Pen pal Corner

Name: Saumya Madushani Wijerathna

Age: 12

Gender: Female

School: A/Vidyadarsha Madya Maha Vidyalaya, Nochchiyagama

Hobbies: Reading books, playing football and netball: favourite sport-netball

Pen pals preferred from: Any country

Address: Palagama, Nochchiyagama, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.

*****

Name: Wasana Kumari

Gender: Female

School: Kg/Mw/Pinnawala Central College, Rambukkana.

Pen pals preferred from: Any country

Age group: 17-23

Address: 'Aruna Wasa', Kansalagamuwa, Rambukkana, Sri Lanka.

*****

Name: Dilini Tharangika Dissanayaka

Gender: Female

Hobbies: Collecting stamps and pictures of babies and natural beauty, reading translated novels, watching TV, listening to music, exploring.

Pen pals preferred from: Sri Lanka, Japan, India, Australia, England, USA

Age group: 16-20

Address: "Nilmini", Walagama (South), Dewalegama, Sri Lanka.

*****

Name: Reema Ameer Ali

Age: 11

Hobbies: Reading story books, watching tele-dramas

Pen pals preferred from: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, France, England

Age group: 11-16 (girls only)

Address: 95/12, Rodrigo Place, Mattakkuliya, Colombo 15, Sri Lanka.

*****

Name: Chamika Dilanthi

Gender: Female

Age: 12

School: A/Aliwanguwa Maha Vidyalaya

Hobbies: Reading books, playing volleyball

Pen pals preferred from: Sri Lanka

Address: No. 1376-B, Abayapura, Padhavi, Sripura.

*****

Name: Chathurika Gihani Dissanayake

Gender: Female

Age: 15

Hobbies: Writing poems, collecting pictures and stamps, reading books, listening to music

Pen pals preferred from: Any Asian country (girls only)

Address: No. 96, Beligas Road, Pitihuma, Kegalle, Sri Lanka.

*****

Name: D. G. Hiruni Kathyana

Gender: Female

Hobbies: Reading, drawing, writing poetry, chatting with friends

Pen pals preferred from: Australia, Japan, USA, Germany, Sri Lanka

Age group: 16-17

Address: Saman Hotel, Imaduwa Road, Ahangama, Sri Lanka.

*****

Name: Nethmi Nisansala Wijekoon

Gender: Female

Hobbies: Reading, playing computer games

Pen pals preferred from: Any country, especially Japan

Age group: 15 - 20 (boys only)

Address: No. 327, Near the Hospital, Radawana, Sri Lanka.

*****

Name: Nidusha Gimhani Bandara

Gender: Female

Age: 12

Pen pals preferred from: Australia, Japan, England

Address: 'Sanduni', Girambe, Nugathalawa, Welimada, Sri Lanka.

*****

Name: Chathushka Ayshane Colombage

Gender: Male

Age: 13

Hobbies: Collecting stamps, reading, playing computer games

Pen pals preferred from: Any country, especially Japan

Age group: 12-15

Address: No. 327, Near the Hospital, Radawana, Sri Lanka.

*****

Name: H. A. Madushika Priyadarshani

Gender: Female

Age: 16

School: B/Sri Maliyadewa Maha Vidyalaya

Hobbies: Playing volleyball, elle

Age group: 15-18

Pen pals preferred from: Any country

Address: Helakirinda, Higurugamuwa, Guruthalawa, Sri Lanka.

*****

Name: S. G. Herath Manike

Gender: Female

Age: 16

School: B/Sri Maliyadewa Maha Vidyalaya

Hobbies: Reading books, playing netball

Age group: 15-18

Pen pals preferred from: Any country

Address: Ampitikanda, Hingurugamuwa, Guruthalawa, Sri Lanka.

*****

Name: R. M. Udara Madusanka

Gender: Male

Age: 16

School: Bd/Nawela Welimada Vidyalaya

Hobbies: Reading books, playing badminton

Pen pals preferred from: Any country

Age group: 15-18

Address: Ulpatha Kumbura, Nawela, Mirahawattha, Sri Lanka.

*****

Name: T. M. Jeewantha Sisira Senarathna

Gender: Male

Age: 15

School: Binawela Welimada Vidyalaya

Hobbies: Playing badminton

Pen pals preferred from: Any country

Age group: 15-18

Address: Sooriyagastenna, Nawela, Mirahawattha, Sri Lanka.

*****

Name: L. R. M. Nandana Pradeep Kumara

Gender: Male

School: B/Nawela Welimada Vidyalaya

Hobbies: Reading books, watching TV, playing cricket

Pen pals preferred from: Any country

Age group: 15-18

Address: Sooriyagastenna, Nawela, Mirahawattha, Sri Lanka.

*****

Name: Samanmali Herath

Gender: Female

Age: 14

School: B/Nawela Welimada Vidyalaya

Hobbies: Playing netball

Pen pals preferred from: Any country

Age group: 14-15

Address: Pambawel Arawa, Amunumulla, Welimada, Sri Lanka.

Climate is thinning caribou herds

Chief Bill Erasmus of the Dene nation in northern Canada brought a stark warning about the climate crisis: The once abundant herds of caribou are dwindling, rivers are running lower and the ice is too thin to hunt on.

Erasmus raised his concerns in recent days on the sidelines of a UN climate conference, seeking to ensure that North America's indigenous peoples are not left out in the cold when it comes to any global warming negotiations.

Erasmus, the 54-year-old elected leader of 30,000 native Americans in Canada, and representatives of other indigenous peoples met with the UN's top climate official, Yvo de Boer, and lobbied national delegations to recognise them as an "expert group" that can participate in the talks like other non-government organisations.

"We bring our traditional knowledge to the table that other people don't have," he said.Nearly 11,000 national and environmental delegates from 190 countries were negotiating a treaty to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which regulates emissions of carbon dioxide that scientists blame for global warming. The protocol expires in 2012.

The alliance of native peoples include groups from the forests of Borneo to the depths of the Amazon.

De Boer said he advised the alliance to draw up a proposal and muster support among the national delegations to have their group approved by the countries involved in the talks.

"To give indigenous people and local communities a voice in these discussions is very important," said Kim Carstensen, the climate change director for WWF International.

Erasmus, from Yellow Knife in Canada's Northwest Territories about 300 miles (480 kilometres) south of the Arctic Circle, brings firsthand experience of climate change.

The caribou, or reindeer, herds are declining across North America and northern Europe, he said.

"We can't hunt because the ice is not frozen yet. Our hunters are falling through the ice, and lives are being lost," Erasmus told the Associated Press. This winter the normally dry area has been covered by thick, wet snow, further hampering hunting, he said.Petroleum extraction from the Canadian tar sands is draining the underground water table and reducing the flow of the rivers northward, and the effects are felt hundreds of miles away, he said.

He is concerned that warmer winters will mean less luxurious fur on the muskrat and beaver that his people sell.

Nearly 40 years ago, he said, tribal elders noticed changes in the annual migrations of animals. The weather, which they could forecast three weeks in advance from animal behaviour and the appearance of the sunsets, is now unpredictable.

Scientists have warned that conditions in the Arctic are a barometer of climate change. The region is warming faster than more temperate zones, and the seas are ice-free for longer periods. The melting of the permafrost threatens to release stored methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, UN scientists have reported.

- AP