SOS Children's Villages Sri Lanka

The SOS Children's Villages in Sri Lanka are looking forward for sponsors for funds and support to uplift the standards of education of the children. It is a well-established non-profit organisation which believes that every child belongs to the family and is committed in ensuring the well-being of children who have lost their parental care. Currently, the SOS is being supported by the European countries. However, with the economic development the World Bank has placed Sri Laka as one of the middle income countries in the world and the SOS Children's Villages are expected to be self-sufficient by 2023.

There are six SOS villages, in Piliyandala, Nuwara Eliya, Galle, Anuradhapura, Moneragala and Jaffna. They have been active in Sri Lanka for 35 years.

Obama creates world's largest marine reserve

US President Barack Obama has created the world's largest marine reserve. The Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument will now span 1.5million sq km, more than twice the size of Texas. Obama made the announcement on Friday. The new reserve quadruples in size a monument originally created by President George W Bush in 2006.

The White House says the expansion is helping to protect more than 7,000 species and improves an ecosystem affected by ocean acidification and warming. The largest sponge ever documented was reportedly found at a depth of 2.1 km in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. Greenpeace also hailed what it called a 'bold decision' that will ban commercial fishing and mineral extraction in the region.

Ceremony

Zahira College Colombo held its Founder's Day ceremony at the Gaffoor Hall recently, under the patronage of Principal Triizviy Marikkar. The Founder's Day speech was delivered by an old boy of Zahira College and Senior Professor of Medicine of the Sir John Kotelawala University, Vidyajyothi Prof. Rezvi Sheriff. He spoke on "A Journey through history of Muslims of Sri Lanka to Education Beyond the Digital Era." Zahira College was established on August 21, 1892 by late A.M. Wapichche Marikkar with the help of late M.C. Siddi Lebbe, I.L.M. Abdul Azeez and Ahamed Orabi Pasha. Awards were distributed to the winners of the Founder's Day contest for essay, oratory, poem, short story, art and short film competitions at the ceremony.

Text and pix: Ruzaik Farook