2007 and 2008

Kattaikadu is on the west coast of Sri Lanka, 3 ½ hours north of Colombo. The school serves students from Kattaikadu village as well as from many adjoining villages. This is a very poor multi-ethnic and multi-religious community. Possibilities to earn a living are limited to fishing and growing vegetables in small plots and poor soil. No paved roads are available, which makes transport very difficult.

Since 2004 the school has been managed by the Salvatorian Sisters. My first visit to the school was in January 2007. 400 students in grades 1-13 were taught in the school by 15 teachers and two volunteer teachers at that time.

The condition of the school was abominable, since the Government had not provided any financial support or help for as long as anyone could remember. Actually the school buildings were old halls without windows and doors and with leaking roofs. There were no classrooms; several grades had to be taught simultaneously in one of the dilapidated halls creating very difficult conditions for the students, as they were crammed together and could not concentrate on their own lectures.

Some of the students had very old tables and chairs, several of them had to sit on benches and put their exercise books on their schoolbags in front of them, e.g. they had no tables. The teacher’s office was equally poor, and Sister Helen Lambert, the school principal, had to live in a storage cubicle without a window and bathroom facility.

By Fall 2007 the necessary funds for urgent repairs to the existing buildings and the completion of a new building were raised. The General Consul of Austria in Hong Kong helped with securing a contribution from the Austrian Diplomat’s fund for repair/replacement of school desks/chairs, cabinets, and teaching aids.
 

In March 2008 the new school building, including the computer room and a new staff room, was officially opened.

When the Sri Lankan Government School Board learned of our donation, they agreed to carry out work on the grounds of the school and fund additional repairs including repainting for the old buildings. A ball court was established in the school yard, and a former student, who had developed a successful business, funded a proper fence for the school.

For Kattaikadu our donation started “a small miracle” and resulted in a beautiful school by Sri Lankan standards.

Last Updated on Thursday, 14 May 2020 14:25