School’s back for pupils after tsunami terror

John ROBERTS

Pupils from a Sri Lankan community devastated by the tsunami disaster of 2004 will return to their schools for the first time next year in new classrooms named after the Yorkshire towns which helped to build them.

The Kaluwanchikudy Saraswathy Maha Vidyalayam School was destroyed in the Boxing Day tsunami three years ago which claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people living in the area.

Since then children have been taught in classrooms made from plastic sheeting but now they are preparing to start life in a new school building which has been built by fundraisers from Yorkshire.

The appeal began after Rotarians from the region visited Sri Lanka, in May 2005, to see how the emergency supplies they had sent out were being used.

They discovered the tsunami had destroyed 10 schools in the town of Batticaloa alone and surviving children were being taught in temporary classrooms made of corrugated metal roofs and plastic sheeting.

Rotarians from Yorkshire district 1040, comprising North, East and West Yorkshire, raised Sterling Pounds 200,000 in the space of only six months to pay for the new Kaluwanchikudy Saraswathy Maha Vidyalayam School.

The new building will be known as the Yorkshire School and each of its classrooms is named after 20 rotary clubs or Yorkshire towns which helped to reach the fundraising target. These include Driffield, York, Ilkley, Otley, Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Harrogate, Knaresborough, Keighley, Halifax, Skipton and Settle.

The money was raised within a year of the disaster but the school has taken a further two years to build because of instability in the area caused by fighting between Security Forces and the LTTE. There has also been a shortage of construction workers because of the number of rebuilding projects taking place in the aftermath of the tsunami.

The Yorkshire School serves a Tamil community and will have 400 pupils from primary school age up to 16 years. It opens in the new year and a delegation from the region has already travelled to Sri Lanka for an official opening ceremony.

The chairman of the rotarian fund-raising committee, Ian Carling said: “The children were overwhelmed by the generosity of the Yorkshire people. The fundraising and the rebuilding of this school has actually made me proud to be a part of the Rotary club in Yorkshire.”

The 1040 district governor nominee, Em Lloyd-Davies, said: “There was one girl we met who lost her mother and father and all of her brothers and sisters in the tsunami.

“Looking at her little face it seemed incredible to think that three years ago she had been a part of this terrible tragedy.

“It was a tragedy for the whole community. Everyone was affected but they are recovering now and the school will help them.”

The new school includes a computer centre, library and sports facilities.

Around 100 schools from across Yorkshire have been involved in helping to raise cash to pay for the new facility.

Mr Lloyd-Davies said: “Raising the money for our school in such a tight timescale seemed a tall order, but we did it thanks to the enthusiasm of so many generous Yorkshire folk.

“Pupils were brilliant and organised events like dress-down days, harvest festivals and young musicians’ concerts. It really caught their imagination and continues to do so. For example the 92 pupils who attend Kings Mills Driffield, a special needs school, have raised Sterling Pounds 2,500 over the last two years.”

Next September Halifax Rotarian Peter Lloyd will lead a delegation to find out what support the Yorkshire School needs.

He said: “Bricks and mortar do not make a good school. We must continue to support it.”

Yorkshire Post