MOH office for Karaitivu opened

Minister of Housing Ferial Ismail Ashraff was the Chief Guest at a function held to mark the opening up of a MOH (health) office in Karaitivu on January 12, 2006. The Medical Officer of Health - Karaitivu, Dr. AL Farook, cut the ribbon while Minister Ashraff lighted the traditional oil lamp to ceremoniously declare the office open.

The facility was constructed at a cost of 23 million rupees for the purpose of immunising against diseases. The project took only one year to complete and was funded by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Rainer Frauenfeld, Country Director - United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), the Implementing Agent of this project, was also present.

During the meeting, Minister Ferial Ismail Ashraff emphasised peace and understanding among communities. She said that communities must learn to live peacefully with understanding among themselves even if at times politicians disturb peace in the area.

The meeting was also attended by the Divisional Secretary, Karaitivu , S. Ramakrishnan; Deputy Provincial Director of Health Services, ALM Nazeer; and the Pradeshiya Sabah (Local Authority) Chairman.

GAFSO Water & Sanitation awareness for schoolchildren

The Group Action for Social Order (GAFSO) NGO has conducted its first Water & Sanitation Awareness Programme for a group of schoolchildren at the Akkaraipattu Boys School on January 24, 2007.

Forty-eight children from four schools (Al-Ishrak Vidyalaya in Pottuvil, Govt. Tamil Mixed School in Munaikadu, Vinayagar Vidyalaya in Kolavil, and Govt. Boys School in Akkaraipattu) participated in the programme, which has as its aim the formation of "Child Brigades" among schoolchildren in district.

The programme was funded through UNICEF's Child-Friendly School project. GAFSO has already selected 35 schools with different ethnicities in Ampara District to conduct this programme, and hopes to conduct more in near future.

Kalmunai student award ceremony

Minister Ferial Ismail Ashraff was the Chief Guest at a function held for students who scored high marks and passed the 5th standard scholarship examination, G.C.E (O/L) and (A/L) examinations.The event was organised by the Kalmunai Development Management Council and held at the Mahmud Ladies College in Kalmunai on the 11th of January, 2007. The president of the Management Council, Dr. ALM Nazeer, Deputy Provincial Director of Health Service, presided over the meeting, and students were awarded with medals and cash prizes by the Minister.

Minister Ashraff provided a message to the graduating students, explaining how their journey will take them away from the learning of only books in schools and that they must be "respected very much in society for being good citizens". After the awards ceremony, she further congratulated the students and advised them to do well in their future examinations, enter university, and to become people of high quality and morality, never forgetting that you must always be a good human being.

East Media House launched

Internews Network has launched the East Media House at a function held in Ampara on January 20, 2007. The East Media House project is funded by USAID and is focused on developing free media in Ampara District.

USAIC/OTI Country Representative - Mike Desisti was present at this event, along with the Country Director - Matt Abud, and Residential Adviser - Andrea Dione Wenzel of Internews Network. Also in attendance were journalists, religious dignitaries, and prominent members of all three communities in Ampara District. Indeed, a highlight of the gathering was the cultural programme.

Internews network has set up two centres, one in Kalmunai and one in Ampara. These centres will provide training in radio, media, and technology in Tamil and Sinhalese to media personnel and others interested in working in this field.Above: Mike DeSisti - USAID/OTI Country Representative (left) and M.I.M. Shadath - East Media House (right)

Minister Ferial Ashraff lays foundation stone for tsunami affected school

Photo: Minister Ferial Ashraff (Centre); Zonal Director of Education, MT Nizam (2nd from left); Assistant Director of Education, Peer Mohamed (2nd from right), School Principal, Mohamed Fareed (far right); and others at the ceremony.

Minister of Housing & Construction, Mrs. Ferial Ismail Ashraff, laid the foundation stone for a new school building at a function in Al-Misbah Viddyalaya, Kalmunai, on January 11, 2007.

The school had most of its premises destroyed by the December 2004 tsunami. It began in 1954 with only 57 students, but has grown tremendously to its current attendance level of 1600 students.

The new building will have 48 classrooms including:

• language centre;
• computer centre;
• science lab;
• multimedia centre;
• and home economics room.

The project will be implemented by SOS Children's Villages of Sri Lanka and is funded by Kinderdorf International of Vienna, Austria. Costs are expected to be 130 million rupees and the building is to be completed in January 2008.Photo: Schoolgirls welcoming the Minister with a song.

Workshop on 'Quality Seed Paddy Production' [Daily News]

Daily News, 11 Jan 2007
by M.A. Phakurdeen - Addalaichenai group correspondent

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ADDALAICHENAI: In order to provide a comprehensive knowledge on seed paddy production to the farmers who produce seed paddy in the district, a workshop 'Quality Seed Paddy Production' was held at CASP's Computer Training Centre in Akkaraipattu recently.

The Workshop sponsored by 'CASP' (Canadian Agro Sustainability Partnership) was organized by Akkaraipattu Seed Paddy Producers. CASP's Project Co-Director Victor Petrescu, the chief guest at this programme, declared open the Workshop which was presided over by M.I.M. Nazeer, the officer in charge of the Malwatte Seed Certification Unit, Malwatte.

Asst. Director (Seed Paddy) H.M.J.K. Herath, Asst. Directors (Extensions) A.R.A. Latheef and M.S.A.Kalees were present here as resource personnel and delivered lectures on Producing Quality Seed Paddy, Usages of Straw as fertilizer in paddy fields, seed certification process, and paddy field inspection.

Problems confronted by the Seed Paddy Producers and the solutions were also discussed at the conclusion of the Workshop.

QUALITY SEED PADDY PRODUCTION: A one-day training programme for selected farmers on "Training for Quality Seed Paddy Production" sponsored by CASP (Canadian Agro Sustainability Partnership) was organized by Akkaraipattu Seed Paddy Producers Society members at CASP's Computer Training Centre recently. Here, CASP's Project Co-Director Victor Petrescu is lighting the traditional oil lamp to inaugurate the workshop. OIC Malwatte Seed Certification Service M.I.M. Nazeer and President of the Society N. Nadarajah were also present.

New Students for Ampara Nursing School

On the directive of His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapakse's Mahinda Chintana, 123 students (57 from Ampara District and 66 from Monaragala District) were recently admitted to the Ampara Nursing School to be trained as nurses.

A function, presided over by the principal of the Nursing School Wimala Surendra, was held at the Ampara General Hospital to mark the distribution of letters of admission to students and speeches were given by several important guests.
Shantha Premartne, the District Organiser of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party, was the Chief Guest at the function and, along with other special guests, handed over admission letters to the third batch new recruits. He thanked His Excellency the President for providing the opportunity of a nursing career to educated female youths from remote areas.

Other special guests included Wimalaweera Dissanayake, Former Member of Parliament and SLFP organiser; Sarath Desapriya, Mayor - Ampara Municipal Council; Dr. Thilake Jayasinghe, Medical Superintendent - Ampara General Hospital; Mrs. KDG Kumarasinghe, Senior Tutor; and B.P. Peramuna, Assistant Superintendent of Police.

"Serving as nurses in a hospital is a noble profession and should be performed with humanity and great care", Mr. Prematne said in his address to the recruits. He further stated that "a nurse should not look at patients with differences such as race, religion, caste, or creed, but with affection and humanity".

Project News Covered Externally

Happy New Year everyone!

The Rebuild Ampara team will be presenting lots more stories on our blog in 2007, but today we just wanted to point out some coverage we've been getting from external publications and broadcasts:

• Potato Cultivation Pilot Project covered by
  • Daily News English Daily (29Dec06)
  • SLRC Rupavahini National Television (24Dec06)
  • Thinakaran Tamil Daily (22Dec06)
  • Thinakkural Tamil Daily (14Dec06)
  • SLBC National Radio (10Dec06)
• Solid Waste Management Meeting at Kalmunai Municipal Council
  • SLRC Rupavahini National Television (23Dec06)
• Launching of Livelihood Development Plan at Ampara Town Hall
  • Daily News English Daily (21Dec06)

We'll be posting stories that have been published externally from time-to-time and the above are just a few that took place in the last month. As always, we welcome your articles and are happy to work with media and other organisations to ensure that these important stories are heard.