Mahavilachchiya - e-Village in the Jungle

Mr. Sugath Kithsiri, the Divisional Secretary of Mahavilachchiya and Mr. Kapila Abenayaka the O. I. C. of Mahavilachchiya Police Station

A group of patriotic Sri Lankans in Sydney, Australia donated 50 Flashlight Torches to Mahavilachchiya and Tantirimale to help enhance security of these villages. The distribution was done with the participation of Mr. Sugath Kithsiri, the Divisional Secretary of Mahavilachchiya, Mr. Kapila Abenayaka the O. I. C. of Mahavilachchiya Police Station, Lieutenant Colonel M. U. Munasinghe an army officer of North Central Province.  They handed over the torches to the personnel of Civil Security Force. Mr. Sugath Kithsiri coordinated the donation.

The late Minister of Highways & Road Development Mr Jeyaraj Fernandopulle visited Horizon Lanka, Mahavilachchiya in October, 2006. He was greatly impressed about Horizon Lanka’s mission on developing the village with the use of ICT and asked how best he could help Horizon Lanka. The staff, students and the parents requested him to repair the roads in and around Mahavilachchiya as it is the most needed requirement for the village. He immediately instructed local authorities to repair the road up to Horizon Lanka. He was in the process of repairing other roads in Mahavilachchiya, including repairing the road from Nochchiyagama via Suriyadamana to Mahavilachchiya since this could make easy access for Mahavilachchiya’s agricultural products to Nochchiyagama and Thambutthegama markets. Mr Fernandopulle was also willing to extend the carpeted road from Anuradhapura to Oyamaduwa up to Mahavilachchiya. We are not sure if the project would go forward with his untimely demise.

Krishanthi Priyadarshani describes how her dad started reading Tamil online newspapers after 30 years thanks to the mesh Internet in Mahavilachchiya.

from www.youtube.com

A dance for a traditional song by Horizon Lanka girls

This is a video done by Sirasa on Mahavilachchiya’s mesh Internet project.

Read this article on Mahavilachchiya in Sunday Times Today. Click Here to see the JPG Version. Click Here to see the PDF Version.

COMPUTER LITERACY AND ENGLISH EDUCATION

- Overcoming the Challenges

Nishantha Kamaladasa

CEO, Distance Learning Centre Ltd

Computer literacy and the English language skills are necessary to build a competent employee required by the corporate sector. However this competency is absent in many educated youth. This is in spite of increased government and parental spending.

Read the rest of this entry »

“My name is Tharanga Sampath. I am 17 years old. I am in Grade 12. I have tow sisters. There are Thanuja Sadamali and Uthpala kumudumali. They are studen’tMy father is a farmer. His name is Aberathna. He works hard. I help my father to do his cultivate. He likes to learn computer use but, he has no time for it. My mother is a housewife. Her name is Ganawathi. I teach computers to my mother and father. My favourite subjects are English, mathematics and science. My friends are Ruwan, Kasun, Priyankara and Nuwan.” Visit Tharanga Sampath’s blog and send comments to encourage him.

President Mr Mahinda Rajapaksha praised Mr Nandasiri Wanninayaka. He addressed teachers  at the handing over of appointment letters to Diploma Holders in Teaching to 2,599 new diplomates on June 04, 2007.

“Recollecting the ’success story’ of Mahavilachchiya Central College in Anuradhapura, (should be corrected as Horizon Lanka Academy  in Mahavilachchiya) and its teacher Nandasiri Wanninayake, the President urged the teaching fraternity to emulate the exemplary teacher who has performed wonders and revolutionised the lifestyle there in Information Technology and English. Read Full Story in Sinhala here.

Rohan Mathes http://www.dailynews.lk/2007/06/05/news11.asp

COLOMBO: President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday urged the teaching community to serve the poor and the less-privileged students in the remotest areas of the country and thereby protect the country’s ‘Free Education’ mechanism. Read the rest of this entry »

Sri Sumana Maha Vidyalaya - Matale and R/Damahana Maha Vidyalaya - Balangoda visited Mahavilachchiya yesterday and right now they are learning web designing, blogging and many other aspects of ICTs with the staff and the senior students of Horizon Lanka, Mahavilachchiya

Download Horizon Lanka’s newsletter for May 2007.

Download Page 2 of Horizon Lanka’s newsletter for May 2007.

Visit http://www.globalgiving.com/pr/1700/proj1657a.html to donate online

Project Needs and Beneficiaries

In rural Sri Lanka, most families rely on agricultural work, leaving them vulnerable to market fluctuations, natural disasters like the tsunami, and abject poverty. Students of Horizon work to gain marketable skills they can use to increase their college eligibility and capture off-shore employment. They are then able to earn more than was ever possible in their agricultural community, elevating not only their own financial prospects, but also those of the entire village. Read the rest of this entry »

Ranjith Pushpa Kumara ranjith@horizonlanka.org

Horizon Lanka Academy is the academic branch of Horizon Lanka Foundation, a non-profit earning organization dedicated to bridge the Digital Divide. We teach Information and Communication Technology and English as our key subjects. We also emphasize the role of sports in the character development of a child. Similarly, mathematics and Science has become difficult as there is a lack of resources in rural areas in Sri Lanka. Therefore, apart from English and ICT, we offer lessons in science and mathematics to the students in the secondary section. We need seven teachers to run the academy. However we now have only four teachers to run both the Horizon Lanka Academy and Horizon Lanka Pre-school. We also need about five coaching staff members for the sports section. But we have only two of them for only karate and rugby. Read the rest of this entry »