S A T H K A R A: Yatawara Art Exhibition - යටවර කලා ප්රදර්ශනය

Yatawara Primary and Secondary School

The small village of Yatawara, on the northern riverbanks of Kalu Ganga in rural Kalutara district, was one of many villages badly hit by the flood in western and southern Sri Lanka in late May 2017. Many schools were fully or partially damaged by the rain and river water. But the school in Yatawara is located on top of a small mound, next to the temple, and served as a safe location for the villagers during the days of inundation. Many homes in Yatawara was damaged, however, and the villagers lost property and agricultural produce.

Our organisation HELP received some extra money from Norwegian friends earmarked ‘relief work’, and we first planned to support the school children who lost everything with a ‘back to school’ kit (e.g. exercise books, pencil sharpener, pencils, etc.). But the government and many NGOs provided such assistance. Also, we planned to support the remaking of a school library damaged by the flood. In the end, however, we were requested by the principal of Yatawara, Mr. Anura, to involve all the pupils in a two-days art workshop and a single-day exhibition. Previously, this rural school had hardly no resources to teach the children the creative arts of drawing and painting. So, HELP engaged our art teacher Anusha to conduct the workshop, and HELP collected the necessary materials. 75 school children and many pre-school children participated. On 29 Nov. 2017, the parents and other guests were invited to the school to view the exhibition. Officers from the local educational authorities also came. The children all received a certificate and gifts. Our Norwegian guest Asbjørn gave a short speech in Sinhala, surprising the audience. We were asked to come again next year for another workshop, and we were also requested to offer similar programmes to another school (Uduwara).