‘Connect Club’, a charity of former students of St. Benedict’s College in Colombo

The group, made up of former students of the La Salle institute, does not aim to finance large projects, but to create signs of solidarity: care for the elderly, sports equipment for a school, fresh paint for another, school kits.  "Serving the needy beyond caste, race, religion, or ethnicity, there are innumerable ways to serve the Most High God."

Colombo (AsiaNews) - The Uturaawela Dharmarajah Kanista Maha Vidyalaya school, located in Welipennagahamulla, in the northwestern region of Wayamba, recently received a donation of 84 thousand rupees (about 485 euros) to give a fresh coat of paint to the classrooms and the school facade (see photo), founded in 1964. The Buddhist junior high school, has only two Catholics among the 100 students.

The donors are a group called "Connect Club", made up of alumni of the College St Benedict's of Colombo, run by the brothers of La Salle.  The Club was founded in 2017 with the motto "Where lives meet".  It does not claim to finance large projects, but to foster signs of solidarity.

In February 2018 the Connect Club organized a visit to the Maradana Home for the Elderly, Colombo 10, held by the Little Sisters of the Poor, taking care of the elderly present there and cleaning the building.

In April of the same year, they donated sports equipment to the students of the Nanattan Maha Vidyalayam school in the north of the country.

Last November, they visited a peripheral school, the Rookathenna Tamil Vidayalam, located in Hali-Ela, in the south, in the tea cultivation area.  To motivate students to study more, they donated books, pens, pencils, bottles of water, colors.

Francis Solomantine, coordinator of the Connect Club, explains to AsiaNews: "Our group is a secular and non-political entity, whose purpose is to serve people and their families with support in the welfare state.  At the same time, we are spreading solidarity to improve the situation of some particular groups, in the ethnic and cultural diversity of Sri Lanka.  We especially care about children, young and old who are isolated and excluded from society, deprived of opportunities to improve their abilities and develop their talents”.

The members of the Connect Club, he adds, "believe in the harmony of the spiritual message of the sacred books.  Serving the needy beyond caste, race, religion, or ethnicity, there are innumerable ways to serve the Most High God."