Sri Lanka bags a world prize

Dr Godakumbura wins his fourth international award:

'The World Challenge' is a global contest run by BBC, Newsweek and Shell.

At the award ceremony of this year's contest held in The Hague , Netherlands on December 1, a proud Sri Lankan walked on to the stage amid applause from an appreciative audience to receive the winner's cheque for US$ 20,000, a plaque and a bouquet. It was the culmination of a process that went on for six months since the closure of entries last May.

The picture shows Dr Godakumbura with BBC presenter Ms Zeinab Badawi and Malcolm Brinded of Shell.

A panel of judges shortlisted 12 projects out of around 1000 entries received from around the world. BBC sent a camera crew to those countries to film the projects and the films were shown on BBC World News. Thereafter the organizers changed the complexion of the contest; they internationalized it.

No selection committee was further involved in choosing the winner, and that task was entrusted to the global public who were asked to cast their votes online. They also tagged the country names to the projects giving them a national identity. So, the 'Safe Bottle Lamp Project' became 'A Bright Idea - Sri Lanka'.

It was great for little Sri Lanka to outvote the other 11 countries with much bigger populations. The project would have got considerable support from uncommitted persons as well, because even though all 12 projects were fabulous, 'safe bottle lamp project' is the only one aimed at preventing 'human suffering'. The film showed how a fire could be caused when an unsafe lamp tips over and some patients with scars.

Several media institutions had given a great deal of publicity to the contest explaining how to cast votes online. The Foreign Ministry requested Sri Lankan missions abroad to pass the message to Sri Lankans domiciled in those countries. Many individuals, besides casting their votes, sent e-mails to their friends stating how they could help to bring glory to Sri Lanka, resulting in some getting the message from several sources! Some foreign 'Injury Prevention' Associations too had requested their members to vote for the project.

All in all, it was a concerted effort by many that brought 'safe bottle lamp project', the coveted prize by beating countries like Indonesia (1st runner-up), USA (2nd runner-up), UK, Israel, India, Thailand and Afghanistan.

"We salute them. We also thank those who helped us during the past 17 years; if not for their assistance, there would not have been a project of this nature even to apply for this prestigious award!

According to 'Safe Bottle Lamp Foundation', the next major activity is to make 50,000 'Sudeepa' safe lamps with the prize money and give them out free to the needy in different parts of the country.

"After we became one of the 12 finalists, we got enquiries from NGOs in Africa, Bangladesh, and Indonesia about the project indicating that they would like to make lamps to our design. We would indeed be happy to allow that. Now that we are the winner, more such enquiries are likely because unsafe kerosene lamps are used in several developing countries."

The award ceremony was telecast on BBC World News last weekend. The Newsweek of December 21 will feature the award ceremony. More information on http://www.safebottlelamp.org/ www.safebottlelamp.org