Connect Club donates playground for Christmas to underprivileged children in Nuwera-Eliya
The St Paul the Hermit pre-school, run by Franciscan nuns, is the beneficiary of the gift. The Club is made up of alumni from St Benedict's College in Colombo. For the Club’s secretary, “The determination to serve the little ones is a reflection of the importance and attention that Jesus Christ gave to children throughout his life”.
Colombo (AsiaNews) – On the occasion of Christmas, the children of the St Paul the Hermit pre-school in Nuwera-Eliya, a district in the Central Province, received a special present, a completely new playground, from the Connect Club, a group of alumni from the St Benedict's College in Colombo, which is run by the De La Salle Brothers.
“Christmas means sharing and helping above all those in need," the group told AsiaNews. “This is a Christmas present for them,” said Club president Jesu Niranjan Joseph.
In his view, “The construction of a playground will certainly contribute to the children’s physical development and expand their recreational activities, improving their talents, creativity and team spirit.”
“The determination to serve the little ones is a reflection of the importance and attention that Jesus Christ gave to children throughout his life,” said Frank Allan, the Club’s secretary. “Ours was a collective effort aimed at seeing a smile on the faces of the little ones.”
“We were able to collect the sum of 120,000 rupees (about US0) to build the playground and renovate the bathroom. In addition, we have set up a new water pump for easy access to the water,” added Club treasurer Frederick Anthony.
Located on the outskirts of the district, the St Paul the Hermit pre-school has 25 underprivileged children. The facility is run by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary–Sri Lanka.
"This playground is a real Christmas present for our children,” said Sister Thushari Fernando, superior of the Nuwera-Eliya convent.
“Compared to other kindergartens, ours can only count on basic structures,” she explained. “We wanted to improve them in order to accommodate more underprivileged children and those who do not have access to education for various reasons.
“We are very optimistic that such an initiative by the Connect Club will improve the standards of kindergarten. Our sincere thanks to the Connect Club for supporting this initiative.”
The inauguration of the playground took place on 6 December in the presence of nuns, school staff, parents and Connect Club representatives.
“Here we do not discriminate when families ask for admission,” noted school principal Sister Dishani Tharaka Sirisena. “At present, there are Christian and Hindu children. Since most of the parents are workers employed in tea plantations, we do not require them to pay monthly fees.
“In the church compound, we needed a playground for the children to play and participate in normal recess activities. The support provided by the Connect Club is immense and will help many children; in particular, it will encourage needy parents to enrol their children in kindergarten.”
Vaishalini and Duran are friends are in the same class. “We and our friends are very happy with the sea-saw and the swing. Now we can play as much as we want.”
Haris and Yuwan are also elated. “Before we had to walk to the church to use the bathroom. During the rainy days, it got very muddy outside, but now we can use our new colourful bathroom.”
Bavilashini and Hakshayan “want to bring our brothers to play with us on the sea-saw. We will tell all our friends to come to school.”
The Connect Club was founded in 2017. Its motto is Where lives meet. In February 2018, it organised a visit to the Maradana home for seniors, Colombo 10, a facility run by the Little Sisters of the poor.
Last August, the Club made a donation to a Buddhist middle school, the Uturaawela Dharmarajah Kanista Maha Vidyalaya school, in Welipennagahamulla, North-Western Province (Wayamba). Out of a hundred students, two are Catholic.
.png)
