Promoting leadership qualities

A booklet based on the sayings of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States of America, has just been released by the Eisenhower Fellowships Association of Sri Lanka. It is to be distributed free to school children to convey a strong message on leadership, peace and unity.

“It was an exciting experience,” says the renowned author/illustrator of children’s books, Sybil Wettasinghe who was commissioned to do the book. “Eisenhower’s sayings are so inspiring. Once I grasped their essence, the ideas just began flowing in.”

Of course, it was not possible to literally repeat the sayings in their original form. But what Sybil – Aunty Sybil to all children – has done is to base the book on them. “I had to make it interesting for the children to be absorbed in the message we were giving them. I was able to use a couple of them directly too,” Sybil says.

‘Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all’ is one such message. It is used as a single message covering the middle pages of the book.

Sybil suggested the title of the booklet to be ‘Leaders All in our World’ – ‘Lama lowe naayakayao’ in Sinhala. A Tamil version of the booklet has also been printed.

Printed in full colour, and with Sybil’s unique style, the book should be very popular. Initially, 10,000 copies are to be distributed. There is bound to be a big demand no sooner it’s distributed among selected schools.  The book is available on the BookHUB - Sri Lanka’s first eBookStore – innovations of Etisalat, Microimage and MD Gunasena & Co. Launched at the recent book fair, it is open to all Sri Lankans irrespective of which telecom partner you are with. Log on to www.thebookhub.lk to get more details.  In addition to the book, four posters have also been designed carrying four of Sybil’s creations for the books. Each poster carries a message in all three languages – English, Sinhala and Tamil.

The project is a ‘first’ for any Eisenhower Fellowship Asso-ciation in the world. Conceptualised by the Sri Lanka Association’s President, Chandra Jayaratne, the book was launched at the EF South Asia Conference 2012 now being held in Colombo.

Eisenhower Fellowships was founded in 1953 as a tribute to Dwight D. Eisenhower from his friends as he assumed the US presidency. Its purpose and design reflect his conviction that greater understanding among individuals fosters greater understanding among nations, contributing to the peace and progress of all countries and all people.

From the start in 1953, Eisenhower Fellowships has been inspired by the belief that informed individuals are the hope of every nation and by a mandate to share knowledge with others around the globe. Some 1,600 Fellows from 106 countries have participated in Eisenhower Fellowships since its founding.

Of these, 19 Sri Lankans who have represented Sri Lanka as part of the multi-national program (MNP) for Sri Lanka, which commenced in 1957. Four Sri Lankans were nominated for the Single Region Program (SRP) in 2004, and one Sri Lankan is also on the EF’s Alumni Advisory Council (AAC) South Asia.