Donors sought for students' scholarships:

Harmony Centre to bridge North and South

By Ranil Wijayapala

Kethusha, a grade five student of the primary section of Kilinochchi Central College would have experienced the most difficult period in her life as an infant along with her parents and four other elder children in her family when fighting erupted in Kilinochchi during the last phase of the humanitarian operation in the Wanni to free them from the clutches of brutal LTTE terrorism.

After going through the hardest period of life during the period of terrorism they were fortunate to restart their life in Kilinochchi a few years back as they were resettled in their village Vivekanandanagar.

The life they started in their village may have given them new hope as it was the first time in decades they were experiencing peaceful life in Kilinochchi. Therefore, like Kilinochchi town rising from the rubble as a new township, children like Kethusha have become the flowers blooming in that township.

A bright student in her school, Kethusha was among the 23 students in her school to qualify at the Year Five scholarship examination in 2013 securing 155 marks. Her performance enabled her to win a Harmony Scholarship awarded by the Harmony Centre set up by the Security Forces Headquarters at the centre of bustling Kilinochchi town, to create true harmony among the community in Kilinochchi with the rest of the country.

Kethusha had come there along with her father Jesumarian to register her name at the Harmony Centre, as she was among the 262 schoolchildren in Kilinochchi who qualified at the Year Five scholarship examination 2013. They will be awarded Harmony Scholarships soon.

There is no need to explain how important education is for the children in Kilinochchi, as they have been deprived of education enjoyed by children in the rest of the country, for decades. Therefore, every cent spent on their education now will have an impact on their life in the future.

A student receives a gift from an official

Kethusha with her father

Therefore, like Kethusha, many other students who had gone through vagaries in their life due to terrorism are awaiting sponsors from the south for their education to blossom like flowers adding beauty and strength to the terrorism ravaged area.

The Harmony Centre, is striving to use education as a bridge to link the community in Kilinochchi with the rest of the country through a foster parents system and to find foster parents for 35,415 students in Kilinochchi.

Philanthropists like Ricky Wijesinghe have come forward to sponsor Harmony Scholarships for the 262 schoolchildren in Kilinochchi who qualified at the Year Five scholarship examination 2013 in memory of his late father and mother, Justin and Ivlyn Silva and Kethusha was among the beneficiaries of that generous offer and will receive a monthly assistance of Rs.500 for her education through the Harmony Scholarship program.

Ricky Wijesinghe has spent Rs. 1,572,000 to sponsor the scholarship for the children and they are to be awarded the scholarships at ceremony on December 20 at the Harmony Centre.

However, if someone needs to sponsor the education of a student in Kilinochchi they do not need to spend lot of money. They can do it by spending just Rs.100 to Rs.2,000 monthly. They can sponsor a student after becoming a foster parent.

The Harmony Centre has enabled 2,470 students in Kilinochchi to pursue their education by offering scholarships to them. Nine hundred and five scholarships have been sponsored by Sri Lanka Army personnel giving true meaning to harmony.

The foster parent system has become a key factor for the harmony centre in Kilinochchi to achieve its basic target of creating harmony among communities in the country.

Commander, Security Forces Headquarters, Kilinochchi, Major General Udaya Perera said that they are trying to give some sort of conciliation to the children in Kilinochchi.

"I think Kilinochchi children have suffered more than the children of any other area due to terrorism and the 33,314 children going to school today in Kilinochchi got totally displaced and have been resettled now. Therefore, they need to have assistance to stand on their feet," he said.

As they were under the clutches of the LTTE and have not seen a southerner for a long period nor seen a good class room and have only seen roofless schools and dirty classrooms and dirty washrooms and toilets in their schools.

"Only now have they begun seeing these things. Through this scholarship project we want to give some conciliation to the children who have gone through agony.

We want to extend our hand to develop their skills and education," Major General Perera said.

"We feel that they deserve it and through this scholarship program we are trying to help them financially and by various other means to have a good education," he said.

He said a knowledge based society is important as far as security is concerned and this program will help create that environment in Kilinochchi.

"When you have a knowledge based society in any part of the world or in any part of the country security concerns are less, because when they are educated they will not take up arms and will not go to the extent of fighting with each other to resolve issues. Instead of violence they will resolve matters through discussions, dialogue and through the political mainstream," the Major General said.

This program not only helps them in education but also has also become a factor to win the hearts of the people in Kilinochchi as these innocent children go to the closest army camp when they need any kind of help for their education.

"We are trying to help these children who had suffered all this time by giving them a good education. We have told the children and their parents that whenever they have a problem to go to the closest Army camp and ask for help or any assistance. Now there are many children who go to army camps and talk to soldiers and ask for pens or pencils. We are ready to provide them as far as we can," he said.The battalions located in different parts of Kilinochchi identify the children who have problems in pursuing their education and register their names at the Harmony Centre to find foster parents to sponsor their education.

"Now they have got out of that brainwashed mentality about the security forces and come to us to get assistance to attend school. That is the concept. Therefore, the Harmony Centre is a concept where we want to strengthen the resilient nation through arts, culture, sports, languages and through many other projects. Education has become an effective tool to link the community in Kilinochchi with the other parts of the country and create true harmony between communities," Major General Perera said.

"Therefore, I request the people in the South to contribute towards this worthy cause by becoming a foster parent of a student in Kilinochchi and sponsoring their education by spending a small share of their monthly earnings for the benefit of children without parents, children with a single parent, children with financial difficulties and potential early school leavers due to financial difficulties," he said.

"We intend to help each and every student in their education and we invite people from the south to join us and link with the people in Kilinochchi through this program," the Major General said. Information regarding the program could be obtained from the Information Centre, Kilinochchi through email ([email protected] and [email protected]), through the Coordinating Officer, Education (telephone numbers 0773497188, 0273273085 and email address: [email protected]) and through the coordinating office ([email protected] and telephone number 0770402150), he said.