‘Re-awakening’ with De Lanerolles

By Pascal BADZIONG

“George Bernard Shaw said ‘Ceylon is the cradle of the human race because everybody there looks an original,’ Pradeep Jayawardena, Consul General, Sri Lankan Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany said as he started off the evening of May 13, with his speech. At the opening of the evening, he said, “Today we celebrate the De Lanerolle Brothers from Sri Lanka under the theme, ‘Re-awakening’.

He went on to explain that the purpose of the re-awakening programme is to show appreciation to the people of Neuwied and to give something back to them, especially ‘Freundeskries (circle of friends) Neuwied Matara’ who took great effort to support the people of Sri Lanka, to rebuild and recover after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

Jayawardena said, “Sri Lanka today is re-awakening from decades of conflict and centuries of foreign rule to take its rightful place in Asia and the World,” adding, “We once had one of the world’s greatest civilisations with highly developed irrigation, agriculture, arts and literature and we were a fountain of Buddhist learning.”

The concert took place at the Room of Diana in the Castle of Engers, under the theme Re-Awakeningorganised by the Re-Awakening Project from Sri Lanka in cooperation with the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Frankfurt.

Concert

The aim of the concert was to bring Sri Lankan culture closer to the people of Neuwied and to say Thank You to the people of Neuwied for the their assistance in the aftermath of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

This was where the classical singing duo from Sri Lanka, the DeLanerolle Brothers came in, as they were flown down from Sri Lanka on Srilankan Airlines. The duo with their tenor and base voices with their perfect harmonising were set to dazzle the audience. And they didn’t take long to get the attention of the audience with their charm and full sounding voices.

The duo were accompanied on the piano by Bernd Puschmann , while every single of the 20 songs they performed was appreciated as was evident with the roaring cheer and clapping from the audience.

As it was Mother’s Day, as a special interlay, the artists requested all mothers in the room to come on stage and a song was sung to them and while they were provided with gifts.

Tears of joy flowed down the cheeks of these mothers while the audience was sad when the evening came to a close even though the concert lasted two hours.

Among the guests were, the members of the “Freundeskreis Neuwied-Matara” Association as well as high ranking dignitaries, such as the Ambassador of the Maldives Alui Hussain Didi and Count and Countess Alexander and Gabriela of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. The event was supported by VR-Bank Neuwied-Linz and Member of the City Council Werner Johann Kessler. The program was followed by a question and answer session with Mrs. Shaan Jayawardena.

What is re- awakening?

As Sri Lanka emerges after decades of terrorism and launches into a new era of peace, re-awakening hopes to showcase the people of Sri Lanka, their unique and varied styles of art and culture to the rest of the world by organising a series of events.

Q;Why did you want to launch Re - Awakening?

A:I got up one morning feeling extremely home sick and I was wondering what I was really missing. I realised what I missed was the people, their vibrancy, their smile and their connection with one another.

I realised that Sri Lanka´s greatest asset is its people and I just wanted to do something to show off the people to the rest of the world. I wanted the rest of the world to know that we have a lot to offer and share our vision with them so that they understand us better.

Vision

I wanted to boast about my country and my people.

This is what made me initiate Re-Awakening

Q: Is Re-Awakening limited to a certain country for example Germany as it was launched there?

A: No, Re-Awakening is not limited to Germany.

The Re- Awakening team wants to showcase our people at their very best to the rest of the world. They want to make the rest of the world understand that we as a people have gone through a hard time in our fight against terrorism. They want them to know that we are reawakening into a new era, an era where we celebratefreedom, democracy and life without constant fear. In this new context we also need the friendship and understanding of those outside our borders.

Q:What are the future plans of Re - Awakening?

A: re-awakening has begun to have a life of its own.People are interested in and excited about the concept.Two companies have already approached us to promotethem in Germany and we are working out the details with them.

We are planning an event in December to showcase the varied talents of our children. This event will be produced by the De Lanerolle brothers who are our partners in Sri Lanka.

We have also initiated a project to train disabled people in the North and the East and partnered with people and companies, who will provide certified training in various fields, giving them six months on-the-job training and will arrange employment opportunities for them.

Many friends of Lanka in Germany have volunteered in assisting us in initiating this project as it has huge potential.

Q: Can the Re-Awakening concept play a positive role in promoting tourism?

A:Most definitely; Re-Awakening can play a very positive role in promoting tourism in Sri Lanka. The more people outside our borders understand the unique and varied styles of our art and our culture the more they will want to visit our country.

To be effective we believe we need to build partnerships between Srilankan Airlines, tour operators in Europe and people in the hospitality trade.

We need to be creative to be successful. We should for example educate and inform people in Europe about the unique events in our country like the “Pada Yatra” and build lucrative tour packages around these events. We are currently planning tour packages in partnership with Kumara Reisen and Srilankan Airlines. Regional Manager Kaushal Seneviratne is actively supporting the Re- awakening concept.

Sri Lanka has had a travel embargo for many years; we therefore have to work hard at reminding the people of Europe that Sri Lanka continues to be a “Paradise”. This is what the Re-awakening team hopes to accomplish.

If anyone is keen on contacting us they can contact us on [email protected]