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| Sunday, 23 January 2005 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Change donates computer centre A new era dawned to the lives of children in Madukanda, Vavuniya when Dialog GSM, the country's premier mobile phone provider, through its charity arm 'Change' recently donated a new computer training centre with new computers worth Rs. 250,000.
The centre was opened at the temple premises recently by representatives from Dialog GSM, Damrivi Foundation and security forces of the area. Ven. Kurundugoda Pannasara Thera, a courageous young Buddhist priest at Madukanda Dalada Viharaya, a year ago, has commenced computer classes for 10 students from nearby poor villages in a section of his bedroom. "Some people were sceptical about my work. But we did not have a proper place to conduct classes for these poor children. I had no option but to allocate my own room for the betterment of the children," Pannasara Thera said. "We have heard about a machine called 'computer' but never saw one till last month. We would like to learn the new technologies like computers, but had no facilities at all. It is hard to understand why we are being sidelined, asked 10-year-old Malka Sauri of Madukanda. She was among a small group of students who attends regular computer training classes that arebeing conducted by Ven. Pannasara Thera at Madukanda temple. Little Malka was among those children who wanted to study computers. "I was thrilled when I first saw a computer last month," she says. How can we think about computers when we live in bunkers? She asked. "We had no lives. No schooling, nothing to eat, no normal life at all. all at home get into a bunker which is at the back of our house, in the night. The school was destroyed by the war. Our villages were attacked on a regular basis. Our struggle was for lives, not for computers, she told reporters. But now things have changed. Schools have restarted. I was the first in my class at the last examination, Malka said with a smile on her face. "We cannot forget Dialog GSM and Damrivi foundation for opening a third eye for us through computer training," she said. Ven. Pannasara stressed that Buddhist monks have better ways and means in serving the poor masses, if they practised teaching of the Buddha. "The latest trend among Buddhist monks is becoming an MP to serve Sinhala Buddhist or rather humanity. I do not see any logic in this argument. We can serve the people better by being a true follower of the Buddha. I have no ambition on entering politics, even in my wildest dream," he said. |
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