[Winner]

My mother

My mother is the most beautiful and caring person in my life. She loves me very much and is an ideal mother. I love her too. She taught me the importance of discipline, good manners and to understand the rules and responsibilities towards the family, society and the country.

Every morning she calls out to me softly and wakes me up. In the night she tells us lovely stories to make us sleep and have beautiful dreams. When I grew up, she taught me how to read and write. Even now she helps me in my studies.

In every moment of my life, I depend on my mother’s help and guidance. Her blessings are always with me. Nothing in this world can compare with the true love and care of my mother.

Shimarque Faris,
Grade 5,
Royal English School, Matale.

[Winner]

My hero

My national hero is Mahatma Gandhi. He was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandur, Gujarat. He was a national leader of India and was from the Vaishya caste of the Hindus. He married Kasturba in 1882.

His love for India was genuine. He fought for India’s independence from the British. He organised civil disobedience movements and campaigned for this purpose. As a result he was sentenced to imprisonment several times but that strengthened his determination to free his country from the British. He became the leader of the Indian National Movement. He fought for India’s freedom through non-violent movements. Finally the British decided to leave India forever.

Mahatma Gandhi was an educated person who studied Law in England. He also went to South Africa to fight for the rights of Indians there. Many campaigns for the rights of the Indians were led by him. Mahatma Gandhi was a genuine, intelligent, patriotic, courageous, learned and dedicated leader. He lived a simple life and spent a good deal of time on meditation which gave him immense strength.

Mahatma Gandhi died many years ago but he is still remembered, honoured and respected by vast millions of people in the world. He is regarded as the ‘Father of the Indian Nation’. His simple lifestyle has created a great impression on me and the people throughout the world to this day are also impressed by his achievements.

B. Abilashini,
Grade 10,
Royal International School,
Kegalle.

The Computer

The invention of the computer changed the world. Charles Babbage invented the computer. It has many operation systems.

They are Windowsxp, Windows 7 and Ubuntu. Operating system is a system software. The computer has two types of memories. They are the primary memory and the secondary memory.

Sadusha Dewthilina,
Grade 7E,
Wesley College,
Colombo.

[Winner]

A visit to the forest

We went to my mother’s village during the last vacation. It was a beautiful village. There was a large forest in the village. Villagers called it Dik Kale. We visited this forest with my uncle.

There were huge trees such as jak, teak, mahogany and lunumidella. We saw various kinds of fruits such as mangoes, rose apples, woodapples, olives (veralu in Sinhala), gauva and tamarind. We tasted mangoes and gauvas from the forest. There were many valuable herbal plants too. We saw beautiful flowers such as orchids and anthuriums in the forest.

Animals such as deer, monkeys, porcupines, hare, jungle fowl, fox and giant squirrels were also there. We saw birds such as parrots, eagles and mynahs. In the middle of the forest there was a lake with aquatic plants. Many animals come to drink water from the lake. Village women collect firewood from the forest.

We enjoyed the visit to the forest. I learnt about many varieties of plants and animals and I will never forget this vacation.

K.B.Thimeth Sathmika,
Grade 7A,
Royal International School,
Kegalle.

[Winner]

My garden

We live in the Tea Research Institute quarters in Deniyaya. We have a small garden at the rear end of our quarters. We have vegetables such as pumpkin, beans, green chillies, brinjals. Fruits such as rambuttan, star fruit (Kamaranka), mango, cashew, Gauva, soursop, Orange, avocado and, papaw are some of the fruits in my garden.

There are also medicinal plants such as, ginger, turmeric, hathavariya, polpala and cardamoms. We water the plants and add compost fertilizer to all the garden crops. My mother always says that these fresh vegetables and fruits are good for our health.

Rasula Geesara Ratnayake,
Grade 3A,
Deniyaya Central College,
Deniyaya.

My best friend

My best friend is Shahani. She is 14 years old. She is fair,thin and she has straight hair.Her father is a project director and her mother is a teacher. She has one elder sister.She loves western music. She has beautiful voice and she is very studious.

She participates in oratory competitions at school. Shahani plays the melodica for the school band team. She likes to sing and dance. Shahani has a pet and she can run fast. She is helpful. She likes to become a teacher one day. She has good qualities. She always accompanies me in my sorrows and happiness. I think that I am lucky to have a friend like Shahani. I wish her a bright future.

Sahasra Weerasinghe,
Grade 9,
Vihara Maha Devi B.V.,
Badulla.

Discovery of the malaria parasite

Malaria is a dangerous disease. It is common in the tropical and sub-tropical areas. It is caused by protozoa. The bacteria is carried by a female Anopheles mosquito.The symptoms of malaria are headache, muscular pain and nausea. When recovered the victim perspires a lot and and the body temperature comes to normal.The malaria parasite was discovered by Sir Ronald Ross.

He was a British Indian physician. He also discovered how to combat this disease.Though Anopheles was known, yet nobody knew that it transmitted malaria infection. After labouring for about two years, he found the parasite in the stomach of a mosquito that fed on the blood of a malaria patient.Ross proved his discovery and the scientists confirmed it soon. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1902.

Amaani Mumtaz,
Grade 5B,
Darul Uloom Academy,
Colombo.

My class teacher

My class teacher is Y.Thavsini. She is kind and helpful. She is from Jaffna. Thavsini is our English teacher. She comes to school on a bicycle. I like her very much.

D.Majuvika,
Grade 6,
V/Nedunkerni M.V,
Nedunkerni.

They are my heroes

Life is sometimes filled with blunders, envy and ecstasy. In everyone’s life there are people who guide them.Since I was born they nourished me. They taught me the correct path. They taught me discipline. I have no words to express about them.

When I am in anger they embrace me. When I am lost they guide me and enlighten me. They are none other than my mother and father. I love them a lot. There is no limit to pay homage to our parents. They are precious.

Darsha Kumari,
Grade 9,
Nugagolla Maha Vidyalaya.