Vakarai children receiving school materials in Colombo.

Sixty two students from Vakarai on Sri Lanka’s east coast in the northern part of the Batticaloa district, were given the opportunity to leave their home town for a four-day educational tour of the south.

The trip provided the opportunity for many of the students to leave Vakarai for the very first time.

Students spent three days in Colombo and visited several cultural sites including the famous shrine of St. Anthony in Kochchikade, the Zoological Gardens and the Ratmalana Hindu College. They also went on a sightseeing tour of Colombo and experienced a music show on one of the evenings. The final day of the trip was spent in Kandy where the students visited the Botanical Gardens, Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Tooth) and an ancient Hindu Kovil.

Ten-year-old Annadurai Baskaran who participated in the tour said what he enjoyed most was the trip through the hill country as he had never seen hills before.

He also noticed that Colombo was a lot busier than Vakarai.

“Everything in Colombo is so massive. There are huge buildings, wide roads and lots of vehicles. We’d love to see Vakarai grow into a city like Colombo,” he said.

Describing his life back home, he said the war, the tsunami and the hot weather hindered his studies, although his teachers did their best to carry on the education.

Twenty two of the participating students were from Vigneshwaran School and 40 students were from Palchenai School.

The tour, organised by Sewalanka Foundation, the Sri Lankan Government and Security Forces personnel, was arranged to promote peace and reconciliation.