Weekly meeting - Update on the Yorkshire School in Sri Lanka project.
Mon, Jun 13th 2016 at 7:15 pm - 9:15 pm
Club speaker Robert Jackson - update on the Yorkshire School in Sri Lanka project.
| The Rotary Club of Birstall Luddites
|
||||
| Club Speaker Robert Jackson
Update on the Yorkshire School in Sri Lankia - June 14th 2016 |
||||
|
||||
| Robert gave the Club an update on the Yorkshire School.
Robert has played an important role in the story of the school . In his year as District Governor of District 1040 - "I was DG in 2004/05 when on Boxing Day 2004 a Tsunami hit South East Asia. Contact with Sri Lanka by our District International Chairman Em Lloyd-Davis was made on that day, and within a month £20,000 was raised, rising to £200,000, the first District in Rotary GB&I to send aid. A group visited the island and saw the school Re Awakening Project which we accepted, our District raised the funds to pay for a new school- £250,000 within the year and the anniversary of the disaster" 40 Shelterboxes and Aquaboxes were sent to assist Tsunami survivors. The Foundation stone for the new school was laid on 5th Dec 2005 to rebuild the Kaluwanchikudy Saraswathy "Yorkshire School "in the Tamil area near Battiocaloa. Construction took almost two years to complete with 17 teachers and 400 students up to the age of 16 including a fully-equipped computer centre, library and sports facilities. In recognition of our efforts, each of the 20 classrooms are called after a Yorkshire town The School construction was completed in September 2007. The School was to be run and maintained by the SL Government. On 16 to 24th Nov 2015 Robert and Jill returned with a team of 12 from District 1040 to visit the School. They stayed initially in Colombo and visited The Rotary Club of Cinnamon Gardens meeting President Nanda Corea ( who was also President 10 years ago when the Tsunami hit) They went onto Kandy attending the Rotary Club of Kandy meeting.They then visited the KSV Yorkshire School taking our gifts and being welcomed by the staff and children.They met Rotarians from Kalmunai Rotary Club and our friends from Cinnamon Gardens Club.The tour took them around the island visiting Rotarians and finished back in Colombo entertained at the Sporting Club by the President and rotary club members after visiting the DG George Jesuthasan. The visit was organised by Rotarian PDG Em Lloyd-Davis and was self funded by all visiting Rotarians Robert talked of the visit to the school and reported on the state they found there. The school was built on three levels but only one was now in use.There were no doors or windows in the school it being too hot. A room full of computers was locked and not used. Three violins had been given to the school but they had disappeared.There were initially 300 pupils but this was now down to 150. The school hall floor was in a very poor state as were the classroom floors, the roof had holes in it (coconuts falling through the roof tiles) this had led to water getting into the building. The toilets were in a very poor state. Robert talked of their meeting with the headmaster and his needs. Robert explained that the school was built during the Tamil Tigers civil war and that the main contractor had changed half way through the build.The control of the build had been through the Government and not Rotary. So now a new fund of £10500 (LATEST NEWS AND PHOTOS OF SCHOOL PROBLEMS)was being planned in District 1040 to return to the school and bring the school back up to the full potential of the initial Yorkshire School. Robert was confident that the refurbishment improvements under the control of local RC of Kalmunai in conjunction with the Education Zone should be successful. LINKS Craven Herald |
||||
| Yorkshire Post | ||||
| Rotary Club of Cinnamon Gardens Facebook site
|
||||
| Link to our 1040 site " THE School opens"
|
Contact Robert Jackson about this page:
back to page above this...
Club Admin
back Club Admin.