An invaluable exchange of ideas and experiences

With a view to bringing together students from Jaffna and Colombo, 20 students from Elizabeth Moir School, accompanied by their teachers, made the trip to the north of the country earlier this year. 

For most of the students this was their first visit to the north, and the four days spent there with peers from St John’s College (SJC) and Chundikuli Girls College (CGC) not only served to build friendships, but also established ties between the three schools that will certainly be strengthened in the long term. 

In December 2016, a visit to Jaffna by Mrs. Moir and the community service representatives from the school planted the seeds for what is now a three-way friendship between Elizabeth Moir School Chundikuli Girls College and St. John’s College in Jaffna.

The idea was sparked by Jekhan Aruliah whose links to the schools come from his father Panchan, an old boy of St. John’s, and his late wife Kshirabdhi who was one of Mrs. Moir’s early students in the 1980s. Jekhan is now based in Jaffna and is committed to the post-war economic development of the north. He sees bringing young people together as an essential element of this endeavour.

Rev. Jameson Gnanaponrajah, Principal of St. John’s College, and his staff made enormous efforts to ensure the Moir party was made welcome and comfortable during their stay. While in Jaffna the Moir students accompanied by students from SJC visited Casuarina Beach. 

Seventeen-year-old Moir student Tarik describing the trip said: “The highlight of the trip was the day we spent at the beach playing games with the students such as volleyball and football. It really showed me that playing a game is a great ice breaker and it can create a bond between people who were strangers just a few hours ago.”

The students spent a great deal of time in fellowship including enjoying a bonfire evening with games, song and entertainment. 

Asel, a 17-year-old from Elizabeth Moir School enjoyed making new friends: “I saw many inspirational characters. For instance I met a boy who wanted to become a politician and change the Sri Lankan perspective of the way ethnic minorities are perceived.”

Anjali, also 17, said: “The girls from Chundukuli Girls College were really welcoming, and were easy to talk to. They weren’t as different from us as I had expected.”

Students from Elizabeth Moir School – Khareshma, a successful South Indian movie playback singer, and Tiffany, an accomplished ballet dancer – both performed at the SJC Assembly held during their stay. Both performances were highly appreciated. 

The students strolled around Jaffna taking in historic sites such as the Fort and the Library. Martina had this to say: “Here in Colombo we don’t see many aftereffects of the war so sometimes kids of our generation tend to forget about the suffering. Going to see the war memorials in Jaffna reminded me that people there suffered through so much even though they had smiles on their faces when we visited them.”

The Moir students also visited the SOS Children’s Village, Point Pedro, Nallur Kovil, and the Thondamanaura Mohan Ashram. A visit to the temples on Nainativu/Nagadeepa took the party on a wonderful journey between Jaffna’s islands driving across the scenic causeways, and carried over the water by the Navy.

The Senior School students and staff of Moir visited the SOS Children’s Village with individually-wrapped gifts for the 137 orphaned children who call the SOS Village home. 

Tiffany, who performed for the children, described the experience: “Prior to my performance there was a language barrier and some hesitancy in interacting. After the performance the students were all so excited about seeing ballet that immediately we were holding hands and talking about how I could teach them some steps. I was so humbled by this experience and it will be one that I will carry with me for a long time.”

Recently the second stage of this program took place, as 10 students from St. John’s College Jaffna arrived in Colombo for a reciprocal field trip, spending three days with the students from Moir who had visited them earlier in the year. 

The SJC students were taken on a tour around Colombo which included Independence Square, the Light House, Navy Temple, Excel World, the Colombo Port, the view of Port City and Galle Face Green. The students also spent time at the Virtusa office complex getting an introduction into the workings of the IT industry. The latter half of the second day was spent in Galle at the Museum and Galle Fort.

The students from SJC also performed at a special assembly at Elizabeth Moir School, at which they sang and played the keyboard.

David from SJC described his experience: “The thing that left a lasting impression on me is the friendships we made with the students at Moir. I hope that the friendship we have between our schools only grows stronger.” His fellow student Dan added: “We don’t really get the opportunity to speak in English a lot in Jaffna so that was really nice.”

Anu Prakash, head of the team from Elizabeth Moir School that organised the visits, summed the experience up: “The only difference between children from our school and those we met is opportunity. The children in Jaffna are extremely bright and talented and all they need is more opportunity, more exposure. For our own students, I think this was a wonderful way to see more of our country, culture and history. I intend to go back every year so that I can meet these children again and see how they develop from year to year. I expect great things from them and this is something I am very excited about. It has been a wonderful experience for all concerned and the children we met are sure to prove themselves to be promising youth that our country can be proud of given the right opportunities.”