Present by – Senior Scout S. M. D. Venumi Kavinhara
Christophians Scout Troop
W. W. Kannangara Central College – Mathugama
On Behalf Of My President Scout Badge
Each and every scout has a dream to achieve the President Badge in their scout life. Therefore I wanted to do a project which can be very helpful for the community of my country. I did many social works as a scout and this is the most effective project I did ever on behalf of my President Scout Badge, present a fully equipped library to a remote school in Mathugama Zonal Educational area, WP/MT/ Galleniyakanda Primary School. I achieved my target successfully on 13th of August 2020.
I planned my project before two months of the targeted date. First of all I had to take permission from the necessary officials. After that the most difficult challenge for me was , how to produce money for the project. I thought of many ways and I started to make them practice with the help of those well -wishers. Here my father’s friends gave me their helping hands first. Half of the expenditures came from them. Then I wrote letters to The Divisional Secretariate Office – Mathugama, Sri Lanka Custom – Colombo, Sri Lanka Petrolium Co-operation – Colombo and many more, asking donations for this valuable project. All of them appreciated my project and gave their fullest support for my project.
Then I spoke with the principal of the regarding academy , WP/ MT Galleniyakanda Primary School Mr. K. L. Somasiri, who helped me with his whole capacity during my entire process and he promised me to allocate a place to accommodate the library. After that I commenced to establish the library step by step with the help of my other colleague scouts.
It was done by following steps…..
- Partitioned the place and painted it,
- Renovated the ceiling,
- Painted the cupboards , grills, reading tables and chairs,
- Repaired the locks and replaced the broken glasses of the old cupboards,
- Applied floor paint,
- Bought necessary equipments like table clothes, curtains, rugs, flower arrangements and a clock,
- Arranged curtains,
- Printed sayings and stickers to paste on the walls of the library,
- Bought a new newspaper stand, a new library cupboard and new library books which were essential for a new library , all worth about 160 000.00
- Put polythene covers to all books and sealed them,
- Printed Book Issuing Records and pasted them at the back page of the books,
- Donated weekly “MIHIRA” children’s newspaper for the library continuously,
Delighted with the success of the project; the Principal, teachers, parents and the children of the school arranged a small ceremony for the occasion of the opening of the library on 13th of August 2020. In the morning , I took the rally with the other scouts with the participation of my scout teachers Mrs. Asanka Thilakarathna and Miss. Navodya which was leading to the opening ceremony. Then we declared open the library with their honorable participation of Dr. Chamila Liyanage as the Chief Guest and Mr. Susantha Weerasinghe – the Principal of C. W. W. Kannangara Central College, followed by a small concert and a nice tea party. Everything was successful and now I think that I achieved my goal which can be a golden gift to widen the knowledge of the children.
Thank you very much Dr. Chamila Liyanage sir for your valuable participation as the Chief Guest and my school principal Mr. Susantha Weerasinghe, my scout teacher Mrs. Asanka Thilakarathne and Somasiri sir (the most special character in this story) to made my dream a reality. And thanks Wimalasiri Makalandawa sir, Navodya teacher and for the participation of the ceremony on behalf of my loving school C. W. W. Kannangara Central College – Mathugama.
Furthermore my special thanks go to my dearest parents and their classmates, members of “Nelum Kawaya” team at the Divisional Secretariat Office – Mathugama, my relations, neighbours and my collegues, those who helped and encouraged me to achieve such a wonderful target. And also my thanks go to Vijitha Yapa Book Shop, Bambalapitiya and M. D. Gunasena Book Shop, Colombo for giving their maximum discounts for newly bought books.
Again and again thank you very much for everyone….
Finally I would like to keep in your mind some world famous sayings about reading,
“A BOOK IS LIKE A GARDEN CARRIED IN THE POCKET” – Chinese Proverb –
“A BOOK IS A GIFT YOU CAN OPEN AGAIN AND AGAIN” – Garrisson Keillor –
“A CHILD WHO READS WILL BE AN ADULT WHO THINKS”
(Total expenditure – Rs. 180 000.00, Total man hours – 172 man hours)
Scout.org Link : https://www.scout.org/node/609869
