It has been over 50 years since Royal Institute has been established under the optimistic guidance of our founder, Mr. GT Bandara. RI Generous Hearts is a charity program which was launched by Royal Institute in collaboration with the Foundation of Goodness to mark
the milestone of 50 years of excellence of Royal Institute.
As the saying goes “united we stand divided we fall” we here at RI have worked tirelessly, as one family, to make this project a tremendous success. We managed to collect over 2500 school packs, each worth Rs. 4000, in order to distribute to the fellow needy students of the rural villages who go through severe hardships not only in the field of education, but also their daily lives.
It was on the 22nd of December 2021 we left Colombo bound to Anuradhapura to distribute the packs we had collected. Our first destination being the Orukmankulama Viduhala, we were greeted by an assembly of very young children with heartwarming smiles on their small faces, joyed at the sight of “gifts”. We were then further entertained by their amazing talents in music, dancing and drama. We donated the packs to children from grade 1 to grade 5 here.
Our second destination was Siriseelawansha Maha Vidyalaya in Kuttikulama, Siwalakulama, where we were warmly welcomed by a traditional ceremonial procession conducted by the cultural troupe of the school. There we donated the packs to students from grade 1 till the A Level classes. We concluded the day’s agenda by visiting the sacred Sri Maha Bodhiya and the Ruwanweli Maha Seya.
Representing RI family, from HT branch & Girls’ School some teachers and senior prefects graced the occasion
This event has made us realise a fraction of the hardships that rural students go through to gain not only a better education but also the quest of surviving day to day life. We felt humbly happy since we were able to paint a smile on their innocent faces giving them a new hope to commence their next academic year.
Hemaka Deeghayu
Deputy Head Prefect of Royal Institute Havelock Town
