I enjoy horse riding

Winner

Horse riding is my favourite sport . I like horse riding not only because it is fun and exciting, but also because I can build a relationship between the horse I am riding and myself.

I go for riding classes every vacation. I ride a pony called Enjoy which is brown with a black mane and tail.

Let me tell you how my love for horses started. Last year I went for a holiday at the Victoria Golf Course in Digana. That day we went to the stables and had a riding class. I rode a nine-year-old honey-brown pony called Poppy.

Poppy was just lovely to ride on. She was swift and also quite obedient. Did you know that a hinny is the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey?

If you ever consider horse riding remember that there is more to it than just having fun. It's about a relationship and making one more friend in the circle of life.

Naomi de Soysa,
Grade 5-L Ladies College,
Colombo.

 My favourite film

Winner

My favourite film is Gamperaliya directed by Lester James Peiris. It is based on the novel written by Martin Wickramasinghe. The theme of this film is how the changes of time affects society. There are various interesting characters, such as Muhundiram, Mathara Hamine, Itamine, Nanda, Anula, Piyal, Tissa, Kattirina and Jamis.

Muhundiram is a very strong man. But, he dies before the film comes to an end. Nanda is a very kind person. She eventually marries Piyal who becomes a rich man towards the end of the film. He helps to ensure the well- being of Mathara Hamine's family. The film has no songs like in most other films. It is a great film suitable for our society today. The various actors and actresses play their roles very well. The theme music gives a lot of meaning to the film.

Thilini Shanika Jayakody,
Grade 9A, Ku/Rambadagalla
Central College, Ridigama.

Stop child labour!

Winner

The employment of child workers is causing great concern to people who look into the welfare of children. It is a common occurrence in many parts of the world, especially in Third World countries including Sri Lanka.

Child workers are employed to do odd jobs such as washing of utensils, clothes, cleaning toilets, running errands, looking after other small children and carrying heavy loads, especially in shops and marketplaces. They are compelled to work due to poverty, parental death, illness or unemployment. Some have run away from homes due to ill-treatment and other reasons and are forced to work for a living.

Child workers face many problems like accidental deaths, acts of child cruelty such as burning, beating and starving and also other forms of abuse.

The Human Rights Organisation takes great interest in child labour and child cruelty. Anyone who is aware of such things should inform the police promptly. They will protect the child's rights and ensure that proper punishment is meted out by the law-enforcing authorities to the offenders.

In Sri Lanka there are also voluntary organisations that help children who are in this sort of situation. They provide them with a home, food, education and medical care.

Child labour can be stopped if those who are affluent will come forward to look after children who are poverty stricken.

Sri Lanka has ratified the United Nation's Conventions on Child Rights, which is committed to safeguard the fundamental rights of children. The state and many voluntary organisations are doing their best to stop child labour. If everyone cooperates and does their part to stop child labour, much can be achieved.

K. Abilashini,
Grade 10V,
Bt/ Vincent Girls' High School,
Batticaloa.

Role of women in Sri Lanka

Winner

With the advancement of technology women have an important role to play in society. They now have higher aspirations and targets. When achieving these targets, they have to face a lot of problems.

The main problem is masculine supremacy, even though women have now been given equal rights. In today's society they have to go out to work, because otherwise they cannot make both ends meet. A family needs a dual source of income because of the escalating cost of living. A woman has to work very hard. Apart from doing a job she also has to do household chores. She's a life giver, a home manager and also an office worker. She also has the responsibility of ensuring physical and mental development of her children. She has to give love, kindness and affection to her children and husband.

Nowadays, most women in Asian countries go to Middle Easte countries for employment, expecting a good income. But do they all get good jobs with high salaries? No! Most of them earn a meager salary for extremely hard work. In the meantime their family members here, unable to cope with the work at home, get into various problems; the husband gets himself addicted to liquor or drugs and the children too go astray because there is no proper guidance, advice or management.By the time the breadwinner returns home, there are a lot of family problems to sort and at times there's no family as such even left.A woman is not merely a living being who gives birth to children., She is a person who should be honoured and respected not only by one's family but also by the entire society.

Savinda de Silva,
Grade 9, Sussex College, Kurunegala.

Vesak festival

The Vesak festival is celebrated by Buddhists. It is held in May every year. It commemorates three main events in the life of Buddha. They are the birth of Prince Siddhartha, His Enlightenment and Parinibbana.

On Vesak Day most Buddhists observe sil and listen to sermons preached by the bhikkus..

As Buddhists we decorate our houses with colourful lanterns, buckets lights and lamps. We can see many pandals and beautiful lanterns in the streets and houses everywhere. There are also Vesak lantern competitions held by various religious organisations and State and private companies. Dansalas are also held on this day. There are rice dansals, ice cream dansalas and many more. Vesak Day is a very important day for Buddhists, all over the world.

Vinudhi Jinara Amarasinghe,
Viduru College.

Why an encyclopedia is important

Winner

Encyclopedias are very important because they provide a lot of details under many topics in one book. There are also answers for hundreds of fascinating questions on every subject, such as world history, technology inventions, workings of our planet and the human body.It is convenient to have an encyclopedia because all the details can be found in one book and we don't need to struggle to find separate books to find information on different subjects. It is mostly important for students, because they can use it to find information for a project or course work.

I also have an encyclopedia. It has over 400 pages. In my encyclopedia there are four main topics and under that there are sub topics. The title of my encyclopedia is 'Tell Me Everything'. I learned many things, about the Animal Kingdom, Planet Kingdom, Earth, our body, history and many more topics from my encyclopedia.

It was interesting to read an encyclopedia. I hope from today you will also experience the wonder of it.

W. Don P. Fernando,
Form 1 Primrose,
Adventist International School.