserve forests. But they alone can’t protect jungles unless they get the co-operation of other people.

Re-forestation programmes are organised by the “Forest Conservation Department” annually with the assistance of several organisations.

Now that we are aware that trees are a part and parcel of human life, it is our duty and responsibility to conserve trees for the benefit of the future generations.

Dileepa Tissera, Grade 7-B, Ecole Internationale, Kandy.

Sri Lanka, a tourist paradise

Sri Lanka is a very popular tourist paradise in the world. There are many interesting places in this country. Tourists come here for holidays and for sight seeing.Tourist attractions in our country include ruins, water falls, forests, botanical gardens and sandy beaches. Ruins represent our great old history, our heritage. They are testimony to the times of our ancient rulers the kings. Tourists who are interested in history, sculpture, and art visit these ruins.

There are also many colourful religious festivals in our country such as the Kandy Perahera which attracts many tourists. It is a spectacular event in our country with traditional dancers, drummers and many others including elephants parading the streets. The fire walking ceremony in Kataragama is also eye catching and tourists are fascinated by such religious events.

National parks also play role in the tourist industry. Yala, Wilpattu, Wasgamuwa and Kumana are some of the famous natural parks in our country. Yala is famous for deer, peacocks and elephants while Kumana is famous for birds. In Kumana one can see thousands of birds in their natural habitat. There are may indigenous and migrant birds in this park.Tourists especially, animal lovers never forget to visit these parks and also the elephant orphanage, Pinnawala.

There is also a very interesting place which shows the architectural feats of our great kings. It is the rock fortress Sigiriya.The coral gardens at Hikkaduwa are another feature that increases the natural beauty of our country and attract tourists.

We as Sri Lankans should try to protect and preserve our beautiful natural sites and cultural heritage to promote the tourist industry.

F. Waseefa Fawazdeen, Grade 8, Mukkramah International School.

Milk, a nutritious drink!Milk, a nutritious drink!

Milk is very nutritious and necessary for us. In fact it can be considered the perfect drink. It is good for everybody, especially growing children.

Infants survive only on mother’s milk. A glass of milk should never be missed by children because it contains lots of minerals and vitamins. It is also rich in calcium and helps to keep the bones strong. Elders and even the sick are advised to drink plenty of milk.

Milk is obtained from cows, goats and buffaloes. Camels also give milk. Milk is very essential for our good health.

Milk can be added to tea or coffee or we can drink it as pure milk by adding sugar.

It is also available in powdered form. Butter, cheese, curd and yoghurt are made with milk.

Pure milk leads to a healthy, strong life. So if you have never tasted pure milk, try tasting it now!

Sadishla Nethmi, Grade 7, St. Lawrence’s Convent, Wellawatta.

Benefits of internet for children

The internet is where most people turn to obtain all kinds of information in just a few seconds. The internet connects thousands of computers all over the world through a wide network.

The internet like any other modern invention has positive and negative effects on society.

There are many positive things for children to get from the internet. On the educational side we get a great boost from the internet because we can obtain valuable information. For example, if we want to search for the ‘solar system’ by the click of the mouse we’ll get all the information we need about it.

There are online video tubes too where we can listen and watch them. They are in various categories such as geography, language, science and nature. There are online questionnaires as well and we can answer them and brush up our knowledge.

As entertainment, we can play fun games, puzzle games and skill games and we can also browse brain teasers and riddles.

But, there are negative effects as well, especially for children. There are many unsuitable websides in the internet for children.

So, dear friends, we must avoid the negative effects and use the internet only for our educational purposes.

Umesha Piyarathna, Grade 7, Ecole International, Digana.